[Mintwood-place] ANC likely to vote on the First Church of Christ Scientist hotel project this Wednesday
Cynthia Pols
polscm at aol.com
Mon Mar 5 10:21:39 EST 2012
Except that the participants in this project are highly motivated by
the economic value of the 20% tax credit for historic preservation
projects, financial opportunities that would be lost if the building
were to be razed. I certainly hear (and share) your concerns about the
possible demolition of the building but this all-or-nothing
proposition doesn't quite ring true either.
--Cynthia
On Mar 5, 2012, at 9:23 AM, ahhjlh at verizon.net wrote:
> The church has made it clear that if the project fails and there is
> no landmark, they will likely tear the church down. It is quite
> possible that on that site an even larger building will emerge, and
> we will lose another reminder of the history of our neighborhood and
> a very well-designed roman style church. Things are not easy, and
> neither are choices, but the church is important and the possible
> future scenario worse. Ann Hargrove
>
> From: Denis James <denisjames at verizon.net>
> To: maryjbelcher at comcast.net; 'Cynthia Pols' <polscm at aol.com>
> Cc: 'mintwood place' <mintwood-place at lists.mutualaid.org>
> Sent: Monday, March 5, 2012 9:04 AM
> Subject: Re: [Mintwood-place] ANC likely to vote on the First Church
> of Christ Scientist hotel project this Wednesday
>
> Mary is correct. The owners of the Church building, the congregation
> of that branch of the Church of Christ Scientist, don’t want the
> building “Landmarked” until approval of the whole project is
> forthcoming. That approval would enable their big payday. If the
> approval is something less than what has been requested, and the
> potential “profits” aren’t a certainty, the Church may pull out of
> the deal. Thus, they don’t want to be saddled with the Landmark
> status, which may limit what can be done with the property.
>
> From: mintwood-place-bounces at lists.mutualaid.org [mailto:mintwood-place-bounces at lists.mutualaid.org
> ] On Behalf Of maryjbelcher at comcast.net
> Sent: Monday, March 05, 2012 8:22 AM
> To: Cynthia Pols
> Cc: mintwood place
> Subject: Re: [Mintwood-place] ANC likely to vote on the First Church
> of Christ Scientist hotel project this Wednesday
>
> Hi Cynthia & Mintwood List:
>
> You are correct in noting that the ANC is voting on a measure
> related to the First Church of Christ Scientist "Church-Hotel" at
> its upcoming meeting this Wednesday night, March 7, at 7 p.m. at
> Mary's Center. But the ANC is voting on the design concept of the
> hotel, not whether it should be historically landmarked. (The
> historic-landmarking issue is down the road a ways.)
>
> This upcoming ANC vote is very important, however, because if the
> ANC gives its nod to the "design" of the hotel--most notably its
> height and mass--this approval will carry weight when the church-
> hotel design-concept matter goes before the Historic Preservation
> Review Board later this month (on Thursday, March 22). In fact, the
> question of the design of the hotel is a more important matter for
> the ANC to take a position on than whether the church deserve
> historic designation: The design of the hotel will change the
> residential, low-rise character of Champlain and Euclid streets
> forever, and it will be our several-member ANC helping make that
> decision on our behalf.
>
> There is great difference of opinion in the neighborhood about
> whether this hotel is a good idea for Adams Morgan. But there is no
> question, design-wise, that the 10-story hotel will tower over
> everything else in its midst, and it will out-mass every other
> building in the Reed-Cooke section of Adams Morgan.
>
> Now the pro-hotel folks can go crazy with my comments on this
> listserv. Have at it, everybody! You can't change the fact that
> this is a giant building being squeezed into an intersection of two
> very narrow residential streets. And you can't change the fact that
> this upcoming ANC meeting is very important, although you know that
> the controversy tends to cause people to shut down and lose interest.
>
> Thanks, Cynthia, for letting the neighbors know about this upcoming
> ANC meeting on Wednesday night. It's time for everybody to show up
> at Wednesday night,
>
> Mary Belcher
> 1869 Mintwood
>
>
> From: "Cynthia Pols" <polscm at aol.com>
> To: "mintwood place" <mintwood-place at lists.mutualaid.org>
> Sent: Monday, March 5, 2012 12:48:40 AM
> Subject: [Mintwood-place] ANC likely to vote on the First Church of
> Christ Scientist hotel project this Wednesday
>
> Our advisory neighborhood commission, ANC 1C, is scheduled to meet
> this Wednesday (March 7) at 7PM in the Mary's Center building (the
> pink building) on 2355 Ontario Road. On the agenda is possible
> support of designation of the First Church of Christ Scientist
> church building as an historic landmark. People who have concerns
> about the proposed hotel project to be built in connection with the
> pending request for landmark status for the church should consider
> attending this meeting to voice those concerns and otherwise convey
> their concerns. It is likely that the ANC will vote at this meeting
> on whether to support the developers' request for landmark
> designation for the church (as it is to be developed through the
> hotel project) and, in doing so, will be voting to approve (or
> disapprove) the developers' proposal as it currently stands,
> including the size and height of the proposed hotel building.
>
> The meeting begins at 7PM but it is probably o.k. to arrive a few
> minutes late as several other items are scheduled to precede the
> hotel discussion, including an update on the 18th Street
> construction project, and are likely to take up some time.
>
> The church item is listed on the agenda for the meeting as item
> VII.C.1 and entitled "Review by ANC 1C of First Church of Christ
> Scientists Application for Historic Designation before the Historic
> Planning Review Board (HPRB)." Here is a link to the agenda for the
> March 7 ANC meeting.
>
> http://www.anc1c.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68&Itemid=77
>
> The hotel developers revised and updated their plans in late January
> in response to criticisms received at the November 15, 2011, meeting
> of the Zoning Commission (ZC). At that meeting, the ZC decided to
> "set down" the developers' "planned unit development" (PUD)
> application for redevelopment of the church and an adjacent property
> that presently contains the City Paper offices and several other
> offices. The ZC voted in favor of "setting down" the PUD application
> for consideration at the commission level in spite of negative
> recommendations made about the proposal by the District's Office of
> Planning. (The standard process is for PUD applications to be
> reviewed and revised at the staff level and then presented to the ZC
> for final approval in relatively polished form; in this case , there
> are many issues unresolved that would have to be dealt with in a
> less structured way at the commission level.) Among other things,
> the professional planners at the Office of Planning deemed the
> height of the proposed hotel to be excessive for the neighborhood
> and the application to be flawed in numerous other ways.
>
> Here is a link to a video of the Zoning Commission's Nov 15, 2011,
> discussion of the developers' PUD application and decision to "set
> down" the application for disposition:
>
> http://view.liveindexer.com/ViewIndexSessionSLMQ.aspx?indexPointSKU=SHCxj82tLP2HHyUmjLVbRw%3d%3d
>
> Go to this link to download and see the developers' latest plans:
>
> http://adamsmorganhistorichotel.com/index.php/home
>
> As you can see in the latest plans, the developers still plan to
> construct a large hotel just behind (and attached to) the church
> that will be significantly taller than the church building and will
> loom large over it and the immediate neighborhood. While the
> developers revised their plans following the Nov 15 ZC meeting, they
> elected not to reduce the height of the building in any meaningful
> way (it went from something like 96 feet to something like 94 feet
> in the latest plans even though several of the zoning commissioners
> made clear at the Nov 15 meeting that they expected the developers
> to revise the plans by reducing the height of the building by
> eliminating a floor or two.
>
> The hotel project is apparently on the March 22 agenda of DC's
> Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) for "conceptual review"
> for possible designation as an historic landmark based on the
> revised plans by the hotel developer for the building. Go to this
> website for the agenda for this meeting:
>
> http://planning.dc.gov/DC/Planning/Historic+Preservation/About+HPO+&+HPRB/Who+We+Are/Historic+Preservation+Review+Board/Agendas+and+Reports/HPRB,+March+22,+2012
>
> If you cannot attend Wednesday's ANC meeting and would like to
> convey your concerns to any and all ANC members, here is a link
> containing their names and contact info:
>
> http://www.anc1c.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=25&Itemid=62
>
> Like most community residents, I would like to see the church
> building preserved and used for new purposes that will enhance the
> neighborhood. I was initially attracted to the hotel and am not
> necessarily unalterably opposed to the idea of a hotel (if properly
> scaled and dimensioned and if more is done to preserve its interior)
> but believe that perhaps we are missing out on an opportunity to
> turn the church building into a much more valuable community asset
> such as a library/community center that would not depend on
> appending a large-sized hotel to the church.
>
> Please feel free to contact me if you would like additional
> information.
>
> Cynthia M. Pols
> 1862 Mintwood Place, NW - # 304
> Washington, DC 20009
> 202-328-0654
>
>
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>
>
Cynthia M. Pols
1862 Mintwood Place, NW - # 304
Washington, DC 20009
202-328-0654
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