In the 9th Inning of the Gray Administration, the Score: Deputy Mayor 11, ANCs 0

"It's important to remember that our recommendation is only that," said Alexander Padro, Chair of Advisory Neighborhood Commission 6E/Shaw at the last regular monthly meeting on July 1.

"The Deputy Mayor in this administration has frequently ignored the
recommendation from Advisory Neighborhood Commissions. I've been tracking eleven of them in the Gray administration and zero for eleven have actually gone to the bidders that had the support of the ANCs," Padro said.

The 8th and O parking lot and the church (left)

Padro (also commissioner for district 01) made his remarks about the DC Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED) directly after the ANC voted to recommend the plan of Four Points LLC to develop a plot of land at 8th and O Streets NW. The land is currently the site of a church parking lot.

Five of the seven members of ANC6E attended a community meeting on the 8th and O development the previous evening, June 30, where they saw full presentations by the four contenders for DMPED permission to develop the land: Four Points, A & R Development, Madison Investments, and Roadside Development. All four did an abbreviated version of the presentation at the ANC6E meeting.

The winner of ANC endorsement had a very different proposal from the others, because Four Points LLC is also aiming to buy -- in a separate transaction -- the property next door, the Scripture Cathedral Church, and then unite the properties in a single building with 172 rental units and 11,400 square feet of retail space.

It was reported at the ANC meeting that the Scripture Cathedral Church is moving all its operations to its Maryland campus in Landover.

Details and artists' renderings of the four proposals as they appeared at the June 30 community meeting were reported on the real estate blog Urban Turf here.

A report on ANC6E's decision to choose the plan of Four Points LLC appeared on the blog District Source here.

ANC6E videos their meetings in their entirety and post them on its YouTube channel. See Padro make the remarks quoted above on video 00061 here, at time 28:30.

The entire June 30 community meeting on this property can also be viewed on ANC6E's YouTube channel.