Big GDS news

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also people need to separate antipathy towards the massive project proposed for a residential neighborhood - one that existed long before the school moved in - and general good will toward GDS. I suspect that the consolidation is not unanimously supported within the school. I suspect that neighbors also may have strong objections. But the school community should probably ignore this board because it is designed to inflame tensions and there is nothing you can do about it.

How many people in that area bought their homes before 1945 I wonder? Hard to argue that they were not aware they would be near a school (and schools change and expand -- as do most things in non-dying cities.)

Schools do expand, but they are also expected to be sensitive (and under many zoning orders, address) external issues like traffic, parking, noise, etc. Many neighbors in Tenleytown are friendly to GDS and are not opposed to the school's general plan to have one campus, provided that external impacts are addressed. Others would prefer to see residential development over an expanded school. What has more people upset, though, is the "double whammy" in the school's plans: a campus with almost 1200 students, plus faculty, staff, parent visitors, etc. AND intensive mixed-use development. (The campus portion itself will be so heavily utilized that the only space for the elementary and middle schools to play will be on the roof!) It's hard argue that anyone who purchased their homes nearby should have assumed all that.

I could have phrased it more clearly: "Others would prefer to see residential development instead of an expanded school." Indeed, what GDS is essentially proposing is residential (and commercial) development over (or on top of) an expanded school.

[Anonymous]

Just as interesting a question is what is going to happen to the existing lower school campus. There has been a lot of not-so-great packed-in condos and townhouse development along that part of MacArthur recently, and I suppose it's likely there'll be more. However, why not another school to buy it? What about River School expansion? Or are DC public elementary schools in NW DC too good now to make that a viable move? Maret expand onto two campuses? DCPS buy it for a new school in the Palisades (yes!). Further Lab School or Field School expansion? Or St. Patricks?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just as interesting a question is what is going to happen to the existing lower school campus. There has been a lot of not-so-great packed-in condos and townhouse development along that part of MacArthur recently, and I suppose it's likely there'll be more. However, why not another school to buy it? What about River School expansion? Or are DC public elementary schools in NW DC too good now to make that a viable move? Maret expand onto two campuses? DCPS buy it for a new school in the Palisades (yes!). Further Lab School or Field School expansion? Or St. Patricks?

Obviously it would be most efficient for another school to take over a modern school building with playing field, playground, parking, etc. But the question is whether the sale price that GDS will seek will be beyond the fundraising and debt capacity of mot schools that would be interested in it. I fear that the more likely future use be more condos and McMansions of the type that border the site, even though that would involve the wasteful and costly demolition and removal of the existing facilities The thought that DCPS would buy the site just isn't going to happen, when DC is still closing underutilized schools and in fact leases out a surplus public school to the Lab School, just down the street from GDS. The one identified need for another DCPS facility in upper NW -- the somewhat controversial proposal to build a new middle school -- would require a larger site than GDS' Macarthur campus.

[Anonymous]

This whole move was motivated by an offer on the lower school.

[Anonymous]

Not true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not true.

So what if it's true or not? Safeway was preparing to re-develop its site and then listened to an offer from GDS. The whole transaction is audaciously brilliant on the part of the board. I know that the leadership of some other DC private schools are suitably impressed, as they should be. This is an incredibly transformative event for GDS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Not true.


So what if it's true or not? Safeway was preparing to re-develop its site and then listened to an offer from GDS. The whole transaction is audaciously brilliant on the part of the board. I know that the leadership of some other DC private schools are suitably impressed, as they should be. This is an incredibly transformative event for GDS.

So that is an interesting take on it. GDS, concerned about being hemmed in by development and the loss of it's cafetaria realized it needed to preempt the Safeway development. So it scrambled to purchase the lot but the only way it could afford it was to sell the lower school. So this was a defensive move that the school was forced into.

[Anonymous]

It was a no-brainer to buy the site. That's been part of a long-term strategy GDS has been pursuing for years -- e.g. some adjacent single-family homes were purchased earlier and GDS has repeatedly expressed interest in purchasing the Safeway site. The coup here was finding (and seizing) the moment at which both Safeway and Martens were willing to sell.

What GDS should do with the property, now that it's been acquired, is a separate question. It's not clear (nor was it previously agreed) that GDS should have a unified campus. There may have been an implicit consensus that room for future expansion was necessary or desirable. But whether that expansion should take the form of adding athletic/educational facilities at the HS vs. a merger of HS and MS at Tenleytown with the LS remaining at MacArthur vs. putting all three schools on one campus hasn't been the subject of a robust public debate within the school community as a whole.

Nor has the advisability of leasing all or part of the Wisconsin Avenue site for commercial development (or the appropriate scale of such development or length of the lease or how significant a revenue stream would be necessary to make this a worthwhile investment) been the subject of public discussion within GDS.

So three very separate decisions -- do we buy the land, do we combine all three campuses, and under what circumstances would using the land to create a revenue stream make sense -- are being bundled and treated largely as a fait accompli.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It was a no-brainer to buy the site. That's been part of a long-term strategy GDS has been pursuing for years -- e.g. some adjacent single-family homes were purchased earlier and GDS has repeatedly expressed interest in purchasing the Safeway site. The coup here was finding (and seizing) the moment at which both Safeway and Martens were willing to sell.

What GDS should do with the property, now that it's been acquired, is a separate question. It's not clear (nor was it previously agreed) that GDS should have a unified campus. There may have been an implicit consensus that room for future expansion was necessary or desirable. But whether that expansion should take the form of adding athletic/educational facilities at the HS vs. a merger of HS and MS at Tenleytown with the LS remaining at MacArthur vs. putting all three schools on one campus hasn't been the subject of a robust public debate within the school community as a whole.

Nor has the advisability of leasing all or part of the Wisconsin Avenue site for commercial development (or the appropriate scale of such development or length of the lease or how significant a revenue stream would be necessary to make this a worthwhile investment) been the subject of public discussion within GDS.

So three very separate decisions -- do we buy the land, do we combine all three campuses, and under what circumstances would using the land to create a revenue stream make sense -- are being bundled and treated largely as a fait accompli.

Very thoughtful post above. The reality is that GDS is not the only major independent school to operate on two different campuses. Sidwell Friends and WIS operate their elementary schools in separate locations from their other divisions and seem quite happy with that structiure. Through shuttle buses and so forth it works out for families whose kids may be at separate sites. These schools do have their upper school and middle school divisions co-located, which probably would make sense for GDS to do. It's harder to understand the imperative to squeeze the elementary school onto the Safeway space also, particularly when athletic and recreational space seems tight.

[Anonymous]

BUMP

[Anonymous]

By putting the campuses together, GDS instantly gains an advantage that Sidwell doesn't have: substantial convenience for families whose kids are enrolled in several grades and operational efficiencies that the school can apply to the classroom and to financial aid. At the top tier of private schools ,there is a competition of sorts for the best and the brightest, and this move helps GDS in the long run.

After the construction, the GDS campus won't even match up to schools such as Maret and Field. It's too much in too little a space. Sidwell has twice the space for just it's high school and middle school. Altogether with its lower school kids will 3x the GDS campus in terms of acreage. STA & NCS and Beauvoir have a spectacular 7x campus. Field and Maret have about the same but with fewer kids.

[Anonymous]

I see this point. GDS will have a huge field space problem. Compare it to Holton or Landon, for example.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Losing the Safeway, having to drive somewhere for middle-grocery shopping, having dead space on Wisconsin Avenue and having to deal with the car-pooling and suburban dopers, yes, pretty much a net loss.

Long time real estate person here. Expanding the presence of a strong school has never been a net negative for a neighborhood. Never. Just ask the property owners in Edgemoor, Bethesda. It might be a nuisance in the short term, but the rewards are tangible on the back end.

You have to remember, some of these clowns put lots of emphasis on walkability, preferably in their Birkenstocks, and don't really see this from a capitalistic standpoint.

[Anonymous]

What are the rewards? Edgemore does not love Sidwell. Lots of resentment over car pool lines, parking, periodic construction. For that matter, neighbors delayed - in part- the construction of athletic facilities on STA propety

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What are the rewards? Edgemore does not love Sidwell. Lots of resentment over car pool lines, parking, periodic construction. For that matter, neighbors delayed - in part- the construction of athletic facilities on STA propety

Good schools nearby (both public and private, although more the case with public schools) are good for property values, even if individuals don't actually always recognize it. And obviously it's human nature to focus on immediate irritations (construction, parking issues) rather than benefits that are hard to quantify (how much more is my house worth?) and don't come into play until you are selling your property.