By David Nakamura
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 13, 2003; Page A01

A private foundation abandoned a plan to build a $50 million mayoral mansion in the District after 21/2 years and donated the land to the Salvation Army yesterday, shocking city leaders and residents who had been fiercely divided over the project.

Officials for the Eugene B. Casey Foundation said the organization's leader, Betty Brown Casey, decided that giving the 16.5 acres of prime Northwest Washington real estate to the Salvation Army would be more beneficial than using it for an official residence for the city's mayor.

Salvation Army leaders, who also were surprised by the gift, said they intend to sell the land in the Foxhall neighborhood, valued at $11 million by the city's tax assessors, to the highest bidder and use the money to build a community center in Anacostia.

"Everyone thought the mansion was a great idea, a great facility for the mayor," said Brendan Sullivan, an attorney representing the Casey Foundation. "But if you balance that on one hand against the good a community center will do for literally hundreds, even thousands, in this [Anacostia] community -- well, a better idea just came along."

The decision stunned city leaders, who had generally supported the project since February 2001, when the Casey Foundation proposed building a mansion for the city's mayor similar to New York City's Gracie Mansion.

"In a word, I'm outraged," said D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large). "A lot of people spent a lot of time and effort that's just gone down the hole."

Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D), who was out of town, said in a statement that he was "pleased that Mrs. Casey and the Casey Foundation have decided to make a gift of this magnitude to the Salvation Army for the purpose of providing essential social services and economic development opportunities to the residents of Anacostia."

Many officials and residents speculated that Casey had grown weary of residents' objections to portions of the project, particularly the foundation's bid to annex four acres of federal parkland.

The foundation wanted the additional land for a fence, guard booth and service driveway, but residents and conservationists complained that the open green space would be cut off from public access. The dispute delayed the project for months.

In October, the project at last began to move forward, as the National Park Service gave the city 1.8 acres that was to be leased to the foundation. At the time, Casey Mansion Foundation board member Richard Carr said construction would begin early next year and could be finished in two to three years. D.C. planning officials had been working on the terms of the lease when the foundation's decision was announced.

Sullivan said Betty Casey was not put off by the criticism of the mansion project or the residents' objections. She did, however, want to make sure she backed a project that would be completed relatively quickly, and the mansion project was going slowly, Sullivan said.

"It's an utter surprise to me," said Howard Bray, a Foxhall community activist who had objected to the land transfer. "They had come a long way. They were just about over the goal line. It's a surprise that they would do this."

The Salvation Army had asked the Casey Foundation for a donation to the Anacostia community center project in the spring, and Casey had pledged $5 million, said Todd Smith, general secretary of the organization's D.C. branch.

This week, a Casey Foundation representative called the Salvation Army and offered the land, Smith said.

"This came completely out of the blue," Smith said. "It's something we were not expecting. At this point, we're very grateful."

The community center, to be built at Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Morris Road SE, will bear the Casey name, Smith said. It is slated to be five floors, with a combination of social services, job training, day care and retail use, officials said.

The Casey Foundation was created by Betty Casey's late husband, a major Montgomery County developer. The foundation also has donated $50 million to restore the city's tree canopy, and officials said that program will continue.

The history of the mansion project has been hampered by political hurdles from the start. Some District leaders and residents complained about the prospect of the mayor living in a mansion in one of the city's most affluent neighborhoods, a location that hardly symbolized the diversity of the city.

Before the Casey Foundation selected the Foxhall site, city officials showed the organization other properties, including the former naval hospital on Pennsylvania Avenue and the vacant Spanish ambassador's residence on 16th Street. After seeing the properties, however, the foundation preferred to start anew rather than renovate an old building.

D.C. Council member David A. Catania (R-At Large), who had opposed the project on the grounds that the city had more important needs than a "castle on a hill," said yesterday that he was pleased the foundation's resources would go toward "a more important purpose."

But he expressed frustration about "all the time and energy spent jury-rigging the mansion when there were more pressing issues such as schools and other agencies that didn't get that attention."

Pete Ross, head of the Foxhall Community Citizens Association, said Betty Casey is to blame for the failure of the project.

"The Casey Foundation has been noncommunicative from the beginning," he said. "She tried to make all of us look like we were against it. But everyone was for it. I'm not crying at all. I'm glad we do not have to deal with these people anymore, the way they acted. They came in thinking they could push people around and dictate to the city what they wanted to be done."

Foxhall residents may have spited themselves by objecting so vehemently to the foundation's bid for additional parkland. The 1.8 acres of federal parkland will be returned to the National Park Service, officials from that agency said, but city planning officials said the other 16.5 acres could be used to build more than 100 townhouses if the Salvation Army sells it to a developer.

"Looking out my front door, I can't imagine anything but green space," said Jim Rosebush, a resident who supported the mansion project. "I would not like to see townhouses developed there. I'd like it to be used for another charitable purpose, such as a school or extension of a museum."

Staff writer Craig Timberg contributed to this report.