Architect Pelli Joins Effort To Save Comsat Building

By Dana Hedgpeth
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 5, 2006

Forty years after Cesar Pelli designed the Comsat Corp. building, a low-rise glass and aluminum structure on Interstate 270 near Route 121 in Clarksburg, the famed architect is coming to Montgomery County to join an effort to save it.

Pelli is scheduled to speak Tuesday at the conclusion of a four-day conference at Montgomery College in Rockville called by preservationists and community groups opposed to development plans that could include razing the former home of the satellite research company.

"I would like to do everything I can to save this building," Pelli said in a phone interview last week from his office in New Haven, Conn. "It's like saving one of my babies. I have a great attachment to my designs."

By midmorning on Saturday, about 40 architects, planners, residents and activists mingled around tables in a classroom at Montgomery College discussing ways to preserve the building, trees and views of the property and what else might be built on some of the land.

They also shared their impressions of the sleek complex that has become part of the local landscape.

"At first I thought it was very peculiar when I moved into the area, but now I really enjoy it," said Kendra Biddick of Clarksburg as she worked in one of the small groups, looking at topography, zoning and aerial maps of the property. "It has a stark appearance."

Marcie Stickle of Silver Spring added: "It's an iconic building. It's a gem." Nearby, Tony Pins, an architecture student at Penn State who is from Rockville, said he would spend the next few days helping devise new ideas for reuse of the complex. "It piqued my interest to come because it's one of the few buildings that's worthwhile to look at in Montgomery County," the 21-year-old said.

Executives with the owner of the Comsat property, Lcor Inc., were surprised to learn last week about the community event and that Pelli would be participating.

"So Cesar's coming to town?" said Mike Smith, a vice president at Lcor, an office and residential developer based in Berwyn, Pa. Smith said he didn't plan to go because the meeting's organizer -- Montgomery Preservation Inc., a nonprofit group that works to preserve historic sites -- had "no consultation with us and no outreach -- they never approached us to work with them and others."

Smith said he's "not sure" whether his company will tear down the Comsat building, as it is still planning for the site.

Lcor bought the approximately 500,000-square-foot Comsat building and 200 acres of grassy hills that surround it in 1997. It has said it wants to turn the site into 1,500 apartments and townhouses, up to 1 million square feet of offices and about 150,000 square feet of shops and restaurants. The county's master plan also calls for a light rail stop to come through the property eventually.

Lockheed Martin Corp., which bought Comsat in 2000 and later sold it, has a lease on the building until 2007. The company uses about half of the space for its employees and subcontractors, according to Lcor executives, and the rest of the building is empty.

"You've got rooms with no windows and 40-foot ceilings and these long corridors they used to use to move satellites," said Steve Elmendorf, Lcor's lawyer. "Part of it is empty just because it is unusable. There's not exactly satellite developers running up and down Interstate 270 looking for this kind of space."

Lcor executives said it would be costly to save the Comsat building. "You have to convert a building that was a manufacturing and research place into a modern office space," Smith said. "It's a daunting challenge."

In April 2005, the county's Historic Preservation Commission recommended that the building and the surrounding 30 acres be designated historic. But the Montgomery County Planning Board voted against the historic designation.

The Montgomery County Council could take the matter up but has not done so, according to Patrick Lacefield, a spokesman for the council.

Some area residents said they hope to gain politicians' attention by having Pelli at their event.

"I'm worried they're going to put parking lots and townhouses right up to the outside of it even if they save the building," said Alethea Hendricks, a Clarksburg resident who was setting up a booth at a community event to promote saving the building. "We have a unique building here. It would make a fantastic art museum with a fancy restaurant or maybe some designer stores with a sculpture garden outside."

Wayne Goldstein, president of Montgomery Preservation, said: "It's a landmark. It could be the crown jewel the way the Silver Theater is of Silver Spring."

Pelli, 79, is known for his work on projects including the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur and Reagan National Airport. The Argentina-born architect is a former dean of the School of Architecture at Yale University.

Pelli said he's not being paid to speak at the conference in Rockville but "they will put us in a nice bed and breakfast."

He said he designed the Comsat building in the early part of his career and considers its pre-fabricated aluminum panels "very modern for its time.

"It was an influential building," Pelli said. "It would be criminal to tear it down."

New Life for Dealership

Texas-based developer JPI has plans to turn a former car dealership along Route 7 near Tyco Road into a mixed-use development. The apartment developer said it entered into a deal to lease 3.5 acres of the former Peacock Buick car dealership for 99 years.

The car dealership closed in February because of Buick's nationwide troubles, Michael Peacock, who had run the family business, has said previously. He did not return phone calls seeking comment on the deal.

Aaron Liebert of JPI said the site is likely to become a mix of commercial, retail and office space because it will be close to the proposed Metro route through Tysons Corner.

Peacock Buick is among the first car dealerships along Route 7 to redevelop with plans to take advantage of the higher building density that would be allowed along Leesburg Pike with the expected arrival of Metro.

Dana Hedgpeth writes about economic development and commercial real estate. Her e-mail ishedgpethd@washpost.com.