Wednesday, September 23, 2015
Serving Chevy Chase, Colonial Village, Shepherd Park, Brightwood, Crestwood, Petworth & 16th Street Heights
Vol. XLVIII, No. 38
The Northwest Current
GDS set to file development plans
field day
■ Tenleytown: Latest version
is still too tall for opponents
By CUNEYT DIL
Current Correspondent
Following months of selling its proposed development to the Tenleytown community, Georgetown Day School is now preparing to file a planned-unit development application for the mixed-use and campus
expansion project that would remake the area around 4800 Wisconsin Ave. NW. The latest plans would erect two residential buildings with groundfloor retail space on the site of the former Martens car dealership at Wisconsin and 42nd Street, which the school bought in 2014. Georgetown Day would also move its lower and middle school campus from the Palisades, bringing hundreds more students to new, larger facilities adja-
cent to the high school at 4200 Davenport St. NW. A lengthy and at times testy community engagement process has played out in monthly meetings and presentations from developers. Many immediate neighbors continue to be concerned about morning and afternoon traffic woes from an increase in cars commuting to the campus and the scale of the mixeduse buildings. See GDS/Page 5
Cafritz project faulted for tree’s death By BRADY HOLT Current Staff Writer
Brian Kapur/The Current
Ruppert Landscape had over 500 employees participate Friday in the company’s annual field day. The service event included team competitions such as obstacle-course races, relay runs and a water slide, but employees also worked on beautifying the Old Soldiers’ Home campus with more than 1,000 new plants, shrubs, pavers and sod.
A large pin oak tree on Military Road died recently in part due to adjacent construction at 5333 Connecticut Ave. NW, according to city arborists. The Calvin Cafritz Enterprises development team disputes the cause of the tree’s death. But the issue is the latest of many community complaints about the project, which began when neighbors first learned of the plans in 2012 and have continued over nearly two years of construction. Besides calling the 10-level, 261-unit apartment building out-of-scale and out of character for its Chevy Chase surroundings, neighbors feared impacts from major construction in their backyards. Cafritz has repeatedly pledged to mitigate those concerns and be a “good neighbor,” including in a statement yesterday to The Current. “Our goal has been to minimize any disruptions to the community and to immediately address any issues that may arise,” the
Brian Kapur/The Current
The Cafritz apartment project at 5333 Connecticut Ave. NW is set to be completed this year.
statement reads. But most recently, with the building nearly complete, Cafritz has come under fire for the death of the tree and See Cafritz/Page 5
Metrobus hearing garners little Northwest feedback
Kennedy Center project to begin in next month
By BRADY HOLT
By MARK LIEBERMAN
Current Staff Writer
Current Staff Writer
The Kennedy Center is ready to begin construction on an expansion that will add new pavilions, courtyards, a cafe and a pedestrian bridge to its grounds over the next few years. Having shifted the river pavilion from its originally planned — and controversial — spot on the Potomac to a space next to the center on land, officials are now focused on firming up plans for traffic flow and construction sites. The U.S. Commission of Fine Arts approved the project in July, and construction is slated to begin within the next month. Representatives from the Kennedy Center presented the most updated version of the plan at a meeting of the Foggy Bottom/West End advisory neigh-
NEWS
Brian Kapur/Current file photo
Expansion plans include riverside pavilions just south of the iconic Kennedy Center building.
borhood commission last week. The new plan includes extensive landscaping and several fountains dotting the area surrounding the new pavilions, which will host concerts and other events. A cafe will take up part of the space in the river pavilion. Exhibits memorializing John F. Kennedy will also be a feature of the new addition. Much of the construction will take place underground See Expansion/Page 2
SPOR TS
Loughboro Road reopens after major water main break — Page 3
Tigers top Eastern 38-0 in early DCIAA gridiron showdown — Page 9
Residents from across the region sounded off last Thursday about proposed changes to Metrobus routes — which include a mix of improvements and cuts — but Northwest lines were represented little during the two-and-a-half-hour public hearing. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority developed the proposed enhancements in response to rider feedback and internal reviews, and also looked for corresponding reductions to
SHERWOOD
Mayor Bowser sets sights on bringing business to District — Page 6
cover the costs. “We’re trying to find the best balance across the region,” Jim Hamre, Metro’s head of bus planning, said at the hearing. “We want to make sure we’re being good stewards of the resources, that they’re being used in the most efficient way possible.” The possible changes include improved north-south service on Georgia Avenue NW and parallel streets, but Metro also proposed shortening or eliminating some less popular routes where riders could still reach the same destination by changing buses. If approved by the See Buses/Page 5
INDEX Calendar/15 Classifieds/21 District Digest/3 Exhibits/17 In Your Neighborhood/14 Opinion/6
Police Report/4 Real Estate/13 School Dispatches/8 Service Directory/19 Sports/9 Week Ahead/5
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