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At the April 2007 CSNA General Membership Meeting, representatives from the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Devlopment (Neil Albert) attended the meeting to discuss ongoing projects and development in the neighborhood. 

Greg O'Dell, Chief Development Officer; David Jannarone, Director of Development; and Derrick Woody, Coordinator - Great Streets, provided additional information on several issues that were not able to be fully addressed at the meeting.

U Street Historic Loop / Shuttle

The U Street Link (Metro Bus Route 98) was created in order to serve the transportation needs of the evening patrons of 18th and U Streets. The Adams Morgan Community asked the District to provide some form of transportation service for the high number of night club patrons coming into the community during the evening hours. Many of these patrons drove into the community and were seeking on-street parking spaces which were not readily available. The U Street Link was designed to transport the public from either the U St Metro Rail Station or the Woodley Park Rail Station to the entertainment areas of U Street and 18th Street . By having this convenient link, the night crowd would better utilize it by transferring from Metro to the bus line.  The District is also studying the feasibility of expanding the DC Circulator to serve this area as well.

Green Team Grant

The Columbia Heights Shaw Family Support Collaborative submitted an application for the FY07 Target Area Project Grant for the Green Team Project.  Their application was conditionally approved. Presently, the grant award is being reviewed by the impacted ANC. The ANC review period ends on May 30, 2007.

Housing Finance Agency Parking

The HFA parking garage is available for use by special request to the agency. For security and insurance purposes, the garage has to be monitored by HFA staff during usage. The HFA is willing to work with community members on a case by case basis and with more specific information about the parking needs.

WMATA RFP Issuance Date

WMATA is currently soliciting offers to compete against an unsolicited proposal for the three Shaw Howard University Metro parcels along Florida Avenue . Parcel 1 contains approximately 3,800 square feet and has 57 feet of frontage on 9th Street and 70 feet of frontage on Florida Avenue NW. Parcels 1 and 2 are separated by a public alley. Parcel 2 contains approximately 8,600 square feet and has 74.5 feet of frontage on 8th Street NW and 100 feet of frontage on Florida Avenue NW. Parcel 3 contains approximately 16,472 square feet and has 124 feet of frontage on Florida Avenue NW and 177 feet of frontage on 8th Street NW. Parcel 3 is separated from Parcel 2 by 8th Street NW. The closing date for submitting proposals is 3 PM on Thursday, May 31, 2007.

Developers may propose a lease or sale or both as alternatives. Typically, WMATA has leased property for commercial use and sold property for condominium development. However, WMATA’s preference is to lease, rather than sell its property. If a sale is proposed, the proposal must demonstrate that a sale is more advantageous to WMATA than a long-term lease.

A copy of the solicitation is attached.

WMATA Lots for Temporary Parking

WMATA is open to working with the community to determine what can be done to provide short term and temporary parking on two of the three parcels. As indicated above, WMATA is currently seeking a developer for these sites so any plan for usage would be only for up to 4 months maximum. Parcels 1 and 2 are currently paved and are used on weekends for the Flea Market. Any arrangement would have to determine the rules for usage and an operator must be identified. Here also, more information is needed about the parking needs for a more specific response to be developed.

U Street NW - 9th to Vermont DC Owned Lot

Square 0361 Lot 0833 is owned by the District of Columbia . The lot contains 5,872 square feet of land area on U Street NW between 9th Street and Vermont Avenue NW . The site is currently used as parking by the Fire and EMS government tenants in the Grimke School on Vermont Avenue NW .  Eventually the District will issue a solicitation of offers for the site to find a developer, but no timeline currently exists for this action. The site is within the portfolio of the Office of Property Management.