For all the difficulty and anguish of closing under-utilized public schools, the process is likely to prompt excitement from at least one constituency in the city: real estate developers.
When Mayor Adrian M. Fenty and D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee announced in 2007 that they would try to close 24 public schools, the interest from the commercial real estate industry was immediate, and for good reason.
Some of the schools Fenty and Rhee proposed shuttering — and which ultimately closed — held high commercial value. Hine Jr. High School on Capitol Hill, across from Eastern Market, and Stevens Elementary School, in the West End, topped the list. Hine is on its way to becoming a mixed-use project led by EastBanc, and Akridge and Ivymount School plan to turn Stevens into an office building and special education center.
What are the prospects for the 20 schools pegged for closure by Kaya Henderson, schools chancellor Mayor Vincent C. Gray?
It is not clear. When Fenty and Rhee began closing schools, Neil O. Albert, then-deputy mayor for planning and economic development, did not take long to see empty school building as a redevelopment opportunity. Fenty and Rhee announced their plans to close the schools in November of 2007 and by December of 2008, Albert had analyzed the available properties and prepared 11 of them for commercial real estate developers to bid on (which they announced two days before Christmas).
Henderson, on the other hand, said Tuesday that she wants to keep all of the schools within the school system’s control and has already announced plans to re-use many of them.
Of the 20 schools (or 19 buildings), she suggests that 11 buildings be kept by DCPS, either to plan for future expansion of the school system or for expansion of other educational programs. These include: Francis-Stevens, Garrison, MacFarland, Marshall, Spingarn, Prospect, Shaw at Garnet-Patterson, Davis, Kenilworth, Ferebee-Hope and Johnson.
For three other schools, Henderson says she has set aside for possible use by charters schools. Those are Sharpe Health School, Hamilton campus and Malcolm X. That leaves five listed as “to be determined” and Shaw at Garnet-Patterson as possibly “to be determined.”
Jose Sousa, spokesman for Victor Hoskins, deputy mayor for planning and economic development, said early Tuesday afternoon that he had not seen the list of proposed schools to close and declined comment.
Regardless of whether Henderson succeeds in closing the schools but retaining control of the buildings, there is nothing on the current list of closures that approach Hine or Stevens in terms of commercial real estate value. Nine of the properties, for instance, are located east of the Anacostia River, which has not traditionally been a magnet for new development.
But there are certainly properties that will attract commercial interest.
Although Henderson has it pegged for expansion of a high school for School Without Walls, Francis-Stevens Education campus, at 2425 N St. NW, is sandwiched between Rock Creek Park and neighborhoods in the West End. It’s down the street from the Fairmont Hotel and the Park Hyatt.
Garrison Elementary, at 1200 S St. NW, is just north of Logan Circle. Nearby, Shaw Middle School at Garnet-Patterson, at 2001 10th Street NW, is just north of U Street, in an area in which the JBG Cos. is aggressively adding new apartments and retail.
There are some potentially attractive properties in Northeast as well, near the booming H Street corridor. Prospect Learning Center, at 920 F Street NE, is between H Street and Capitol Hill. Spingarn High School, at 2500 Benning Road NE, is along the first streetcar route planned by the city and has been discussed as a property on which to store the new streetcars. Henderson plans for it to be turned into a career and technical education center.
The education discussion comes first. But shortly thereafter, expect the real estate discussion to begin.
Empower DC and the Barry Farm Tenant and Allies Association (BFTAA) confronted DC Mayor Vincent Gray during his planned photo opportunity at the “ground breaking” for the new Barry Farm Recreation Center. While the ground breaking occurred on the grounds of the existing Rec Center, the plans for the new one have not yet been made public and the only existing public plans have the Center built on another location entirely, not only raising the question of why the ground breaking was at the wrong location, but why the existing Rec Center has to close in order to build a new one slated to be built on a separate piece of property.
Through the power of protest, Barry Farm residents and Empower DC won a reprieve for the Center as the city promised not to shutter the facility until they actually meet with the residents. Empower DC organizer Schyla Pondexter-Moore spearheaded the organizing of the action. Executive Director Parisa Nouruzi was featured on the news, as well as members Joe-Ann Donaldson, Phyllissa Bilal and Michelle Hamilton. See news clips below.
Cross-Posted from the Washington Post By Courtland Milloy, Published: December 11
Busses Parked Across the Street from Crummell School.
Back in the 1970s, many low-income black D.C. residents began expressing fears that a nefarious scheme was afoot to push them out of the city. They called it “The Plan.” And they were all but laughed out of the city for sounding so paranoid. But, as the saying goes, just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you.
Take the case of Ivy City residents, whose legal battles with the D.C. government offer evidence that The Plan is not some figment of poor folks’ imagination. And, in many ways, it’s even more dastardly than they thought.
In temporarily halting a District plan to put a bus depot in Ivy City, D.C. Superior Court Judge Judith N. Macaluso ruled Monday that Mayor Vincent C. Gray’s administration had “deliberately disregarded” laws requiring that residents be informed about how they would be affected by the move. Even worse, the judge found that developers had “evaded environmental screening by mischaracterizing the project” on city documents.
The only difference between this plan and The Plan as low-income people envisioned it is that instead of being pushed out by whites returning to take over the city, they were being pushed out by black elected officials operating as if in the employ of developers.
Union Station developers wanted a depot to keep buses that bring tourists to and from the station so merchants could sell fast food and souvenirs. Investors wanted to make a profit, city officials more tax dollars — for more bike lanes and dog parks, no doubt.
And if a bunch of low-income residents would have to breathe air filled with carcinogenic diesel exhaust to make it happen, so be it. Kill two birds with one stone.
You want to get rid of poor people? Raise their hopes by promising to renovate a historic African American landmark in their community, as Gray did to the people of Ivy City — but then turn around and break their hearts by trying to turn the site into a bus depot.
Tell Ivy City residents that the former Alexander Crummell School, named for an abolitionist who devoted his life to the uplift of black people, will be turned into a community center worthy of its namesake.
Then let them find out that instead of bringing new life to the neighborhood, you’ll be hastening the death of its residents — some of whom are children and elderly who suffer from asthma and other respiratory illnesses.
According to the city’s own comprehensive “master plan,” Ivy City will be made “green” and have lots of amenities in the near future. The question has always been who will be there to enjoy it? If gentrification in other parts of the city is any guide, the answer will more likely be newcomers with money rather than the poor folks who live there now.
Except that Ivy City, along New York Avenue about a dozen blocks east of North Capitol Street, is not like most other low-income neighborhoods. With their health and safety, actually their very lives, being threatened by the proposed bus depot, the residents fought back. They organized with help from a grass-roots group called Empower DC, held protest rallies and confronted city officials at public events.
The fight was led by Andria Swanson, president of the Ivy City Neighborhood Association, along with Ivy City residents Sheba Alexander, Jeanette Carter and Vaughn Bennett, and Empower DC co-founder Parisa Norouzi, among others. D.C. lawyer Johnny Barnes represented them in court.
After Macaluso’s ruling, Ivy City residents gathered for a celebration at the community’s Bethesda Baptist Church, where strategy meetings were often held.
Among the happiest residents were the youngsters who live in Ivy City, still clinging to hope that the Crummell School grounds will one day have a recreation center and other community programs.
“We like football, but there is no place to play except in the streets,” said De’Mar Williams, 15.
Demarco Jones, 12, said: “Most of the money is being spent on bike lanes when we could use it over here for job training.”
The ruling by Macaluso had been a significant win for Ivy City, but it was also confirmation of just how low the powers-that-be would go to keep them down. And out.
“The public interest lies in compliance with the District’s environmental laws and regulations so that District residents are protected from avoidable harm,” the judge wrote. “Similarly, the public’s interest lies in making sure the applicants who evade environmental screening procedures by filing incorrect information — and failing to correct it — are not rewarded for this misconduct.”
City officials and developers were, in fact, deceiving, misleading and colluding in schemes where money mattered more than people. As it turns out, the poor folks’ talk of The Plan wasn’t so far-fetched after all.
Superior Court Judge Judith Macaluso found that city officials broke the law by not seeking input from the area’s advisory neighborhood commission and by circumventing a mandated environmental assessment.
While the city can finish construction on the lot, next to the Crummell School at Kendall and Gallaudet streets NE, it cannot use the area to stage buses until it seeks approval from the local ANC and seeks a more comprehensive environmental review. That process could take several months.
During court hearings, a former city official said plans were presented to the Ivy City Civic Association rather than the ANC because the ICCA had been ”more vocal” about the project, which involves repaving the lot and erecting a new fence and landscaping.
“To reason that the ANC need not be consulted because it was less vocal and therefore less interested than the ICCA is simply not permitted under District law,” Macaluso wrote.
Jose Sousa, a spokesman for the District’s economic development office, said officials are “examining the decision and evaluating for immediate appeal.”
The city pressed the Crummell School parking plan after the creation of an intercity bus terminal at Union Station in September meant evicting tour buses from parking spaces there. In court, the former city official said a proposal to park the tour buses at the old Greyhound terminal just north of Union Station was eliminated because ANC members there “didn’t want buses there period.”
Johnny Barnes, a civil rights attorney who represented neighborhood residents, called the ruling “a resounding victory, not just for Ivy City but the entire city.”
“The court recognized the role of ANCs in the city,” he said. “The District has not been respectful of that role. This could mean a turning point in the role that ANCs play and were intended to play.”
Barnes acknowledged “some concern” that the city will cross the T’s identified in Macaluso’s ruling, then move ahead with the bus lot plans. “But I have more hope than concern,” he said. “My hope is that the mayor and those in positions of power will recognize that you can’t run roughshod over the right of participation at the grass-roots level.”
On the 10th of December, Judge Judith Macaluso ruled for the plaintiffs in Vaughn Bennett, et al v. Union Station Redevelopment Corporation, et al. The motion for a preliminary injunction to stop construction was GRANTED, Empower DC held a victory party later that evening.
From Empower DC’s email announcement:
JUDGE GRANTS IVY CITY MOTION FOR PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION AGAINST CHARTER BUS PARKING LOT
Today, Judge Judith Macaluso ruled in favor of the Plaintiffs in the case case of Vaughn Bennett, et al v. Union Station Redevelopment Corporation, et al. The court docket entry states:
“It is ORDERED, that the “Motion for a Preliminary Injunction,” filed by Plaintiffs Vaughn Bennett, Andria Swanson, and Jeanette Carter on July 26, 2012, is GRANTED. It is further ORDERED, that Defendants Union Station Redevelopment Corporation and Mayor Vincent C. Gray are ENJOINED from operating a diesel bus parking facility on the grounds of the Crummell School until (a) procedures established by D.C. Code § 1-309.10 are complied with and (b) USRC submits an accurate Environmental Intake Form and Environmental Impact Screening Form to the District of Columbia Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, and complies with any requirements that result from evaluation of those submittals. It is further ORDERED, that this injunction shall not restrain Defendants from completing construction or, or maintaining, the lot and appurtenant facilities. It is further ORDERED, that this injunction shall not be lifted except by further order of the court.”
The order likely means that construction of the charter bus parking lot on Gallaudet Street NE in Ivy City will have to stop until the court lifts the injunction or the District of Columbia and the Union Station Redevelopment Corporation comply with the judges order.
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