Saturday, September 25, 2010

Randall School Art Gallery Moves Forward

Corcoran proposal for Randall School site
As the Washington Business Journal reported yesterday, the D.C. Council just endorsed the transfer of the Randall School site from the Corcoran Gallery of Art to a joint venture led by D.C. development company, Telesis Corp and Miami-based CACB Holdings LLC.  As many of you will remember, Corcoran had planned to relocate their arts school to the Randall School building.  The move was to be financed by Monument Realty, who secured approval to add a residential component to the rear of the Randall site.

Like many Southwesters when this new arrangement first developed, Council members expressed some concern, but ultimately concluded this is the best option available.  While this proposal wouldn't return the School to a traditional educational facility, it would retain an educational component and provides additional advantages.

CACB holdings has demonstrated its interest and abilities in the community by artfully resurrecting the neighboring Capitol Skyline Hotel.   Since purchasing the property, CACB holdings has transformed the Art Deco gem into a hub of activity not only for visitors, but residents with an upgraded cafe' and a variety of programming from comedy nights to synchronized swimming contests and other popular pool events.

The new Randall School proposal would build a housing, hotel, and a gallery on the property, an arguably stronger mix of uses than the previous proposal.  Southwest has no shortage of housing.  Indeed the high proportion of housing is one reason why despite the density, Southwest has less pedestrian activity and retail opportunities than areas like Dupont Circle, Clarendon and Capitol Hill.  Integrating a hotel and a museum to the project better complements Southwest's existing assets by bringing new employment, retail, and cultural opportunities, supporting more daytime activity, and thereby increasing public safety.

The new proposal also provides an attractive set of public amenities, including landscaping for the Eye Street Park, space for community meetings, art exhibitions for Southwesters, a free art festival, free admission to the museum for Southwesters, and new sculpture on the traffic circle at H Street and Delaware Avenue.  The building program itself offers advantages: instead of projections into public space planned in the Corcoran development, the new proposal increases public space by partially reopening Half Street.

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