| | | Marine Barracks outline massive development plans | | February 01, 2010 |  | | | Staff Writer | | Marine Barracks Washington is making plans for a major expansion into the neighborhood surrounding its 8th and I streets SE historic headquarters.
The crux of the plan is the need for new barracks, which are now located in a 1970s building known as “Building 20” at 7th and I streets across from the original historic barracks. The barracks, which house about 250 Marines in the building that abuts Interstate 395, do not meet new space or security requirements.
The new barracks will be “ideally as close as possible to where the Marine Barracks are” right now, but have to move from the current location because they must be 82 feet from the street, said U.S. Navy planner Matt Schwartz at a community meeting to introduce the plan last week.
At the same time, the Marines want to build facilities for both single enlisted men and those with families — a fire station, child development center, gym, pool, parking, meeting space, post office, basketball and tennis courts, and an indoor parade field. There are also plans for a Marine Barracks Washington museum.
In total, the Marines are seeking 173,000 square feet of new development, some of which (the pool, child development center and other recreation facilities) would be accessible to Hill residents.
Though several Marine spokespersons have said they are waiting for a set of extensive community meetings to identify potential sites for the development, their own maps indicate they are considering the site of the Potomac Gardens public housing units at 12th and G streets SE, the Tyler Elementary baseball field at 10th and I streets SE and the Marine Corps Institute site within the Washington Navy Yard.
Square 882, a section of the not-yet-built second phase of Capper/Carrollsburg mixed-income housing located just south of the Marine Barracks Annex on Virginia Avenue and 5th Street SE, is also on the map. But D.C. Housing Authority project coordinator David Cortiella, who is overseeing the Capper/Carrollsburg redevelopment, said the property is off the table for the Marines and the housing authority is moving forward with its plans.
Schwartz said the ongoing 11th Street Bridges project, and the upcoming plans to expand the CSX train tunnel could open up some land for development. Madison Marquette, the developer that owns the 94,000-square-foot Blue Castle at 7th and M streets SE, has also expressed interest in leasing space to the Marines.
Building 20 itself is likely to be torn down because the structure is falling apart, and it could become a location for some of the new recreational facilities, officials said.
The Marines are planning community meetings this month, in March and in April, though no dates have been set. Barracks officials recently tangled with the neighbors immediately surrounding the 8th and I site over a new security plan for the Commandant’s House, which some neighbors complained contained ugly elements.
D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, a 9th Street SE resident, came to the initial community meeting on the expansion last week and said she was confident the Marines would work well with residents.
“I alerted the Marine brass who came to see me what kind of community this is,” she said. “You all know how to reach me but I don’t think you’ll need to reach me.”
Congress must ultimately approve the Marines’ plan, said Capt. Lisa Lawrence, Marine Barracks Washington spokesperson.
Washington Navy Yard officials told the Washington Business Journal last week that it, too, plans to expand its office space by 700,000 square feet in order to make room for up to 3,500 more employees by 2015. The plan could help fill up the millions of square feet of office space that was built around Nationals Park before the commercial real estate market took a dive. | | | | | Log in to comment on this article |
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