Letter
Dear Ms. Tompkins-Flagg:
In its public meeting of 20 June conducted by videoconference, the Commission of Fine Arts reviewed the proposed final revisions to the master plan for the Washington Navy Yard, involving a land transfer from the Southeast Federal Center to the Navy in exchange for the lease of Washington Navy Yard waterfront parcels for private mixed-use development. The Commission reiterated its concerns regarding the master plan raised in its previous review of November 2023 and did not take an action, providing the following comments and requesting that the applicant work further to address these issues.
In general, the Commission members expressed their overall disappointment with the presentation, which they found was not substantially responsive to their previous guidance on the proposed development of this publicly owned land for private use—particularly regarding the scale and massing of the buildings, the appropriate treatment of historic resources, the equitability of access to and quality of public space, and the provision of affordable housing. Given the great social and economic value of this federal property that is being transferred to facilitate private development, they again recommended refinement of the master plan to create more public benefit.
The Commission members questioned the design for the 75-foot-wide setback along the river—a mandated requirement for development on these parcels—as comprising a series of parallel, grade-separated zones which they found to be spatially compressed and increasingly privatized near the planned buildings; they noted that the lower, more publicly accessible areas may be intermittently inundated, which could be antithetical to providing equitable access to the riverfront. Instead, they recommended further study of how to provide broad and generous public access within the setback zone; they noted the potential benefit of the proposed reuse of the historic piers. For the heights and configurations of the planned buildings, they continued to question the massiveness of the upper-level projections into the riverfront setback and the inaccessible raised terraces between the buildings—which have the effect of cutting off the riverfront from the historic Navy Yard and inhibiting public access. In conclusion, they raised concerns that the master plan as revised would create a precinct of exclusivity, also exemplified by the provision of affordable housing units at a level far below normal District of Columbia requirements.
In summary, the Commission of Fine Arts encourages the Navy to incorporate a broad range of strategies to promote the public good for this historically public land at a prime riverfront location. The Commission looks forward to reviewing additional information regarding the Washington Navy Yard master plan and engaging on the future review of designs of public space and individual buildings.
Please coordinate the next submission with the staff which, as always, is available to assist you.
Sincerely,
/s/Thomas E. Luebke, FAIA
Secretary
Nicole Tompkins-Flagg
Naval Facilities Engineering Command
Washington Navy Yard
1314 Harwood Street, SE
Washington, DC 20374
cc: Sohael Chowfla, Redbrick