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North of Massachusetts Avenue (NOMA)
As prepared for delivery. Statement of David Winstead Chairman Norton, Ranking Minority Member Graves, and Members of the Subcommittee, my name is David Winstead. I am the Commissioner of the Public Buildings Service for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). I am very pleased to be asked to testify here today and look forward to working with the Members of the Subcommittee in the 110th Congress. I would like to take this opportunity to mention that our Assistant Regional Administrator for the National Capital Region is also here with me today, Bart Bush. Bart is the senior Public Buildings official responsible for the portfolio in the Washington, D.C. metro area. He has been directly involved in GSA’s actions to encourage the redevelopment of the newly emerging extension of downtown Washington known as NOMA, or the North of Massachusetts Avenue district. GSA presently occupies 2.8 million square feet of space in NOMA. Included in this total are headquarters sites for three major Federal agencies, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF). Our efforts to locate significant Federal agencies in NOMA date all the way back to 1990, when GSA signed a major lease with Hines Corporate Properties in what is now known as Postal Square, at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and North Capital Street, for a new headquarters for BLS. Our lease enabled Hines, which was redeveloping the site on behalf of the U.S. Postal Service, to obtain financing to double the size of the building and restore its historic areas. In addition to BLS, it houses a Capitol City Brewing Company restaurant, a post office, and the Smithsonian Postal Museum. Currently, GSA is nearing completion of the construction of a new 438,000 square foot headquarters for ATF, at the intersection of Florida and New York Avenues, near the northern boundary of NOMA. This project is going into an area that had previously consisted mainly of abandoned warehouses and empty lots. The ATF site itself was a DC public works yard whose most prominent visual feature was the ruins of an abandoned railroad trestle. GSA has remediated the pollution that existed on the site, demolished the railroad trestle, and rebuilt two streets that were part of the original L'Enfant plan for Washington but had not existed for the past hundred years. We are building a signature work of architecture that will serve as a symbolic gateway to downtown Washington for drivers headed west on New York The District of Columbia Government, the Metro subway system, and our NoMa neighbors have provided valuable assistance by working with the Federal Government to jointly finance the construction of a new Metro station immediately east of the ATF building. The development of this station, which is now open for business, marks the first time in the United States that a new subway station was added between two existing stops while service continued. Both the presence of the new ATF building and the new Metro station have contributed significantly to making the northern and central portions of NOMA attractive to office developers. In an article from last December in the Washington Business Journal, it was estimated that a total of $1.2 billion in new construction will be occurring in NOMA in 2007. In today’s hearing, we have been asked to answer whether GSA tenant agencies are giving full consideration to locating in NOMA. For the past two years, GSA has undertaken a variety of actions, in cooperation with you, Madam Chairman, to reacquaint our staff and our tenant agencies with what NOMA has to offer. These efforts have included briefings for developers in NOMA on how to do business with GSA, tours for potential tenant agencies of attractive office sites, and tours for GSA personnel. Today, February 27, GSA is sponsoring a region-wide “Location Fair” to which state and local economic development officials and our agency tenants have been invited. The purpose of this event is to educate Federal agencies about local development projects so that they can make informed location decisions. The District of Columbia is sending representatives from five areas of the city, including one from NOMA. As you are aware, Madam Chairman, one concern expressed in the past by our tenant agencies has been the lack of amenities in the northern and central areas of NOMA. GSA is including 8000 square feet of restaurant and retail facilities as part of our ATF development, located directly across the street from the new Metro station. We anticipate announcing our selection of a retail manager/master lessor for this space in the next few weeks. This master lessor will be responsible for fitting it out, attracting tenants, and managing the facility. We have also discussed this issue with the development community and have urged them to come up with their own solutions. GSA has also encouraged its tenant agencies to consider NOMA by adding it to the delineated area that GSA uses as the starting point for all of our lease actions in Washington, DC. Since mid-2004, the entire NOMA area has been included as well as a substantial portion prior to 2004. In addition, in January 2006, GSA issued a Real Estate Bulletin which established a higher level of scrutiny of an agency’s proposed delineated area. All acquisition plans now include a written justification that demonstrates that agencies have taken into consideration real estate costs, labor and other operational costs, and applicable local incentives when identifying a delineated area. We followed this up by meeting with agency contacts in June 2006. GSA procures leased space through full and open competition, and there are several reasons why NOMA developers may not prevail in any given competition. For example, taking into consideration moving and relocation costs, it may be less expensive for a Federal agency to remain in space it currently occupies. Before I close, I would like to acquaint this Subcommittee with an ongoing issue outside of GSA's control that could discourage the long term redevelopment of NOMA. Several months ago, the District of Columbia Department of Transportation (D-DOT) released a study of alternatives to upgrade the capacity of New York Avenue to carry large volumes of traffic between the Maryland border and the tunnel connecting to I-395. D-DOT identified the New York-Florida Avenue intersection as one of the most congested points in the corridor. One of the alternatives they are considering is to construct a three-block long viaduct to carry New York Avenue over Florida Avenue, from the bridge over the railroad tracks to a new tunnel entrance to I-395. Another alternative is to keep New York Avenue at grade but to widen it to 12 lanes. Madam Chairman, either of the alternatives proposed by D-DOT could have a devastating impact on the redevelopment of NOMA, particularly for those areas north of New York Avenue which GSA worked with you and Mayor Williams to include as part of our delineated area for new office locations in the city. In addition, the first alternative would greatly diminish the visual impact the new ATF building will have by relegating it to the base of a large viaduct. GSA and ATF joined with D-DOT and the National Capital Planning Commission to conduct a three-day charrette on how to improve the New York-Florida Avenue intersection. I am pleased to say that this resulted in a proposal to create something akin to a traffic circle that could turn this intersection into a ceremonial civic center for NOMA, without diminishing its traffic capacity. But this is only a suggestion, and D-DOT has yet to adopt a final position on this issue. In closing, Madam Chairman, I want to reiterate that GSA has promoted, and will continue to promote NOMA as a good location for Federal office space. I think we have already done quite a bit, and the transformation of this area is well underway. As I have mentioned, NOMA is part of our delineated area for selecting office locations in Washington. We have already located nearly 3 million square feet of office space in the area. We are helping to address the issue of lack of amenities. The future is bright for NOMA. GSA appreciates the support you, Madam Chairman, and your Subcommittee have given to the Public Buildings Service in the past, and we look forward to continuing to maintain a close working relationship with you in the future, particularly as we strive to upgrade areas at the edge of the traditional downtown that are now emerging as extensions of downtown, including NOMA, the Near Southeast, and Anacostia. |