On April 27th VMP hosted an Open House meeting at St. George’s Episcopal Church in Bloomingdale. Attendees got the first look at buildings planned for the site.
In addition to the renderings for the South Service Court’s Community Center, there were pictures of the townhouses that EYA plans to build
Attendees got a look at the Shalom Baranes designed medical office buildings, and the multifamily planned to go over the grocery store space.
Perhaps the biggest news, however, was that Harris Teeter will be coming to the site as the premium grocer onsite.
At the meeting, participants could circulate around and provide feedback that was recorded in its entirety on big pads. We will be putting up the information we garned from these notes shortly.
Finally, attendees completed a survey designed to get feedback on their thoughts about the current plans for the site.
Of the 47 people who attended, we got 33 surveys back:
- 97% — all but one respondent said YES they wanted the site redeveloped and opened for public use;
- Overall satisfaction with the plans — 3.82 (1 was low, 5 was high)
- What they like most (respondents could pick up to three):
- Design of park 14/33 or 42%
- Size of park 11/33 or 33%
- Grocery store 11/33 or 33%
- Community center 7/33 or 21%
- Also mentioned healthcare, trees and water features
- Top concerns (told to pick 3)
- Traffic Management 21/33 or 63%
- Historic Preservation 14/33 or 42%
- Nothing happening 11/33 or 33%
- Building heights 7/33 or 21%
- Stormwater Management, including DC Water 7/33 or 21%
- Design of Park 5/33 or 15%
- Size of Park 3/33 or 10%
- Community Center 3/33 or 10%
- Also mentioned: affordable housing, density and parking
- Retail preferences other than grocery (told to pick 3):
- Local neighborhood restaurant 24/33 or 72%
- Coffee shop 17/33 or 52%
- Fitness/gym 11/33 or 33%
- Sandwich/Quality Sit down Restaurant 9/33 or 30%
- Pharmacy 8/33 or 24%
- Pop up/food trucks 6/33 or 18%
- Dry cleaner 2/33 or 6%
- Barber/salon 1/33 or 3%
- Also mentioned arts/creative, bars, hardware/garden & doggie daycare
We are creating a Survey Monkey version to make available online to neighborhood residents. We look forward to hearing from more of you!
Next Steps: VMP and site architects will be attending the ANC 5E and ANC 5A meetings in May and June. We will also return to ANC 1B’s Design Committee, as well.
As always, please feel free to email me or call me with questions, concerns or comments.
Tania B. Jackson
Neighborhood Outreach Coordinator
