The Buckingham Herald Tribblog

The following are the latest drawings of potential redevelopment at the N. Glebe Road and N. Pershing Drive intersection. The photos are an attempt to capture the same angle and distance as the drawings to give viewers a clear sense of what might come. They are not exactly the same, as that is probably not possible.

The drawings were distributed at last night's Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board meeting. Bob Moore, of Georgetown Strategic Capital (the potential developer of the site) and Scott Matties, of Cunningham Quill Architects, were on hand to present these latest ideas and take questions.

The discussion at the HALRB meeting was congenial, as both sides (the board and the developer) agreed that the buildings are moving in the right direction. The architect is going to try to lessen the abrupt change in height from the two storey buildings of the Gates of Ballston apartments to the planned buildings on the corner (see the first comparison, below, to get a sense of the difference in heights).

The board asked the developer to start thinking about the materials they would use on the outside of the large buildings, as well.

"That will tell us if the clothing will help hide the girth," said Board Chair Nancy Iacomini.

"Quote of the night," responded Bob Moore, during much laughter.

The basic plan with the property is to remove three commercial buildings from the west side of the N. Glebe Road and N. Pershing Drive intersection (the CVS, El Paso, and Glebe Market buildings). They would be replaced with two buildings with street-level retail and three floors of apartments above.

Mr. Moore also said that his company plans to paint the buildings east of Glebe Road and to find ways to put in greenery on that side (the Cassianna Spa side) of the street.

Please find a list of stories below the illustrations.