Anonymous wrote:What is a shame is that at a time that the city is crying for more housing and more options to address homelessness, GDS has removed at least three floors from the residential side of the project. What a smart city leader should be doing is saying put those 3 floors back and add three more and we will have a great location for a mixed income residential development that is in a transit rich area with good schools.

Instead, what we are getting is the same old NIMBY, lop off another floor and make the development as uninteresting as possible and add as little true amenity to the area and city as possible.

Perhaps we've missed something, so kindly point out the parts of GDS' PUD application that proposed housing for the homeless. Instead, various parties asked GDS to provide more "affordable" housing as a PUD "amenity" and GDS' response was that they would provide only the statutory required minimum. Rather than a mixed income development, the PUD's market focus has always been upscale housing.

As for area public schools, they may be good but all (Janney, Deal and Wilson) are seriously overcrowded now, even after each has been expanded (some more than once). Building 10 or 12 story developments in Tenleytown without more school capacity is a disservice to current and future students -- that is, unless GDS proposes to educate them.

The fact that the D.C. Office of Planning, which in recent years has been a reflexive cheerleader for more development and density, opposed GDS' request for a map amendment to effectively upzone the PUD parcel is quite significant and speaks volumes about the problems with plan that the school pushed for too long.

What is a shame is that at a time that the city is crying for more housing and more options to address homelessness, GDS has removed at least three floors from the residential side of the project. What a smart city leader should be doing is saying put those 3 floors back and add three more and we will have a great location for a mixed income residential development that is in a transit rich area with good schools.

Instead, what we are getting is the same old NIMBY, lop off another floor and make the development as uninteresting as possible and add as little true amenity to the area and city as possible.

He's going to ruin that school. And it's really a shame because there were some wonderful things about GDS. But under his leadership, the focus seems to have been on accentuating the negatives.

Anonymous wrote:You don't suppose their Smartest Guy in the Room sense of entitlement has anything to do with that, do you?

Anonymous wrote:Ironically, they have run into an administration that for whatever reason, doesn't want to support THIS development proposal despite supporting just about every other density project in the city.

The GDS school head has a column in this week’s Northwest Current, that comes across as both pouty and cloying. He complains about the D.C. Planning Office’s opposition to the zoning map amendment that the school wants for the Maartens site, but then says that because GDS is “not a typical developer” it will not fight the Planning Office and instead will scale back the height of the project.

Anonymous wrote:Nw current story makes it look like gds still has a lot of problems, while Sidwell gets a standing ovation from zoning.

Sidwell passed on being a campus expander and a major developer at the same time.

Anonymous wrote:You don't suppose their Smartest Guy in the Room sense of entitlement has anything to do with that, do you?

Anonymous wrote:Ironically, they have run into an administration that for whatever reason, doesn't want to support THIS development proposal despite supporting just about every other density project in the city.

Doubling the enrollment on the Wisconsin campus, combined with a PUD across the street, means two major projects that create multiple, significant impacts at one location. To the extent that the DC agencies are taking their job more seriously now (even if in the past they've been in the tank with developers), is the result of these impacts and the fact that they have been hearing from many potentially affected residents. There's no question that this was also a lot for the school administration to undertake at once. (Even backed by the Smartest Guys in the Room and the Team of Aces, this is still sailing in uncharted waters for the head of school and his team.) All that said, GDS seems to be moving in the right direction by making more changes to the PUD project to address concerns and increase public support.)

You don't suppose their Smartest Guy in the Room sense of entitlement has anything to do with that, do you?

Anonymous wrote:Ironically, they have run into an administration that for whatever reason, doesn't want to support THIS development proposal despite supporting just about every other density project in the city.

Nw current story makes it look like gds still has a lot of problems, while Sidwell gets a standing ovation from zoning.

The "Team of Aces"?

Nah, the Team of Arses.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good spot for Halloween costume store

Now that is funny.

Why is it funny?

Because a Halloween costume store is the tell tale sign of real estate in an idle position. Think Kay B toy store former storefront in a decaying suburban mall.

The Germans have a word for it....

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Good spot for Halloween costume store

Now that is funny.

Why is it funny?

Anonymous wrote:Team of deuces.

Or Team of Douches

Team of deuces.

Anonymous wrote:Ironically, they have run into an administration that for whatever reason, doesn't want to support THIS development proposal despite supporting just about every other density project in the city.

Perhaps GDS hired the wrong crony consultants...?