Your Input Sought — “Phase II” Timeline

Your input is sought regarding the future of the northwest corner of Minnesota and Benning. The “Phase II” development — a residential project with street-level retail, adjacent to the DOES headquarters under construction now — is scheduled to break ground next year. (For more information, click on the “Phase II” tag in the right-hand column.) ANC 7D and a CBA (Community Benefits Agreement) Team are working to collect suggestions and craft a CBA which will be proposed to the developers, Donatelli/Blue Skye.

Minnesota-Benning Intersection Reconsidered

Will the Phase II project at Minnesota-Benning serve the new Downtown Ward 7 in the best way possible? This will depend on many factors. Among key factors is traffic management for this “gateway” intersection. This issue took center stage when the DC Council recently considered the Land Disposition Agreement for this land.

Phase II Design — Highest Use?

Developers Donatelli/Blue Skye were awarded the “Phase II” land, at the corner of Minnesota and Benning, in October 2008. The team has had little contact with the community between their presentations to ANC 7D in November of 2008 and in July 2009. The newest information I’ve been able to find on the website of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development — the office in charge of this project and of communicating with the public about it — is the 18-month old RFP

ANC 7D Opposes Pollin Loan

At a special meeting on July 31, ANC 7D voted unanimously to oppose the loan of nearly $8 million to the Pollin Memorial project, slated to replace Parkside Additions. See second page of this month’s Neighborhood News for details.

River Terrace Kidumentaries

Fifth Graders Write, Direct and Produce!

Passover Break

Passover begins sundown, April 8 and ends an hour after sundown April 16 (for Reform and Israeli Jews, April 15). The first two and last two days are observed as non-working festival days. This means I’ll be off the computer much of the next eight days.

Heritage Trail, King and Gaye

April 4 is not only the Jewish Sabbath, which falls every week, but what is
known as “the Great Sabbath,” which falls once a year right before Passover. The prophetic reading for this day, from Malachi, ends with a reminder that the Messianic Age will come when “the hearts of the parents are turned to the hearts of the children,” and vice versa.

Benning Station Update

Benning Station’s newly modified plans — to replace not only the old Chef’s Table and childcare facility in the 4400 block of Benning Road but the gas station/Dunkin’ Donuts property on the corner of 45th & Benning — will be the subject of an article in the upcoming East of the River, due out on April 11.

REEL Community Change

River East Emerging Leaders (r.e.e.l.) is a growing group of community members from Wards 7 and 8 — aka “Ward 15″ — focused on “fresh 
solutions to help solve social and economic ills that have plagued 
these communities for generations.” The group’s inaugural events — held at the Honfleur Gallery, 1241 Good Hope Road, SE, in Ward 8 — drew packed crowds and offered neighbors a chance to meet and begin organizing for change.

Adeyinka Adesioye

Ward 7 Councilmember Yvette Alexander and her staff mourn the loss of Adeyinka Cynthia Adesioye, who had served as executive assistant.

Great Streets, “Phase 2″

The Great Streets Initiative, begun in the administration of Mayor Anthony Williams, links several DC agencies — including the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) — in improving “under-invested corridors.” Ward 7 corridors targeted for investment are Nannie Helen Burroughs Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue SE, Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road. In addition, the H Street NE initiative affects Ward 7.

Information about the Great Streets is available under “Key Initiatives” on the website of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development.

In early 2008, the District solicited bids for developing 4.8 acres at the intersection of Minnesota and Benning, known as Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road, NE “Phase Two Solicitation.” Interested developers are asked to plan, finance, build and operate a mixed-use development on that site.

Two developers — City East and Donatelli — were front-runners. Each made presentations to the community on September 10, at a meeting hosted by the DMPED at the Boys and Girls Club. The Deputy Mayor’s office has included material from the developer’s presentations, as well as some additional information, on their website.

I have not yet figured out how to deal with the “asp” part of DMPED’s link — I’m new at some of this. Until I do, you can find materials from their this way:
Got to dcbiz.dc.gov (link),
locate “opportunities and financing” (on left)
click on “Development Opportunities,”
choose “Minnesota Avenue and Benning Road,
NE Site Phase Two Solicitation.”

An award decision from the Mayor and DMPED is due soon. Look for more in an upcoming edition of East of the River.

Benefits, “Best and Finals”

When developers have given their “best and final offers,” in response to a solicitation from the District, and the Mayor then awards a project to one of those developers, what incentive is there for the awardee to negotiate community benefits? Why would a developer deviate from the accepted proposal to provide (additional) community benefits?

This question has been asked, as Ward 7 citizens try to follow the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development’s process for selecting developers. Here, as I understood it from someone with long experience in the process, is the beginning of an answer:

“Best and final offer” refers only to the proposal step, so to speak. There may be several offering steps before the final during which the DMPED and goes back to the developers to ask for something more or different than what was first provided. In that case, whatever discussions occur with one developer must occur with all; the District cannot negotiate with any one developer at this stage in the process.

Once the Mayor selects the developer for a project — judged most capable based on those proposals — a new stage or step begins. Detailed negotiations with the selected developer then ensue. At THIS point, there is usually a PUD (planned unit development) which presents an opportunity for the community to weigh in and negotiate community benefits.

Only the beginning of an answer. I’ll add more later (after Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year), but others are encouraged to add their understandings.

Area Median Income

Can a percentage of affordable housing in new residential development be priced so that it meets the income levels of current residents within a half-mile of the project?

This question arose in the context of the proposals for the Minnesota Benning Phase Two project. An award announcement for that project is expected within the next two weeks. The solicitation for this project asked each offeror to present two options:

Option A) retail, serving the neighborhood, and residential housing with 30 – 60 % of the units to be “affordable to residents earning 0%-60% of the Area Median Income.

Option B) neighborhood-serving retail, offices, and residential housing with 30 – 60 % of the units to be “affordable to residents earning 0%-60% of the Area Median Income.

It is my understanding that a project like this must offer residences to anyone who meets the income requirements. That is, preference cannot be given to Ward 7 residents or to DC residents or to any other group. (A Hope VI project in which former residents of a housing project are given priority is a special case.) While this does not favor Ward 7 residents for housing, it does encourage residents from other parts of the city and from other areas — Maryland and Virginia, for example — with qualifying incomes to become tax-paying, contributing residents of Ward 7…. one of the goals of the many developments planned for the area.

In addition, the qualifications must be set based on a percentage of the AMI for the District — which is making the solicitation — not a smaller area, such as a ward. However, it should be noted that the AMI in Ward 7 is approximately 62% of the AMI for the city — in other words, the Phase Two solicitation is written so that Ward 7 residents would, on average, qualify for the housing in this development.

I also understand that the District could have chosen a lower percentage of the AMI for the solicitation — asking that some portion of the housing be available to those with incomes 20%, 25%, 30%, etc. of the AMI. A lower percentage of the AMI, however, would likely require a rent subsidy, from federal or District sources or from other elements of the development.

Donatelli’s proposal for the site — both “Option A” and “Option B” proposals — include:

1) “multi-family residential workforce/affordable housing at 60% AMI [Area Median Income]“

2) “homeownership units workforce/market housing at 80% – 120% AMI.”

City East’s “Option B” proposal offers “191 Mixed-Income apartment residences,” with

1) 15% at 30% AMI

2) 25% at 60% AMI

(“Option A” included 372 housing units — about which I don’t have the specifics. City East argued that “Option B,” including office is essential to a day/night development.)

The AMI (Area Median Income) for Ward 7 is about 62% of the city-wide median income. So, the District’s solicitation makes it, theoretically, possible for area residents to meet the requirements for newly constructed housing. Both Donatelli and City East had to meet the requirement set forth in the solicitation.

In addition, Donatelli presents homeownership opportunities. For these units, families with 80%-120% of the AMI would qualify. A higher percentage of the AMI is required for homeownership, according to my research, to help guarantee that people who purchase have enough income for the mortgage and also for regular maintenance and other expenses of homeownership.

City East took a different approach, offering a portion (15%) of the rental units for lower income residents while also meeting the requirement of the solicitation.

[This info has been UPDATED/CORRECTED from the 10/1/08 post] Donatelli made a point of noting that its proposals require no public dollars at all. City East had asked for Tax Increment Financing (see separate post on this topic) of $13.6 million for an access road to the WMATA parking garage (this was part of the Great Streets plan and originally included in the RFP) and for Housing Production Trust Fund support for affordable housing housing. Since the presentations to the community on Sept. 10, however, City East has revised their proposal, removing these requests.

Benning Branch?

Willette Seaward asks [comment to "Plan/Devel. Documents," below]:

“Will the new Benning Branch Library fit in the scheme of the new Downtown Ward 7? Will it be obsolete in size, lack of programs and design?”

Update on this coming soon. Meanwhile, what do others think?

DC Public Library plans to break ground on the design shown earlier this year. No room to expand. No separate literacy or computer labs. No land swap. Are any/all of these factors affecting the branch library’s appropriateness to the Downtown Ward 7 scheme?

Ground-Breaking at DOES

A ground-breaking ceremony for the new Department of Employment Services headquarters at the Minnesota Metro stop took place yesterday morning, November 6. On the program were Mayor Adrian Fenty, Forrester Construction representatives, Larry Clark of Donatelli/Blue Skye — chosen last month to develop the adjacent “Phase II” property, and newly appointed DOES director Joseph Walsh. On hand by happenstance were Wanda Aikens of the Ward 7 Arts Collaborative, Rick Tingling-Clemmons (ANC 7D05) and ANC 7D chair Dorothy Douglas — who had been attending a meeting nearby when they noticed the event tent; word of the ground-breaking was not shared with the community.

DOES Construction

Construction on the District’s Dept. of Employment Services Headquarters began in late 2008, with completion date set for 2010. The office building on Minnesota Avenue, just south of the Metro station, will eventually house 500 employees and provide some neighborhood-serving retail on the ground level.

African American Dance Mural

The DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities is funding this mural — depicting the history of African American dance — at Smothers Elementary School. Read more in the February East of the River.

Benning Library Site

The site of the former Benning Neighborhood Library, 3935 Benning Road, saw a ceremonial ground breaking on Dec. 1, 2008. Since then, Forrester has erected a trailer on the site, although no work had yet begun (as of mid-February) and fencing around the site remains incomplete. Opening of the re-built branch is slated for 2010.

Library Architect Explores Area Needs

Renown architect David Adjaye met with community members to discuss planning for new Washington Highlands and Francis Gregory neighborhood libraries. Adjaye explains how his work attempts to make the invisible visible in communities which have been under-served in January’s East of the River.

Deanwood Kiosk

The Deanwood library kiosk has been closed since summer of 2008. DC Public Library closed it permanently, given plans for two new libraries nearby: the new Deanwood Community Center and Library (DCCL) — near the Deanwood Metro and Ron Brown Middle School — and the new Benning Neighborhood Library, which is being built on the site of the old one, 3935 Benning.

Pedestrian Bridge Meeting

The District Dept. of Transportation plans a meeting on the new Pedestrian Bridge connecting the Minnesota Avenue Metro area with the Mayfair/Parkside area and related developments, March 5 at 7 p.m. at the Cesar Chavez Parkside Campus, 3701 Hayes Street, NE.

Eastern SHS Planning Develops

ConnectEDdc lists newly scheduled Academic Planning meetings for the revisioning of Eastern SHS. Situated just across the river in Ward 6, Eastern — one of ten comprehensive DC public high schools — has served many Ward 7 students.

Benning Station Modified

Plans for Benning Station LLC have been modified recently, to allow for more retail space and fewer off-street parking spots. The project has applied for two special exceptions in zoning. Pending lease agreements with the District, the project is slated for groundbreaking this summer.