MJM says: (5/28/10 8:33 AM)
That's great news for a Friday! Hopefully the community garden, Dog-Ma and the residences/businesses (jobs/homes) in that lower 8th St area will be saved too.

NavyYard says: (5/28/10 9:00 AM)
So, we wait another 10 years for DCHA to maybe come up with the money or we allow someone with ample resources who is ready to develop this sorely underdeveloped neighborhood immediately. Hmmm, I choose the Marines.

JD says: (5/28/10 9:07 AM)
MJM--I think you;re thinking of the area over around 9th Street and the Virginia Avenue Park. This area that DCHA owns is where the Nats parking lot W currently is, at 7th and M.

NavyYard--planning to start vertical construction "this winter" isn't quite 10 years. (I'm not a big fan of hyperbole--all opinions are fine around here as long as they are fact-based)

MJM says: (5/28/10 9:20 AM)
JD - exactly - two sep areas but they are looking at that area too (9th St) - that area needs to be saved too but don't think they haev the help/support of DC to protect that area. There are homes, jobs and a sense of community (garden) that would be lost in that 9th St area that would never be replaced if the barracks are moved into that area (because the only jobs created there would be temp construction jobs).

JD says: (5/28/10 9:24 AM)
MJM, oh I see, in my morning haze I missed the sentence construction. :-)

JD2 says: (5/28/10 9:51 AM)
So do we really need more office space over there? And the Marines would be just awful tenants too, huh? (rhetorical question) With what seems like a spike in crime lately in our neighborhood, I'd love to see them move over there. And frankly, I'll believe that the DC govt. will start construction when I see it. They are not what I would call a reliable entity.

Scott says: (5/28/10 10:05 AM)
At least a parking lot offers the POSSIBILITY of bringing something in the future that integrates the community and injects spending capital that will attract restaurants and businesses.

Filling up a huge block of space with a walled-off, somewhat insulated structure, filled with residents who probably spend a lot of the little spending money they get on base, isn't seen as the ideal long-term solution for a lot of us.

Mark me down for full-time residents and office workers who can support sit-down restaurants, coffeeshops, florists, pet shops, salons and all the other various types of businesses that would not be attracted by another enlisted barracks.

Scott says: (5/28/10 10:17 AM)
Why is the response to people not wanting a barracks always "what, you don't like Marines?"

Look, I like the Marines and I'm extremely appreciative of what they do for our country. That has nothing to do with this issue.

This neighborhood is growing regardless, the full-time population has doubled in the last 18 months and will continue to grow. The number of officeworkers will continue to grow with all the new leases being signed.

You can't just shout down detractors. So please tell me what a new Marines barracks will actually ADD to the community?

All I can see at this moment is that it will subtracts 189 housing units and 600,000 feet of office space filled with people who will inject far more money into neighborhood businesses that enlisted marines will.

JD2 says: (5/28/10 10:29 AM)
I'll take public safety and fewer bureaucrats over congestion and commuters speeding through the neighborhood any day.

MJM says: (5/28/10 10:50 AM)
Security? Marines do not equal police offices - some law or something that goes back to the civil war time or so I've heard.

This giant monstrosity ringed by a 9ft fence will only block off roads and does not make an open community and only takes away.

When you stroll down Barracks Row from the Eastern Market metro look at how businesses change (or lack of except those that cater to the Marines) as you get into the heart of the barracks. Granted it is further away from the metro but after 200 years of being in that area it hasn't done much for the community. I'd rather take office workers, private jobs (Port City Cafe, Dog-Ma, etc), and homes/families over barracks.

I've said my piece more than enough but I will state again that my free beer for a year offer stands to the first person who can point out the last time they saw a non-Navy Exchange shop (something like Justins) on the ground level of a military barrack. Because that is what you won't get with the barrack but will get with the apartment/Square 882 if zoned for that type of business.

patrick says: (5/28/10 10:53 AM)
Yet we all know what the best answer would be and DCHA won't permit that either. The marines like Potomac Gardens, but they were told by DCHA not to consider it. Initially, DCHA says that the marines didn't want it, but when pressed they DCHA said that they weren't offered enough money by the marines.

CAPT Hill says: (6/1/10 8:33 AM)
DCHA made a mistake here as far as the future of our community is concerned. The track record of DCHA's tenants v. the Marines is clear. Moreover, I would like to see L Street closed to traffic - we have far, far too many suburbanite commuters who speed down L Street in order to avoid the lights on M.

Sophia Monster says: (6/1/10 1:38 PM)
I love those renderings, but are those palm trees?

BBC says: (6/2/10 6:07 PM)
How can "I don't want more Marines living near me" be interpreted as anything other than anti-Marine? These are sad days for the community. Marines are not a police force, but just their presence makes this area more safe than it would have been. But greater than that, I am sick and tired of each community basically giving them the middle finger. These young men and women sacrifice so much for us. It is shameful when they come to us for living quarters and these communities say "go live someplace else, not near me." At least I was able to show up at a couple of the meeting to let them know that I support their search and I would have been proud to call more of these marines my neighbor!!!

...Also, the current barracks is more beautiful than any office building around here. The black iron fence also looks very nice ...despite many repeated attempts to portray it otherwise. Their opening of their soccer field to community children (and cheering parents) makes it more open and accessible than private residences/offices.