CAPITOL HILL CORNER

HPRB Votes To Advance the Hine Project 5-3

Photo credit:  Maggie Hall

Editorial*:  HPRB Advances Hine Project – With Reservations

by Larry Janezich

Yesterday, the Historic Preservation Review Board voted 5 – 3 to advance the Hine Project, but not without some board members expressing serious reservations about the design of the southern façade of the Pennsylvania Avenue Office Building, the design of the north façade of the North Residential Building, the plaza’s water feature, and the connection between the residential and office buildings facing Pennsylvania Avenue.  One board member recommended taking “at least one floor” off of the 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue Office Building.

Though the Board felt Eastern Market fell outside of their purview, Chair Catherine Buell nevertheless urged HPO staff, Councilmember Wells’ office, the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development’s office, and the developer to provide a greater accommodation for the weekend flea market.

Five community organizations, including ANC6B, the Capitol Hill Restoration Society, Eastern Market Metro Community Association, Eyes on Hine, and the Hine Site North Neighbors all sent representatives to express serious concerns about the project.  A common concern of all was the height and mass of the development.  The most critical of the organizations was the Capitol Hill Restoration Society, which, in addition to calling on HPRB to reconsider its prior approval of the height and massing of certain components of the Hine Project also submitted a lengthy report criticizes design elements in great detail.

Michael Berman, owner of Diverse Markets Management which manages the Flea Market, also appeared before the HPRB to testify on the inadequacy of the developer’s plan to site the weekend on the to be reopened C Street and the associated plaza.

ANC 6B Commissioner Kirsten Oldenburg testified in support of the Hine Project and urged Board approval.  Her testimony included support for the “unique design” of the south façade of the 7th and Pennsylvania Avenue Building, its “commanding presence,” and opposed any reduction in height of the building, saying “reducing the height would be a step backward.”

The vote of the board was as follows:

To approve the motion to approve the staff report:  Chair Catherine Buell and Board Members Rauzia Ally, Andrew Aurbach, Maria Casarella, Joseph Taylor.

Opposing the motion to approve:  Board Members Robert Sonderman, Gretchen Pfaehler, Graham Davidson.

Board Member Nancy Metzger, former Chair of the Capitol Hill Restoration Society’s Historic Preservation Committee, has recused herself from consideration in this matter.

* The author of this posting presented testimony on behalf of EMMCA at yesterday’s hearing.

Restoration Society Calls for HPRB Reconsideration of Hine Project

by Larry Janezich

In testimony to be delivered at tomorrow’s hearing before the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB), the Capitol Hill Restoration Society (CHRS) will ask the board to reconsider its earlier concept approval regarding the design, scale, height, and mass of the Hine project’s 7^th and Pennsylvania Avenue Office building, the most prominent part of the project and its signature building.

“We consider this element to be completely incompatible with the historic character of Capitol Hill and Pennsylvania Avenue SE,” the CHRS submits, adding, “It is stylistically incongruent with the buildings I connects and highly out of place in the historic district.”  And, “We ask HPRB to please reconsider its earlier concept decisions regarding his building’s design, scale height, and mass.”

The statement is a strongly worded submission, making it clear that the CHRS views the 7^th St. and Pennsylvania Avenue buildings as too big, too tall and too massive in relation to the scale of the surrounding historic district.  The CHRS asks that the seventh floor be dropped and the sixth floor set back at least as far as the seventh is now.

Regarding design of the building, the statements says, “This is not the right design for such a prominent and highly visible location on a primary corner in the heart of the historic district,” and adds that at this prominent location, the building should “shine, rather than loom.”

CHRS also calls for reducing the scale of the 7^th Street building, adding its voice to neighborhood concerns regarding a “canyon” effect on that narrow commercial strip.

However, the CHRS finds little to fault in the north building or the 8th Street residential building, both of which have received robust criticism from the surrounding neighborhood.

The statement concludes with a reference to the 2009 Stanton/Eastbanc proposal, a plan which CHRS supported.  But as they note in their HPRB testimony, that earlier proposal was six stories on Pennsylvania Avenue, with a sixth story deeply set back on 7^th Street and the Pennsylvania Avenue corner.  Stanton/Eastbanc’s current plans call for an office building that is six stories with a 7^th story set back 20 feet from 7^th Street and only 12 feet from Pennsylvania Avenue.  Similarly, the plaza building on 7^th and C Streets is five stories where it was once four, and it has crept onto 7^th Street where it faces two story historic structures directly across the street.

Thursday’s HPRB hearing is to consider Stanton-Eastbanc’s response to concerns raised by the HPRB in its review of the projects design concept last summer.  In contrast to the opinion of CHRS and other community organizations, including EMMCA, EOH, and the Hine Project North Neighbors, the Historic Preservation Office Staff Report “recommends that the Review Board find that the revisions improve the compatibility of the conceptual plan,” and urges HPRB approval. If approved, the HPRB would be advancing a design widely held to be incompatible with its neighborhood and without any significant grassroots support from households which are forced to comply with stringent HPRB standards when renovating their own properties.

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:00am, in Room 220, 441 4th Street, NW.  Indications are that the Hine project won’t come up until after 12:00 noon.