Mayor's Stadium Proposal Advances

Panel Approves Split-Level Parking

The D.C. Zoning Commission approved the mayor's plan for the new Nationals stadium in Southeast yesterday, including his proposal to wrap four levels of parking inside two condominium towers, a first for Washington architecture.

The $281 million towers will also feature a boutique hotel, shops and restaurants and will be designed so that the parking levels are not visible from the street.

"This is going to be very handsome, and the housing is very exciting," said John Parsons, who joined three other members of the commission in voting to approve the plan. The fifth commissioner, Carol Mitten, was absent.

The commission rejected a backup plan also proposed by Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) that called for standard parking garages, the type found at shopping malls and Metro stations. Williams said he wanted a fallback strategy in case problems developed with the more complicated plan to wrap the garages inside condo towers. Simple parking garages were also the first choice of Nationals owner Theodore N. Lerner because they are easy to construct.

But the zoning commissioners slammed them as detrimental to the city's plans to create a thriving entertainment district around the stadium that pulses with life year round.

"Going back to exposed garages does nothing for the revitalization of the community," Commissioner Michael Turnbull said. "It's not good land use, not good planning."

The commission's vote was welcomed with relief by the mayor's staff and developer Herb Miller, who hopes to win the right to build the 13-story towers in exchange for a $61 million payment to the city. The city is building the $611 million stadium and parking.

"The Zoning Commission did the right thing," Miller said after the vote. "This is not just about a stadium. This is about taking an industrial backwater and turning it into a new community for the city."

In a statement issued from South Africa, where he was appearing at a conference, Williams applauded the zoning decision and said his plan "offers something for everyone."

Representatives for Lerner could not be reached for comment.

Zoning laws require underground parking at the stadium, and the mayor originally planned to sink parking underground to allow for shops, restaurants and condos to be built on the land adjacent to the stadium. But Lerner strongly objected, saying it could not be completed by the 2008 baseball season.

The city has pledged to open the new stadium and provide 1,225 parking spaces by April 2008. To meet that deadline, construction has to start about Labor Day.

If the project falls behind schedule, the city and Lerner will face steep financial penalties. The District has sold more than $535 million in bonds to finance construction of the stadium, and any delay makes it vulnerable to lawsuits from investors. The District also faces financial penalties under a deal signed with Major League Baseball if it does not provide the stadium and garages by 2008. The city's chief financial officer has estimated that the District could lose $50 million if the stadium is delayed.

Lerner, who paid $450 million to buy the Nationals from Major League Baseball, could lose millions if the stadium and parking lots are not open on time.

Two weeks ago, Williams came up with a compromise: build 900 spaces on two levels underground and 925 aboveground in two 13-story structures, masked by 660 condominiums, shops and a hotel.

The plan needs to be approved by the D.C. Council, which held a five-hour hearing on the matter earlier in the day. The city's chief financial officer, Natwar M. Gandhi, said he could not endorse the mayor's proposal because of 11 hurdles that remain, including the fact that Miller lacks a financing agreement from a lender. He also said the mayor's plan will cost $9 million more than has been budgeted by the city. Gandhi said it was unlikely that all outstanding issues could be resolved by Tuesday, when the council is to vote on the mayor's plan.

"These are very involved, intricate issues," Gandhi said. "It takes a lot of time to negotiate all these things."

But Miller later told the council that he was confident he could answer Gandhi's concerns by Monday. "We can work out every one of these issues with Nat Gandhi," Miller said. "Everything Gandhi wants, we want."

Council members complained of the mounting pressure. "If we just run and throw something up because we've got a time frame that is making us a nervous wreck, no one will be happy with the result," said council member Carol Schwartz (R-At Large).