Category Archives: Uncategorized

Commissioner Ivan Frishberg Presents ANC6B Positions on Remaining Hine Components

Commissioner Brian Pate Voices ANC6B Disappointment in HPRB Process; Cites ANC's Remaining Issues with ProjectHPRB Voice Votes Approval of Hine Project

Preservation Board Approves Last Components of Hine Development – Concerns Raised About Weekend Market

by Larry Janezich

While declaring there are still issues to be addressed, the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) voted 6-0 on Thursday to approve the Hine project’s 7^th Street Residential Building (now called the “Plaza Building”) where the developers still hope to site a hotel, and the North Residential Building, which has low and moderate income housing in addition to retail.  The Board also signed off on the landscaping plan but raised a final hurdle, reserving judgment on the Plaza design in an effort to assure that a larger segment of the weekend flea market survives the redevelopment.

Members of the Board cited concerns of community organizations regarding the developer’s plans to accommodate only half of the up to 150 vendors which constitute the Saturday and Sunday markets.  Carol Wright, flea market owner, testified that the weekend markets had been “100% behind Stanton Development as the choice for the developer of the Hine site, until this week” when they learned of the plan to change accommodation of the flea market to 68 tents instead of the 120 – 150 currently in use.

Project Architect Amy Weinstein noted that space for the flea market was lost when the developers were left with the east end of the Plaza was left as the only viable alternative for an entrance to the underground parking garage once objections by the Department of Transportation and 8^th Street neighbors were raised to locating it elsewhere.  She suggested that since ownership of Metro Plaza has been transferred to the city government, there was no legal barrier to having half the weekend market locate on the Metro Plaza.

Chair Catherine Buell, who said she frequents the weekend market, suggested that the Board should not take a position on the Plaza until a conversation has occurred about the size of the weekend markets.  She said that HPRB would host a meeting on the use of public space which would involve Councilmember Wells’ office, the office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development, the Department of Transportation, the development team and other project stakeholders.

At the hearing, Commissioner Ivan Frishberg presented ANC 6B’s recommendations regarding the buildings and plaza design under consideration.  Commissioner Brian Pate followed by presenting ANC 6B’s position on the entire HPRB process, expressing disappointment with 8^th and D Street building and the short timelines for public input in particular.

The Historic Preservation Office staff was charged with compiling a list of recommendations Board members had for the developer regarding continuing design work that needs to be done.  A partial list of those suggestions is as follows:

Plaza Building – façade design elements needs more study

North Residential Building – rear view of the North Residential Building needs more study as does the entrance to the building

The building at 8^th and D needs serious design work

The mechanical penthouse on the 7^th Street Office Building needs additional consideration

Landscaping water features on the Plaza need refinement to make them year-round features

The developer hopes to send drawings to the Zoning Board to begin the Public Unit Development process by December.  That process, which will offer another round of opportunities for public input, could take up to eight months.

Commissioner Green, Chair Glick, and Commissioner Pate at Tuesday Night's ANC Special Call Meeting on the Hine Development

United ANC6B Wants Change in C Street Building but Endorses Latest Hine Plans; Divided ANC Passes Second Memo Listing Remaining Concerns

by Larry Janezich

In a rare unanimous vote, ANC6B asked Stanton/Eastbanc, developers of the Hine Project, to move the 5^th floor of the project’s C Street residential building farther toward 7^th Street in order to address the concerns of 8^th Street residents whose two story homes the building would overlook.  Apart from this, ANC 6B generally expressed support for Stanton/Eastbanc’s latest drawings.  The action came on a measure sponsored by Vice Chair Ivan Fischberg and Commissioner Brian Pate.  Both received plaudits from Commissioners Garrison and Metzger, who have often found themselves at odds with the ANC majority.

In addition, the ANC declared they had no issue with the height and massing of the Plaza residential building (formerly referred to as the 7^th Street residential building), urging only additional symmetry in the C Street façade of that building.  The ANC praised the west façade, calling it “well designed.”

The action came at an ANC Special Call meeting on Tuesday in preparation for the hearing before Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) August 4^th for height, massing, and design approval of the C Street residential and the plaza residential buildings and for the project’s landscape design.

The final recommendations passed on a 9-0 vote.  Commissioner Campbell was absent.  The project’s other two buildings were approved by HPRB on June 30.

The united front of the Commission dissolved once Commissioner Brian Pate called up a second memorandum expressing concerns with the historic review process for the project, concerns with the overall project itself, and concerns with the overall lack of guidance and precedent on the construction of sustainable projects and transit oriented development in historic districts.

Regarding the process, the memo criticized HPRB’s decision to review the historic application in pieces, undermining the ability to look at the whole project at once.  The “exceedingly short timelines for review” were also singled out for criticism.

During the discussion, Frischberg joined Chair Neil Glick and others in voicing concerns on the lack of time for review.  When Frischberg pressed Eastbanc developer Joe Sternlieb on why the HPRB review could not be delayed for a month to allow more time for input, Sternlieb replied that filing for the Public Unit Development process cannot be done until after the HPRB review, hence a delay would reverberate beyond the HPRB process alone.  Stanton/Eastbanc “has a team of people we’re paying,” Sternlieb told Frischberg, and “without HPRB approval, [architect] Amy Weinstein can’t go ahead.”

The memo listed the ANC’s remaining concerns with the overall project as follows:

• Need for reduced height or a set back at entrance of 8th Street residential building;

•     Need for further design work at roofline and on windows of 8th Street residential building;

•     “The building at 8th and D, especially in the context of the 7th and PA Ave building is not acceptable.  We must reinforce that we believe the design falls short of the distinctive and Hill appropriate architecture that this space deserves”;

•     Need for continued efforts to reduce the visual impact of mechanical penthouses;

•     The evolution of the courtyard from open, public space to closed private space and attendant negative impact on massing pedestrian access and potential future programming of the space.

Finally, the memo called upon HPRB to elucidate principles for large scale, sustainable developments in historic districts.  The memo suggests the Historic Preservation Office staff partner with historic preservation organizations and smart growth oriented urban planning organizations to discuss formulation of principles.

The memorandum passed the ANC on a vote of 5 – 2 – 2.  Voting for:  Critchfield, Frischberg, Green, Glick and Pate.  Against:  Flahaven and Metzger.  Abstaining:  Oldenberg and Garrison.

As previously reported on emmcablog, at its Tuesday night Special Call meeting, the ANC6B recommended as part of its first memorandum, agreed to unanimously, that HPRB consider ways to accommodate more of the flea market than the 68 tents which the current plan anticipates for the plaza.  That language, sponsored by Commissioner Brian Pate, stimulated action the next day on the part of the Eastern Market Community Advisory Committee (EMCAC) in support of the flea market.  When Donna Scheeder, appointed by Council Member Tommy Wells and current chair of EMCAC, gaveled the Wednesday night meeting into session, EMCAC members proceeded to authorize sending letters to the City Council, Office of the Deputy Mayor, and the Historic Preservation Review Board to urge that the Hine development accommodate a number of spaces equal to what is currently available for the weekend market – more than twice the number in the Stanton/Eastbanc plan. Representatives of EMCAC are seeking a meeting with Stanton/Eastbanc, the project’s developer.

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Size of Weekend Flea Market Cut in Half in Hine Development Plan:

Developer Suggests Options Exist for Accommodating Overflow Elsewhere

by Larry Janezich

Tuesday night, the ANC6B passed a recommendation to the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) on the two remaining Hine buildings coming before the Board next week.  The memo expresses the ANC’s concern about the downsizing of the popular weekend flea market as the result of confining it to the plaza planned for the intersection of 7^th and C Streets.

The memorandum notes, “[w]hile the size of the plaza itself has not changed since February, the number of tents it is depicted to support has changed.”  The memo goes on to note that the original RFP (Request for Proposal) plans called for support for over 100 tents.  “Plans presented in February 2011 depicted 72 tents,” the ANC noted, and “the latest design depicts 68 tents.  The current weekend market supports up to 140 10×10 tents. While the Board (HPRB) has given preliminary approval to the overall site plan, the apparent reduction of weekend market space suggests that the Board might want to review alternate configurations that would meet the terms of the city agreement and respond to community input.”

In a meeting with neighbors last Sunday night, StantonEastbanc suggested that there were ways to accommodate additional tents.  Ideas floated at that meeting included closing C Street between 6^th and 7^th Street, or 7^th Street between Pennsylvania Avenue and C Streets on weekends.  Those ideas, however, appear problematic, at least on their face, given the controversy which arose over Mayor Fenty’s decision to close 7^th Street next to Eastern Market on weekends.  Another idea which has emerged in previous neighborhood discussions is using Eastern Market Metro Plaza for part of the weekend market.

Commissioner Garrison urged, while making clear he was not pushing for an increase in the number of spaces for tents,  that the developer enter into a conversation with “Eastgern Market” about how many tents were actually needed for the weekend market. Commissioner Metzger suggested that a reduction in the total number of tents might be beneficial, raising the “quality,” though he did not specify what he meant by that.

The final version of the memorandum, which passed on a 9-0 vote, contained an ANC recommendation that the developer discuss the weekend market with flea market managers. Commissioner Brian Pate noted that the language was being agreed to in the context of new legislation from Councilmember Wells’ office to restructure the Eastern Market management.  It is unclear how this may affect the timing or nature of these discussions.

The developer’s current plan for a double row of back to back tents on the project’s plaza can be viewed here:  http://www.hineschool.com/sites/default/files/julyhprbbook.pdf  (Scroll down to L-03, about 19 pages down in the document.)

Hine Project Landscaping Plans to Be Considered by Preservation Board Next Week – HPRB Will Also Rule on Project’s 7^th Street and C Street Residential Buildings

by Larry Janezich

Hine neighbors met with Stanton Development Sunday night to hear the developer’s presentation on the plans which will be before the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) on Thursday, August 4.  The plans, which will include the layout for the weekend flea market will be presented to the larger community at ANC6B’s Special Call Meeting, set for Tuesday, July 26, 7:00 -9:30 pm, People’s Church/National Community Church, 535 8^th Street, S.E.

Following are the main points which emerged from the presentation and the discussion which followed.

• The 7^th Street residential building may yet be a hotel.  Stanton says that two hotels have expressed interest.  Each have their own criteria and are awaiting number crunching and HPRB design approval to determine if the space will work for them.
• Like other buildings in the project, the façade designs of the 7^th street and C Street buildings have been simplified and parts of the C Street building have been lowered by two feet.
• The current plan is for the interior courtyard to be private.  A discussion revealed considerable support for public use of the space among the neighbors.  The developer suggested one way to accomplish this would be for public events to be hosted in the courtyard, should a hotel end up occupying the 7^th and C Street residential building.
• No contracts with retail outlets will be sought until construction is well underway, about two years from now.
• The amount of parking in the building is still uncertain.  The developer says that whether there will be more than one level of parking is still undecided.
• Joel Larsen, from the city’s Office of Planning, will make a 20 minute presentation explaining the Planned Unit Development process ANC6B’s Special Call Meeting on Tuesday.  That process will begin sometime next spring and will be the community’s last chance to win concessions (amenities) from the developer regarding the project.
• Stanton’s Design Concept for the two buildings and the landscaping can be viewed here:  http://hineschool.com/vision