District officials boasted last week about possibly bringing popular Wegman’s to Walter Reed Medical Center, where the city has planned a mixed-use complex of retail businesses, homes and offices. No one even mentions a Safeway for Reservation 13. What’s up with that? Why are elected officials treating the upper Northwest property more preferentially than the Hill East campus located near 19th Street and Independence Avenue Southeast?
Walter Reed’s history and the surrounding upper-income community provide the cachet the 67-acre Reservation 13 lacks, officials told me, ignoring the advantage and appeal of an undeveloped waterfront Capitol Hill neighborhood.
If Reservation 13 isn’t valuable, blame the city.
District officials have systematically converted the site into a de facto storage tank, stuffing vulnerable populations inside decaying, unsanitary buildings. In fiscal 2010, more than 1,800 homeless were housed on the campus, according to Department of Human Services’ spokesman Reggie Sanders. Nearly 24,000 additional people participated in health-related programs there, said Dena Iverson, communications director at the D.C. Department of Health.
“In order to reuse the site we have to move those tenants,” said Victor Hoskins, deputy mayor for planning and economic development. He also cited the downturn in the economy and the city’s fiscal woes as reasons why development has not occurred.
“There was a precipitous drop in the market and banks just tightened up financing,” Hoskins said. “We really don’t have the capacity where we could provide $40-60 million for infrastructure at the site.”
That’s all spin.
The city — not some alien force — created the Reservation 13 dumping ground. Many programs could be handled by the city’s hospitals and clinics.
Further, development at the campus has been planned since 2002. The recession didn’t hit until 2008. Before then, the city spent tons of money on capital projects. Generous subsidies have been given to a variety of business owners like Abe Pollin, who received $50 million to refurbish his Verizon Center.
Truth be told, unvarnished politics have prevented development of Reservation 13. Similar forces could completely destroy the dream, if a redistricting plan being circulated by a council subcommittee is approved.
That three-member panel has proposed making 17th Street Southeast the boundary line for Ward 6. There has been strong and vocal opposition to that plan. But, if the legislature approves it, Reservation 13 would become part of Ward 7. No doubt, its political representative — currently Yvette Alexander –would want to weigh in on what happens at the site, delaying development even further.
If Hill East residents prevail and they remain part of Ward 6, they still would not have won the ultimate battle. Although two development teams have been identified and they are ready to move forward, Reservation 13 isn’t on Hoskins’ priority list.
“I understand the frustration of residents,” he said. “Our next move is to go out with Councilman [Tommy] Wells and the developers to tell residents where we are.”
Is it me, or does that sound like more the same: empty promises and inaction.
Jonetta Rose Barras’ column appears on Monday and Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected].
