The Virtual Circle is located in Northeast Washington D.C., one block east of North Capitol Street NE at the intersection of New York Avenue NE and Florida Avenue NE. The Technical Assistance Panel was jointly sponsored by the NoMa Business Improvement District (NoMa BID) and the NoMa Parks Foundation. The TAP’s goal was to make recommendations for open space, safety and improvements at the Virtual Circle based on District of Columbia Department of Transportation’s (DDOT) “Concept 6”, which was one out of six options DDOT created during a study in 2013. The FY20 District of Columbia budget included $35 million for improvements to this circle.

Research Boulevard is proximate to Montgomery County’s Life Sciences Center, located outside the city boundary and west of Shady Grove Road. There are synergies to being proximate to the technology hub, but also competition for tenants from the high-quality office and research facilities in the area, many of them offering newer, more up-to-date facilities. This TAP assisted in updating The City of Rockville’s Comprehensive Master Plan. The Panel sought to answer the questions – what is the future of first-generation suburban office parks and how should the City of Rockville respond to changing market conditions and work culture with regard to employment center context, mix of land uses, amenities, and other urban design issues?

The City of Falls Church finds itself with a unique development opportunity resulting from a historic boundary adjustment that transferred 34 acres of land from Fairfax County to the City of Falls Church. Up to 30% of this land may be redeveloped for economic development purposes over the next 50 years, while the remainder is to be used for school-related purposes. A TAP was conducted to assess the current and future market potential of the acquired land to determine the highest and best use of the study area over time.

The Eisenhower Public-Private Partnership promotes economic growth in the Eisenhower Valley by encouraging quality development through active involvement in the approval process with the community, developers and local elected officials. What the Partnership has found is that development has been discouraged due to the lack of an updated Eisenhower West Small Area Plan. Originally slated to have begun in 2003, this overdue undertaking has been a lower priority than other areas for the City of Alexandria. The Partnership is concerned that without the Small Area Plan for Eisenhower West, there will not be a comprehensive vision to steer development. A ULI Washington TAP imagined a long-term vision for the highest and best use of land within Eisenhower West.

While the interior of the school provides a secure environment for learning, the J.O. Wilson Elementary School grounds have long had serious safety problems. In addition to the criminal activity, the schoolyard suffers from poor design and maintenance. The Friends of JOWES, a volunteer organization initially made up of those interested in enhancing the educational experience for the school’s students, embraced a neighborhood initiative to revitalize the grounds. Recognizing the challenge of undertaking such a large revitalization project, the Friends of JOWES reached out to ULI Washington to help them initiate the process.

One of the county’s main business corridors, Richmond
Highway consists primarily of longstanding commercial uses and is home to more than 650 business establishments and 20 neighborhood shopping centers. Recent redevelopment along the corridor, however, has been increasingly residential in nature. Seeking an outside perspective on how to continue the revitalization of the Richmond Highway Corridor, the Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development, with input from the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning, invited ULI Washington to convene a TAP to determine whether the corridor has the potential to be developed as a commercial office market that will further economic growth and provide higher-paying jobs.

Part of a partnership between ULI Washington and the Council of Governments (COG), this TAP conducted a focused study of the Rhode Island Avenue-Brentwood Metrorail Station Area. The intent of this TAP is to explore investment opportunities for the Rhode Island Avenue Metrorail Station Area in order to re-envision it and make it a successful, thriving center. As part of this goal, the DC Office of Planning (OP) requested that the Panel address transportation and parking challenges, and develop recommendations that concentrate on knitting together the disconnected land uses in the area while also encouraging bicycle and pedestrian-friendly development.

Prince George’s County has committed to establish policies and plans that will foster creation of transit-oriented development (TOD) in proximity to the county’s Metrorail stations. Station areas in the county have not grown as quickly as TOD corridors and centers in Montgomery County, Maryland and Arlington, Virginia. Prince George’s County Planning partnered with ULI Washington as they initiated planning for the area surrounding the last four stations on the southern part of the Metrorail Green Line in order to identify and consider a wide variety of possible future economic development programs for the corridor.

The City of College Park, in conjunction with Prince George’s County invited ULI Washington to convene a TAP to examine the development potential of underutilized parcels within the TDOZ, and within a five-minute walk of the College Park-University of Maryland Metrorail Station. Redevelopment of this area is a priority for the city, and the city plans to use the panel’s recommendations to begin the process of reassessing the highest and best use of these properties; set the stage for possible plan amendments to hasten the area’s redevelopment; and develop strategies to plan, design, and pursue quality transit-oriented development projects on these sites.

Seeing an opportunity for growth and development in Prince George’s County, Wood Partners (the developer) placed under contract two sites adjacent to the Branch Avenue Metrorail Station, with the intention of developing luxury Class A multi-family apartments. The sites are referred to as Alta Branch and Alta Branch Camp Springs. As the design process matures, the developer believes an opportunity exists to create an integrated mix of uses with a transit-oriented approach. Synergies between the two sites are believed to produce greater opportunities given their proximity to the Branch Avenue Metrorail Station.

WMATA owns two parcels of land, located immediately to the west and east of the Fort Totten Metrorail station platform. As WMATA moves forward with a joint development solicitation for these two parcels, they sought assistance from a ULI Washington TAP in evaluating — from a market and lender perspective — the viability of residential projects that do not include parking on a 1:1 basis, but rather offer ‘mobility options’ and reduced unit cost due to savings realized from decreased parking construction costs. WMATA also sought the panel’s advice regarding how WMATA can capture the return on investment for implementing this and other ‘sustainable’ design elements into a long-term lease agreement.

The New Carrollton transit station has a particularly high potential for nationally and regionally marketable, high density, mixed use, transit-oriented development (TOD). In July 2007, WMATA, the Maryland Department of Transportation, the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (M-NCPPC), Prince George’s County Planning Department and the Prince George’s County Economic Development invited ULI Washington to convene a TAP to examine the market potential of the area, and outline connectivity and development solutions.

Loudoun County, Virginia has been planning in anticipation of Metrorail service for decades. The plans, policies, and designated funding surrounding the Silver Line extension – Metrorail’s new route that will connect the metropolitan core of Washington D.C. to Washington Dulles International Airport and to two additional stations in Loudoun County – represents the catalyzing force behind this TAP. Phase 2 of the Silver Line includes an extension of the line to the final two stations in Loudoun County, and the county is analyzing its planning efforts to ensure that the opportunities associated with the arrival of Metrorail are maximized to the fullest extent.

The Revenue Authority of Prince George’s County and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG) jointly sponsored a ULI Washington Technical Assistance Panel (TAP) for a 97-acre Prince George’s County-owned site adjacent to the Bowie State MARC Station. ULI Washington members met virtually to analyze the development potential for the site and make recommendations that leverage existing nearby assets, including Bowie State University and the MARC station, and contribute to larger County-wide economic development goals. The panel was tasked with developing a realistic vision for the site that meets the needs of a variety of stakeholders, as well as advising the County on its developer engagement strategy.

The 2010 Great Seneca Science Corridor Master Plan envisioned transforming the existing Shady Grove Life Sciences Center (LSC) from a suburban office park into a vibrant, live-work community that integrates life science companies, academic institutions, housing, retail and services around the planned Corridor Cities Transitway (CCT). The county seeks technical assistance from ULI experts to help the county most effectively leverage public assets within the Great Seneca Sciences Corridor to fulfill the vision of the Great Seneca Science Corridor Master Plan.

Prince George’s Plaza is home to the Prince George’s Metro Station, retail in the form of “the Mall”, and various mixed-used developments. Prince George’s County imagines the plaza as a commercial hub, but the East West Highway, a six-lane arterial that regularly sees high speeds, poses a major challenge to the creation of the pedestrian- and bicyclist-friendly public realm. The goal of this TAP is to help determine short-term public improvements for the study area that can easily be implemented to knit together the disjointed land uses and address circulation challenges, including connectivity to the metro station.

Once a leading regional destination for luxury retail, Friendship Heights has experienced a major disruption in its market position as anchor retailers have closed permanently or moved to other areas. The retail decline that began a decade ago with increased competition from newer luxury retail developments and neighborhood developments like Bethesda Row has been exacerbated by the expansion of online shopping. ULI Washington members met virtually to evaluate the current conditions in Friendship Heights and envision its future. The TAP was co-sponsored by Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), District of Columbia Office of Planning (OP) and Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG).

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