Representatives from the D.C. mayor’s office and Walter Reed Army Medical Center met with homeless assistance providers, public benefits organizations, and local residents Nov. 13 to discuss and tour the 62.5 acres of WRAMC land to be transferred after Walter Reed moves to Bethesda, Md., scheduled to occur September 2011.
The D.C. Redevelopment Authority encouraged the representatives to submit a Notice of Interest (NOI) for consideration for potential reuse of the WRAMC property early next year.
The ‘‘Walter Reed surplus site” became available after the State Department notified the Army that they would not be using as much land as previously requested following the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) decision. In August, the federal government declared this surplus property, and offered it to the D.C. Redevelopment Authority.
The property is on the south side of post and includes about 29 buildings, including Bldg. 1 (old hospital), Mologne House, Delano Hall, Wagner Sports Center, and Bldg. 18, located just off post.
‘‘I want to stress that it’s not the District of Columbia’s land yet,” said Dale Smith, Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development. ‘‘It’s a process we have to go through that will take about a year. This is just the first part, putting together a package.”
The package will include the selected NOIs as part of the overall plan D.C. will submit to the Department of Defense for approval. The Redevelopment Authority will choose from the NOIs submitted by Jan. 6, 2010, based on several criteria to include the organization’s profile, community benefit, the financial plan, and compatibility with other plans for the area.
‘‘We want organizations that are sustainable,” Eric Jenkins, development manager for the Walter Reed Local Redevelopment Authority, told the audience of nearly 100 attendees.
Interested organizations will have to justify the need in their proposals, provide data on the need, and a description on much space is required.
‘‘I want to emphasize that we are very much in the early stages of this so we haven’t designated any specific buildings for any particular use at this point,” Smith said. ‘‘We’re going to be involved in a process here that’s going to take a while to sort out what we’re doing, what the buildings are going to be used for, and developing a plan for that.”
Jenkins added they will continue the community outreach efforts to ensure public input into local planning process.
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