Anonymous wrote:A good part of your sentence makes no sense, but you seem to be saying that a single instance of a house near a private school selling quickly for more than the asking price establishes that proximity to private schools raises housing values. The anecdote shows nothing. The house could have been underpriced. Even if it was pverpriced, there could be something about other aspects of the neighborhood that made the house particularly attractive. There also could be something about Maret that other private schools such as GDS do not have. There is far more green space on the Maret campus, relative to the student body, than there will be at the new GDS campus. The architecture at Maret is very different than the institutional architecture proposed for the GDS expansion.

Anonymous wrote:When the statement is made that private schools are bad for the community, and the retort is that the community home values are not the same as 'right next door' and yet, right next door there is a house that went quickly, over asking, then yes, the anecdotal makes the point.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at the house immediately next to Maret that sold in a day. And while I wasn't referring to the immediate parcel, but rather the neighborhood, so despite that, there is high demand for houses on Woodley Road, off of Foxhall Rd, in Cleveland Park and North Cleveland Park and Tenleytown. I don't see where the presence of private schools has at all diminished property values and instead look in the school directories and you will see scores of families that chose to live within walking distance of these schools, and in many cases, they moved after their kids were admitted.

Otherwise, all of the data is available in the DC Property Tax database. Inspect it yourself.

Oh you and I agree completely that "being in the general vicinity of elite schools, the metro station, shopping etc" is absolutely a boost to property values. I live on one such Ward 3 block myself.

No, the actual, discrete topic here is ... what happens to the property value of the bungalow or rowhouse immediately adjacent to and in the shadow of the new 90-ft-high GDS tower / Cathedral Commons barf / 300 additional students over night? Do you truly believe that bungalow's value holds steady? Do you think it is the same as the identical bungalow 4 blocks into the neighborhood (CCDC, Tenley, CP, doesn't matter)

Hint: No.

Anonymous wrote:When the statement is made that private schools are bad for the community, and the retort is that the community home values are not the same as 'right next door' and yet, right next door there is a house that went quickly, over asking, then yes, the anecdotal makes the point.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at the house immediately next to Maret that sold in a day. And while I wasn't referring to the immediate parcel, but rather the neighborhood, so despite that, there is high demand for houses on Woodley Road, off of Foxhall Rd, in Cleveland Park and North Cleveland Park and Tenleytown. I don't see where the presence of private schools has at all diminished property values and instead look in the school directories and you will see scores of families that chose to live within walking distance of these schools, and in many cases, they moved after their kids were admitted.

Otherwise, all of the data is available in the DC Property Tax database. Inspect it yourself.

Oh you and I agree completely that "being in the general vicinity of elite schools, the metro station, shopping etc" is absolutely a boost to property values. I live on one such Ward 3 block myself.

No, the actual, discrete topic here is ... what happens to the property value of the bungalow or rowhouse immediately adjacent to and in the shadow of the new 90-ft-high GDS tower / Cathedral Commons barf / 300 additional students over night? Do you truly believe that bungalow's value holds steady? Do you think it is the same as the identical bungalow 4 blocks into the neighborhood (CCDC, Tenley, CP, doesn't matter)

Hint: No.

Anonymous wrote:Look at the house immediately next to Maret that sold in a day. And while I wasn't referring to the immediate parcel, but rather the neighborhood, so despite that, there is high demand for houses on Woodley Road, off of Foxhall Rd, in Cleveland Park and North Cleveland Park and Tenleytown. I don't see where the presence of private schools has at all diminished property values and instead look in the school directories and you will see scores of families that chose to live within walking distance of these schools, and in many cases, they moved after their kids were admitted.

Otherwise, all of the data is available in the DC Property Tax database. Inspect it yourself.

Anonymous wrote:

1. Dense mixed use in proximity to existing residential areas can also lead to lower property values because of traffic, parking and other external costs imposed on the neighborhood.

Anonymous wrote:The house immediately next door to Maret sold over asking in one day. That is a fact. The inforamtion you are requesting is readily available and it is a fact that houses on Woodley Road, Upton Street, Garfield Street and Terrace etc are all in high demand and sell quickly. Are you disputing that Cleveland Park, Woodley Park and AU Park homes generally sell quickly?

And, aren't you the same person who suggested that housing values are lower in areas where there is high walkability and demand for shops and restaurants?

Tell it to the folks who live on the 1300-1700 blocks of P through R Street whose property values have quadrupled in the past 10 years.

Anonymous wrote:Look at the house immediately next to Maret that sold in a day. And while I wasn't referring to the immediate parcel, but rather the neighborhood, so despite that, there is high demand for houses on Woodley Road, off of Foxhall Rd, in Cleveland Park and North Cleveland Park and Tenleytown. I don't see where the presence of private schools has at all diminished property values and instead look in the school directories and you will see scores of families that chose to live within walking distance of these schools, and in many cases, they moved after their kids were admitted.

Otherwise, all of the data is available in the DC Property Tax database. Inspect it yourself.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The school could sell the Safeway lot to a developer to put residential on the residentially-zoned plots and commercial on the commercial plots. Smart growth groups should pressure GDS to do so instead of applauding this massive loss of housing and tax revenue. Matter of right development at both sites would produce much more tax revenue and housing for the District. But you can continue to support this bad project because GDS shill.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very important distinction. The harm of this project will be both to DC generally and Tenleytown specifically. A large swath of land that could be used for dense mixed-use development, creating hundreds of new homes for residents in Tenleytown, millions of dollars of tax revenue directly, and more through enhanced valuations of surrounding properties, is instead being devoted to a private school. Greater Greater Washington should get on this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tenleytown doesn't get tax revenue. It all goes to DC.

reading is so hard. So many words, so many letters and stuff:

"ring desired vibrancy and renewal to Tenleytown and needed tax revenue and housing to DC."

Also, the grey haired old-timers in the neighborhood would fight this tooth and nail.


Except that wasn't the post that prompted the comment. This one was: "By putting a school on a valuable commercial lot, the school will actually take tax revenue and vibrancy away from Tenleytown."

If a private developer had bought both the Safeway parcel and the Martens lot, then yes, you would have an argument. However, the school bought the property, so unless they sell the whole thing, we are left with maximizing the part that won't be the school.

But, [b]you can continue to fight the school because NIMBY.

Yes, the school could do that and I suspect Smart Growth groups would welcome the additional housing. However, I don't think Smart Growth groups are in a position to pressure a property owner to do anything like what you suggest.

Anonymous wrote:The school could sell the Safeway lot to a developer to put residential on the residentially-zoned plots and commercial on the commercial plots. Smart growth groups should pressure GDS to do so instead of applauding this massive loss of housing and tax revenue. Matter of right development at both sites would produce much more tax revenue and housing for the District. But you can continue to support this bad project because GDS shill.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Very important distinction. The harm of this project will be both to DC generally and Tenleytown specifically. A large swath of land that could be used for dense mixed-use development, creating hundreds of new homes for residents in Tenleytown, millions of dollars of tax revenue directly, and more through enhanced valuations of surrounding properties, is instead being devoted to a private school. Greater Greater Washington should get on this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tenleytown doesn't get tax revenue. It all goes to DC.

reading is so hard. So many words, so many letters and stuff:

"ring desired vibrancy and renewal to Tenleytown and needed tax revenue and housing to DC."

Except that wasn't the post that prompted the comment. This one was: "By putting a school on a valuable commercial lot, the school will actually take tax revenue and vibrancy away from Tenleytown."

If a private developer had bought both the Safeway parcel and the Martens lot, then yes, you would have an argument. However, the school bought the property, so unless they sell the whole thing, we are left with maximizing the part that won't be the school.

But, [b]you can continue to fight the school because NIMBY.