Reply to Why is Friendship Heights so empty and lame?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]There was an article a few years back that city centre dc sucked all the luxury life from FH--a lot of the stores moved. Honestly, with city centre even more plagued by crime, perhaps they'll all come back. I am devastated that they didn't maintain the Mazza facade--it was weird but interesting--they could have blown out the back with something glass, airy and outward looking. Whatever, I'm sure they'll replace it with something horrendously nonedescript with some luxury condos tacked on. Not sure that will be a big win.[/quote]

…and yet in 50 years there will be a group of people trying to get historic designation for the “horrendously nondescript” building going up as we speak.

Mazza was just as nondescript as any other modern building…and many buildings constructed 50 or 70 or 100 years ago.[/quote]

it just wasn't. It had a striking architecture. You might not have liked it, but it was bold. [/quote]

This is the problem with historic designation and the like.  It’s really just personal taste.  What you say is striking I guarantee didn’t resonate with 99% of the population.

It looked like a hulking enclosed mall…nothing more.  I don’t care they tore it down, nor would I care if someone thought repurposing the existing structure was a better use.  That’s capitalism and I wish the new owner/developer with success as this will be the anchor for new development.[/quote]

A lot of this new development has a huge carbon footprint when they tear down and start over, rather than conserve and repurpose. This is about quick $ for developers and whatever the long term impact of their tiny luxury condos, who cares. Not thoughtful mixed use urban planning. But feel free to pretend otherwise.[/quote]

Repurposing older buildngs, especially Class C office is insanely expensive. A lot of the buildings in FH are 40 plus years old.  You basically have to gut it down to the studs and rebuild.  Honestly, in many ways it is easier to tear down and start over with materials and design that meet todays sustainability standards and what the markets wants.    There is a reason conversions of office downtown are so challenging.  Why do people who know nothing about real estate or construction act like they own these properties and they know how to make them profitable?   [/quote]  Mazza Galleria was an open artium shopping mall, not an office building.[/quote]

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