BGuthrie Photos: DC -- Georgetown -- Washington Harbor

DC -- Georgetown -- Washington Harbor:

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Wikipedia Description: Washington Harbour
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Washington Harbour is a Class-A mixed-use development located at 3000 and 3050 K Street, N.W., in Washington, D.C., in the United States. The southern edge of the development borders the Potomac River on the Georgetown waterfront. Designed by Arthur Cotton Moore, the complex consists of two curved towers and three other buildings attached to them, all of which are in the Postmodern architectural style. The complex contains luxury condominia, offices, retail space, restaurants, and underground parking.

Construction of the complex was preceded by a seven-year zoning and legal battle over the future of the Georgetown waterfront. This dispute led to the designation and development of a new national park, the Georgetown Waterfront Park. A two-year controversy over the design of the complex, which included accusations of malfeasance by a D.C. agency, followed. Construction began in November 1981, and was complete in June 1986. Critical reception of Washington Harbour was mixed, but the public quickly embraced it.

Washington Harbour suffered significant management problems in its first two years, which led to the removal of one of its developers as property manager. The complex was sold to local real estate magnate Conrad Cafritz in 1988 in a controversial purchase-like lease agreement. Cafritz subsequently sold the property, which has had six different owners between 1990 and 2013. It was put up for sale again in 2013.

Washington Harbour has a first-of-its kind set of floodgates designed to help protect it against Potomac River floods. However, failure to use the floodgates properly caused a major flood in 2011, which led to a lawsuit and a $30 million renovation.
Genesis of the project

Early studies

During the 1800s, the Georgetown waterfront was largely a commercial harbor. Most of the land was occupied by warehouses. Between 1900 and 1960, the harbor largely closed as commercial river traffic declined sharply. The warehouses were demolished and a number of coal gas, cement, steel, and other medium and light industrial manufacturing plants were erected in their place. By 1960, many of these plants closed, and the waterfront fell into disuse. A city-owned waste incineration plant, a waste sorting facility, and construction materials depot occupied portions of the site.

Between 1960 and 1970, development of the Georgetown waterfront was studied five times. But none of the recommendations made by these studies were acted upon. Many D.C. residents, including those in Georgetown, strongly opposed plans to build a series of superhighways throughout the city — including along the Potomac River on the Georgetown waterfront. Each of the five different studies proposed the construction of superhighways in and around the area, and each time the controversy surrounding the recommendation made the study politically unpalatable. A sixth study was made in 1970. Commissioned by the National Capitol Planning Commission (NCPC) and the Georgetown Citizens' Association (GCA), the report made no recommendation to build a superhighway. Instead, it called for the demolition of the existing Whitehurst Freeway. The study's authors said the freeway blocked vistas, inhibited development of the waterfront, was poorly engineered, and caused traffic back-ups at both of its ends. The report urged the city to bury the freeway in an enclosed trench and sell the air rights above it to developers or use it as parkland.

The 1970 study was received favorably by President Richard M. Nixon, who in April 1971 issued a message to Congress on the District of Columbia in which he called for "an overall preservation and development plan for the Georgetown waterfront" lest Georgetown's historic character be lost forever. Nixon's message provided a new impetus for planning in Georgetown, and in January 1972 the federal government funded a $250,000 study intended to spur zoning changes which would permit large-scale redevelopment of the waterfront. Members of the study committee included the NCPC, GCA, the District of Columbia Highway and Traffic Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Transportation, and the United States Commission of Fine Arts (CFA).

Legal action over other construction projects

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit lifted the ban on construction on the Georgetown waterfront in 1973.
Some developers attempted to move ahead with construction before the federal study was finished. These plans created disputes which had a direct impact on the eventual construction of Washington Harbour. In April 1972, Georgetown Inland, a subsidiary of the Inland Steel Company, commissioned architect Arthur Cotton Moore to design an eight-story office building on company-owned land at 1055 Thomas Jefferson Street NW. But the CFA, which had statutory authority to approve the design and height of structures in the area, recommended against its construction for being too tall. On June 29, the D.C. Zoning Commission issued, without comment, a 120-day ban on all construction on the waterfront. The GCA argued for a ban on all construction in the area until the federal study was complete, but in August 1972 Georgetown Inland unveiled a plan to construct an $80 million complex of restaurants, hotels, office buildings, retail space, and a small harbor. Georgetown Inland argued that a construction ban, however temporary, would drive developers permanently away from the waterfront. The GCA sued to stop construction of the building, but the United States District Court for the District of Columbia refused its request on October 12. On September 29, the D.C. Zoning Commission lifted its June 29 ban and said that construction on the 100-acre (400,000 m2) Georgetown waterfront could proceed.

The GCA appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The court of appeals issued a temporary injunction banning construction, pending resolution of additional issues by the district court.

A preliminary version of the federal study was issued on November 2, 1972. Even though Georgetown Inland was proceeding with its plans (it now intended to construct two nine-story office towers), the federal study recommended that only mixed-use developments should be permitted on the waterfront. The report also recommended limiting structures to 40 feet (12 m) in height, although buildings of 60 feet (18 m) could be constructed in some places. This generated a second lawsuit by the GCA. The U.S. district court issued a second ruling in the construction case on November 18, and again allowed Georgetown Inland to proceed. GCA appealed, and the U.S. court of appeals reimposed its temporary injunction eight days later. The appellate court delayed a final ruling in the matter until February 1, 1973.

On February 6, the court of appeals extended its temporary injunction for 45 more days. It held that the D.C. Zoning Commission had improperly lifted its construction ban without providing a written justification. The court ordered the zoning board to issue that justification within 45 days. The zoning board provided its justification, and on May 8 the court of appeals lifted its injunction. In accepting the zoning commission's justification, the appellate court required that, going forward, the zoning commission must take sworn testimony and permit cross-examination of witnesses prior to making zoning decisions, and issue quasi-judicial written opinions outlining the reasons for its decisions. (The court ruling proved to be a watershed in improving city zoning decisions.)
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