August- September 2005

Building to a Consensus

Foggy Bottom Campus and Square 54: Community-Based Planning Process Update

BY TRACY SCHARIO

GW, ANC 2A, and the DC Office of Planning (OP) co-sponsored a series of open community meetings this summer intended to capture community input with respect to the Foggy Bottom Campus, including Square 54. These meetings are a part of the University’s broader effort to engage the community in conversation regarding the future development of the Foggy Bottom campus in the context of the surrounding Foggy Bottom and West End communities.

GW, in consultation with OP, has retained various land use and development professionals in support of this planning process. Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn (EE&K) Architects, an architecture/planning firm with extensive experience in the District, is working to create a development plan for GW’s Foggy Bottom Campus. Community facilitator David Julyan serves as the interface between the community, the District, GW, and the planning consultants, facilitating and documenting public participation in the process.

Specific to Square 54, the Boston Properties/KSI Services, Inc. developer team is creating a development plan for the former GW Hospital site, integrating the findings of the advisory services panel convened in May 2005 by the Urban Land Institute. The ULI panel brought together experts from a variety of disciplines to evaluate redevelopment opportunities for Square 54 and to provide recommendations for appropriate densities and uses.

The community meetings held throughout the spring and summer months assisted in refining key issues, formulating design principles based on the issues raised, and developing design concepts that can be incorporated into a conceptual framework for the future of the campus and Square 54. The open community meetings, “office hours” with Julyan and EE&K, and the community-based planning process Web site, www.neighborhood.gwu.edu, have been the primary means of gathering feedback from the many interested stakeholders, including residents, business owners, civic groups, the University community, and District agencies.

Foggy Bottom Campus

At the most recent community meeting, on July 26, EE&K presented design principles and concepts which addressed the future development of the Foggy Bottom Campus, including Square 54. These principles and concepts include:

1. Future GW academic and housing growth is to occur within campus boundaries and be concentrated in areas where University uses are more intense.

2. New buildings are designed to complement the character of the Foggy Bottom/West End neighborhood and the GW campus.

3. Five main streets of campus – Pennsylvania Avenue, I Street, H Street, G Street and F Street – provide a variety of character and uses within the campus and along its boundaries.

4. Density is highest adjacent to the Foggy Bottom Metro station along 23rd Street, Washington Circle, and Pennsylvania Avenue.

5. Square 54 and Metro plaza at 23rd and I streets create a new “Town Center” that is supported by neighborhood retail, and I Street is transformed into a “retail corridor” extending from the Metro station to the Shops at 2000 Penn.

“GW is seeking to accommodate our forecasted housing and academic needs within the campus boundaries by ‘growing up, not out,’ while continuing to comply with the conditions of the Foggy Bottom Campus Plan,” explained Louis Katz, executive vice president and treasurer. “Through the community-based planning process, we are seeking the input of all stakeholders to develop a plan for the future of the Foggy Bottom Campus and Square 54 that achieves shared benefits for the community, the District, and the University.”

Square 54 – Town Center

The community-based planning process has specifically addressed the redevelopment of Square 54, the former GW Hospital site. The University would like to utilize this parcel for a mixed-used commercial development.
At the July 26 community meeting Boston Properties/KSI proposed a potential option for the redevelopment of Square 54 – a Town Center concept. The following is a summary of the developers’ preliminary proposal for Square 54.

Town Center Design. The preliminary proposal draws on and responds to the site’s location at the northwest corner of the Foggy Bottom Campus, its proximity to the Central Business District and Pennsylvania Avenue Corridor area, the Foggy Bottom/GWU Metro stop, historic Foggy Bottom, and the institutional and financial area. Through careful location of buildings and uses, Boston Properties/KSI’s proposed design for Square 54 seeks to strengthen the surrounding streets and create an active mixed-use neighborhood for shared benefits.

The Office Building. The proposed office building would likely locate primary entrances on Pennsylvania Avenue and Washington Circle. The character of the design could be developed to give depth and sculptural relief in the facade, responding in a contemporary way to the richness and variety of the nearby architecture.

The Residential Building. The proposed residential building is a broken U-shape structure. It encloses and defines an open interior courtyard and paved plaza and is set back from I Street along the southern edge to create a wider pedestrian zone.

The Central Courtyard. Proposed at the center of the site is a raised, landscaped courtyard visible from I Street and 23rd Street as well as a paved plaza area adjacent to, and directly behind, the office building.

The Retail Area. A mixture of neighborhood-serving retail, a grocery store, and potentially a civic use are proposed to occupy the street level spaces along most of the perimeter of the site, servicing both the neighborhood and the University populations and predominately organized to have entries directly visible from the Metro stop.

Service and Parking access to the site is proposed from 22nd Street. Also, the University and the developer team are exploring the feasibility of including additional parking on Square 54 to replace or consolidate some existing GW on-campus parking.

Other Amenities could include landscaping, hardscape, and garden areas. Plans are still being developed as to how these outdoor spaces might function.

Another community meeting is scheduled for Sept. 20, concluding this phase of the planning process. For more information on the planning process and to access the presentations from the community meetings, visit www.neighborhood.gwu.edu.

Send feedback to: bygeorge@gwu.edu