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'Shuttle Diplomacy' Yields Green Light for F St. Project

By Thomas C. Hall, Staff Writer
Washington Business Journal
July 20 - 26, 2001

A mediator has forged an agreement that will free The John Akridge Cos. to proceed with a major office complex in the 900 block of F Street NW, where historic preservationists have fought a two-year battle to block demolition of most of the block’s older buildings. It took 11 months of "shuttle diplomacy" by Lee Quill, an architect hired by the D.C. Office of Planning, to resolve the two-year standoff in a mediation process city officials hope to use as a model for future disputes.

Akridge agreed to redesign the proposed Carroll Square office complex in a way that preserves most of the 11 older buildings on the site. The developer had sought to demolish all but the facades of the historic 19th century storefronts, which will instead be restored as artists’ studios and galleries in a project with less bulk and density.

"It was hard, with a lot of points of frustration on all sides,” Quill says, "We were on the edge numerous times."

Or in court.

After Akridge obtained permits in November 1999 to build an ll-story, 200,000-square-foot office complex at the corner of 10th and F streets, a District administrative law judge struck down the plan. The proposed complex, on property owned by the Archdiocese of Washington, would have demolished most of the 11 buildings facing F Street. The buildings' facades were incorporated into the design of the new complex.

Akridge filed suit challenging the judge's ruling, while the Committee of 100 on the Federal City, the Downtown Artists Coalition and the D.C. Preservation League countersued to preserve the storefronts, which artists were using as studios.

"Everyone was suing everyone," says Andy Altman, D.C. planning director. "We just said, 'Let's step back and see if we can bring this to some sort of resolution:"

'IT WAS A STRUGGLE'

Akridge President Chip Akridge calls the four-way agreement "precedent-setting" for developers and preservationists, although he remains 'frustrated' with the District's shifting guidelines for projects involving historic properties.

"The approval process is just chaos," Akridge says. "It's a slippery slope for everyone."

Quill began last August by meeting separately with each side in the dispute to try to identify common ground. Later the development team, architects, artists and historic preservationists met to hammer out a compromise - after 50 back-and-forth sessions.

"The developer essentially redesigned the whole project,” Altman says. "In the end, we ended up with a project everyone could live with."

The agreement is awaiting approval from the mayor's agent for historic preservation, and Altman already has recommended it be accepted. As a result of the four-way agreement, all parties will drop pending litigation.

"It was a struggle, and it was a compromise;' says architect David Bell, president of the D.C. Preservation League. The result is still "pushing the envelope;' he says. "It's hard to accommodate an office project at this site."

RESCUE NET FOR THE ARTS

Preservationists balked at Akridge's original "facade-ectomy" plan for seven historic storefronts. That approach was used just across the street, where developers have demolished all but the Adantic Building's thin brick-veneer front..

Akridge trimmed one story and 30,000 square feet off the speculative project's design, a costly concession that minimizes its visual impact, a demand preservationists had pressed.

"This will blend in better than what we're used to seeing in these kinds of projects,” Bell says.

Akridge still will be able to demolish the dilapidated corner stores at 10th and F, where the lO-story office tower will rise to the south of St. Patrick's Church, tapering to five stories in mid-block, with the historic properties abutting the Gallup Building, on the project's east side, keeping their current three-story profile.

"This is an incredible victory and major opportunity,” says Michael Berman, president of the Downtown Artists Coalition. Artists will be guaranteed studio space at below-market rents, which Berman says will allow the arts to survive in "a rapidly redeveloped and increasingly expensive downtown.”

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