The Honorable Valerie Santos
Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development
1350 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 317
Washington, DC 20004

Dear Deputy Mayor Santos,

I am writing on behalf of the Hill East Waterfront Action Network (HEWAN) to welcome you as Washington, DC’s new Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED). HEWAN is a membership organization that facilitates ongoing community input into the Hill East Waterfront redevelopment process. Most of our members live in the Hill East neighborhood adjacent to the proposed Hill East Waterfront or in the broader Capitol Hill community. We know you have an exciting job, given the ambition and sheer number of DMPED’s ongoing projects. We also know that you are confronting enormous challenges stemming from the ongoing recession.

After hearing that four (4) highly qualified development teams responded to the Hill East Waterfront Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI), and knowing how contentious Capitol Hill development disputes have been in the past, few of us living here in Hill East would have predicted that the extremely diverse Capitol Hill community would rally around one team’s proposal. However, that is what happened. HEWAN members expressed the most excitement about the HDG Partners vision and the HEWAN Board voted unanimously to support HDG Partners. Meanwhile, the Capitol Hill Restoration Society also chose to support HDG Partners. Perhaps most interesting was that the local ANC, 6B, voted unanimously to endorse HDG Partners. As your office makes its decisions on the RFEI, HEWAN hopes it will consider the near decade-long history of community involvement in Hill East Waterfront redevelopment debates as well as the near unanimous support of adjoining neighbors for one particular Master P lan development team.

Thank you in advance for accommodating our request, made to your office by HEWAN board member Ellen Opper-weiner, to meet with you in person this month. We appreciate your willingness to hear from us directly why we support choosing a particular Master Developer to implement the Master Plan for the Hill East Waterfront.

Sincerely,

Alaine A. Perry, President
Hill East Waterfront Action Network
P.O. Box 15373
Washington, DC, 20003-9998

from Pete Andres Tennessee Ave. NE
Washington , DC 20002

“This will be an amazing addition to the neighborhood!!!  Can’t wait. “

from j Schneider

“Please contact me in anyway to help.”

I’m excited about what you are trying to do.

Name: Renee Thompson
Address: Isherwood St.
Washington , DC 20002

Andrew Beattie
Barrie, Ontario     Canada, AL

Message: Way to go. The City of Barrie needs to have  a clear plan for our waterfront. The rest of the city and its visitors would benefit as well.

By: Jennifer Brenner Andrade

HDG Waterfront Group is pushing an environmentally friendly plan for the 67-acre Hill East development project in urban Washington DC east of Capitol Hill. The land, which currently holds the closed Washington DC General Hospital complex, has waterfront access to the Anacosta River. The goal of the project is to create “one of the greenest communities in America,” says Sinclair S. Cooper of Hunt Development Group’s Urban Ventures Group, one of two master developers on the project.

This billion dollar project would introduce a three-million square foot, mixed-use project with loads of green touches including: a 200,000 square foot renewable energy power plant; a daily farmer’s market; and a town center that will provide residents walking access to groceries, restuarants, offices and day cares. According to published reports, three other development groups have also submitted proposals for the project, these include Hill East Development, New Hill East and East-banc.

HDG Waterfront Group’s proposal is the least dense of all of the proposals, which each call for about five million square feet of new development, explains Cooper who adds that the smaller, lower slung development profile will allow more room for green spaces and reopen the view of the river.

The District’s Mayor, Adrian Fenty and his office, are running a sophisticated process to finalize plans for the site, says Cooper. The winning development team will either lease or buy the land from the city. Notably, HDG’s plan calls for over two million square feet of residential space, 473,000 square feet of office space and 100,000 square feet of retail among other plans.

One Planet Communities, a non-profit initiative of sustainability experts BioRegional and global partners, helps forward-thinking municipalities and real estate developers build neighborhoods that reduce the ecological footprint of residents to a truly sustainable, “one planet” level.

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