This had to be done, but it's kind of a big FU to current families and recent grads.

You are gonna love the increased school size and traffic

Chuckling at those who defended the GDS micro campus for years and now say the $100 million upgrade is essential. Pity the grads who paid top dollar for inadequate facilities.

It's long overdue. When this is done GDS could be a real player in the private school scene. WES should be next.

voice = void, darned auto-correct.

I have posted already in this thread, but given that there was a plan for a mixed-use store which would have brought new residents and news income tax and property tax to the city that will now be replaced by a voice on Wisconsin Avenue and a removal of very valuable property from the city coffers, I believe this is a negative.

A private school brings nothing of value to the residential community. The school promised in its last variance hearings to share their field with the community as part of an amenity package, yet they never followed through with it despite years of pressing on it. They have, at every turn sought to increase capacity at their schools despite promises not to do so, and they are a really bad neighbor where traffic and parking are concerned. Plus, many are really tired of their upper classmen smoking pot and cigarettes in the residential areas near people's back yards where little kids are playing.

I will be asking the ANC to take a very close look at the proposals when they surface.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.washingtonian.com/blogs/openhouse/development/georgetown-day-school-buying-safeway-and-car-dealership-in-big-expansion.php

GDS is buying the Safeway and Volvo dealership to expand and consolidate its campuses.

Great for the school. Horrible for the neighborhood.

I think it's a win-win. Great for the school and for the AU neighborhood, which avoids getting another oversized, generic town center development of the type going up a mile south along Wisconsin Avenue. Even some folks who thought they wanted Cathedral Commons are now expressing surprise and disappointment at how large and out of scale it is for the surrounding neighborhood. They are concerned that it will be traffic magnet nightmare. I am not a GDS parent, but I expect that the school will be much more sensitive to immediate community concerns.

+1. I think it will improve the neighborhood greatly. That Safeway is a dump- I'm not surprised it's closing. There's a WF a couple of blocks away and a Giant in Friendship Heights, both of which are much nicer. And what value does a car dealership add to a neighborhood?

My dd is in k class of gds. the new building is a 5-7 year plan. Will this new building construction hurt the education quality or increase tuition a lot in the construction years?

You are making fun of her for still calling it "Fresh Fields" and calling it "Tenley Town"? GTFOOH.

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps property values will go up, but the loss of the grocery store (Fresh Fields is too expensive for regular shopping) and the increased traffic (including those who will now have to drive to go to the store) makes this a loss for daily quality of life in the neighborhood.

Omg. Are you really calling Whole Foods Fresh Fields....in 2014. Hilarious.

Personally I could not care less about GDS or Tenley Town which is a hellish area I avoid at all costs anyway. But still, this post is soooo funny.

Well, second thought, maybe this will make Tenley Town nicer. It is such a shit hole now. Sure cant get worse from them building a school campus. Still, what an unattractive area for a private school.

Perhaps property values will go up, but the loss of the grocery store (Fresh Fields is too expensive for regular shopping) and the increased traffic (including those who will now have to drive to go to the store) makes this a loss for daily quality of life in the neighborhood.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a Palisades resident who hates the GDS lower school traffic, I'm curious what will happen to the lower school campus.

More townhouses

The site is zoned for single-family detached residential. So townhouses would require a zoning variance. If you're going to go through that you may as well go big.

I support a new high school west of the park. But Marion Barry will come back for a 5th and eternal term as mayor before the DC political climate is such that DCPS would spend $$ to buy property in NW when they are closing schools elsewhere.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This also explains why they haven't spent a lot of $$$ upgrading the lower/middle school recently...

Palisades, get ready for a mega-development.

Nonsense. Some other independent school will jump at the chance to buy GDS' Palisades facility.

I don't know that building well.....would it be big enough for a second dcps high school west of the park?

It's bigger than the Ellington site. Over in the public school forum they're already discussing what the city would have to do to buy it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This also explains why they haven't spent a lot of $$$ upgrading the lower/middle school recently...

Palisades, get ready for a mega-development.

Nonsense. Some other independent school will jump at the chance to buy GDS' Palisades facility.

I don't know that building well.....would it be big enough for a second dcps high school west of the park?