Dear All:

Just a quick update on last night's meeting of the SPRC on 1812 North Moore (Monday Properties) and on the RR Urban Design Committee meeting last Wednesday.

First, a brief update on the RRUDC meeting, much of which was overcome by events in last night's SPRC meeting.

At the RRUDC meeting, we got a brief recap of recent developments on JBG Central Place -- basically, the accident at Waterview (where 16 workers were injured when a large slab of wet concrete fell on them) apparently caused JBG to defer its presentation before the County board until February. Also, the FAA found a hazard to navigation associated with the development. JBG has hired someone to negotiate further with FAA on this point. JBG is also consulting with an event planner on programming of the observation deck. The community benefit package is also a matter of some negotiation between the county and JBG. The community benefit package is $42 million of which JBG has been given a $12 million credit for the observation deck. They are disappointed that the county is not willing to give JBG any credit for assembling the entire block (including McDonalds and Sarris properties) even though JBG did this at the county's direction. Events on this potential development are beyond the point in time where RR feels it has an opportunity to exert any influence. RR has endorsed the development.

In anticipation of the SPRC on 1812 North Moore Street, the RRUDC discussed the first meeting and walking tour of the property held in early December. The discussion focused on the community benefits package. Community benefits listed by the developer (Monday Properties) include recladding of the electrical substation on 19th St between Ft. Myer and North Moore St., and providing a street-level pedestrian pass through from Ft. Myer to North Moore. RR felt that it, given the uncertainty of the Clover Development, some of the community benefits for the metro station that were associated with that project should be placed on the 1812 site. There would include (1) improving the lighting of the metro station with natural light in the upper lobby area; (2) creating a second entrance on Ft. Myer at the northwest corner of the station; and (3) reversing the escalators going to the upper plaza level so that the foot of the escalators are on the North Moore end rather than the station end.

A third item in the RRUDC meeting was a brief review of the public art proposed for Waterview. The public art component for this project is $0.5 million which the developer (JBG) has proposed to spend with $150,000 street art at the corner of 19th and Lynn emphasizing the public elevators to the plaza/observation deck level. The developer wanted to spend the remaining $350,000 for public art to be placed on the plaza/observation deck level. The county looked askance at that proposal for the reason that public art ought to be truly public and not spent on building embellishments or semi-public spaces such as the plaza/observation deck. RRUDC was happy about the artist chosen, but the location of art is in flux.

Last night's SPRC meeting ran nearly three hours -- it began with Monday's diatribe on its view of the Rosslyn Working Group's finding that building heights should be allowed to reach 500 feet above sea level. Apparently Chris Zimmerman suggested at the county board meeting that the proposed height modification amendments be limited to the JBG (east) side of the block between North Moore and Lynn Streets, rather than applying to both blocks of Central Place. No one at the table had any ability to control the county's actions in this regard, but the stridency of this presentation established a rather hostile tone for the remainder of the meeting. It may have had something to do with the extremely negative comments that the project received from SPRC members.

Much time was spent discussing the substation and in particular the precautions the developer would take to ensure that the substation would be adequately protected during construction. The power company will not allow cranes to swing any load over the substation, so the developer will need to provide two cranes to cover the site. The finished structure would be cantilevered slightly over the substation. SPRC members expressed numerous concerns for safety of the substation and the metro bordering the other end of the site. In addition, concerns on construction staging and the way North Moore would function during construction were voiced. The county people were asked whether they had sufficient expertise to review the developer's plans for construction, but a definitive answer was not forthcoming.

The developer presented a reinvention of the transportation plan for the building. Buses are no longer being proposed to be moved from North Moore onto 19th St. -- all of the present bus bays would remain, albeit in somewhat different locations and without the saw-tooth curb cuts in front of the 1812 building. In addition, there was a proposed kiss and ride location in front of the building (or an alternative second 30 foot crosswalk at that location). 19th Street would be narrowed somewhat to add between 5 and 8 feet of sidewalk space to that side of the building. Monday is also proposing to create a "bump out" of the curve at the north west corner of 19th and Ft. Myer, which would remove the easternmost travel lane from Ft. Myer with the goal of shortening the crossing distance on the northern side from 71 feet to 49 feet (this also includes the removal of a lane associated with Turnberry). On the southern side of 19th at Ft. Myer, Monday is proposing a bump out that would decrease the street crossing from 85 feet to 73 feet.

The county's transportation people were blindsided by this latest round of changes to the street plan and needed more time to react. The plan to keep buses on Moore was well received by the WMATA rider coalition but others were silent on the matter. Many of those present complained that the sidewalks on North Moore and Ft. Myer were not wide enough in Monday's present proposal.

Monday also presented their analysis of the view restrictions from JBG's observation deck associated with their development. They argued that their building did not block the view of the Potomac basin much more than the Turnberry project will, but their drawings told a different story. The building is much closer to the observation deck and it appears to be nearly twice as wide and much taller than Turnberry (Turnberry will be 407 feet above sea level, Monday is requesting 411 feet average site elevation or 500 feet above sea level), and its impact on viewsheds is dramatically more pronounced. It was also instructive to see pictures of the Rosslyn skyline with the massing of this building drawn in. Tom Korns (chair of the RR UDC) said in his wrap up remarks that he was previously unaware of the scale of this building compared to even the JBG Central Place buildings. In his view, it dominates. One view Monday included in their package of drawings was a view looking down Key Boulevard -- the 1812 building would entirely obliterate any other view from that perspective the State Department building on Lynn Street that now dominates that view would basically be invisible. The church is basically lost -- it is dwarfed by 1812's presence. [[I snagged a drawing package and will bring it to our next meeting]].

Respecting the FAAs review of their height request under part 77 of the FAA regulation, the application is in a comment period that began November 15 will end January 4. The SPRC chair inquired whether the FAA had given notice to the county concerning the public comment period and was informed the county had not received notice.

Because of the tight time schedule, the chair restricted comments on the information presented to SPRC members. The comments on Monday's proposal were generally negative. In addition to a host of technical issues, the overarching comments were that the SPRC members did not see a potential benefit to the community of this development that would justify the 10 FAR associated with CO Rosslyn, let alone any application for additional height. The low building parking ratios proposed, the restricted community benefit package proposed, the height and massing of the building, its potential to obstruct views from the observation deck, and the unknowns associated with construction were all issues that drew criticisms of the developer's plans.

Happy holidays to all!
Jennifer