Police Move Is Not Off After All

Fenty's Office Says Statement Was Premature

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's office said yesterday that the city has not abandoned plans to move police headquarters into an industrial building the city is leasing in Southeast Washington -- contradicting statements made by the District's top property official.

A day earlier, the director of the D.C. Office of Property Management said Fenty had decided against using the vacant warehouse as a home for top police brass, the 1st Police District and various other law enforcement operations. The director, Lars Etzkorn, said Fenty was wisely scuttling the project because it would cost too much.

The property management office released a statement saying that it was good that the city had discovered now instead of later that the move to 225 Virginia Ave. SE was not cost-effective. But backing away would leave the city on the hook for $6.5 million a year in rent because of leasing obligations.

Fenty (D) did not return repeated calls Wednesday on the subject, and he declined to comment when found last night at a community meeting. He left it to his spokeswoman, Carrie Brooks, to deal with the confusion.

Brooks said that the mayor had made no decision and that statements to the contrary were premature and made without his knowledge or approval.

"The administration had some questions about the deal, but we wouldn't make any final decisions without going through the council," Brooks said.

The crossed signals puzzled D.C. Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), head of the Public Safety and Judiciary Committee. He had written Fenty a letter warning that calling off the move might be detrimental for the police. Mendelson also asked why the council had not been consulted.

Mendelson said yesterday that he thinks Etzkorn obtained the Fenty administration's agreement before proceeding with the announcement. In interviews Wednesday, Etzkorn said the city had thoroughly studied the issue and found that moving the police operations into the building would require about $100 million in renovations.

"I would be shocked if he did this without approval," Mendelson said of Etzkorn. "I believe maybe the administration is changing their mind, and that's good."

Etzkorn declined to comment yesterday.

The city signed a 20-year lease for the property in December but had a six-month grace period before it had to start paying $542,000 a month in rent. Those payments began in July. The District has the option to sublease the building, owned by Washington Telecom Associates LLC.

Council member Carol Schwartz (R-At Large) issued a statement yesterday saying that the Virginia Avenue property is "extremely expensive" and questioning the need to consolidate so many police operations.

Brooks said the city could put another agency in the building if police do not move there.

"They are taking a look at the deal to see if it makes sense for the city," Brooks said. "It could make sense for the city but not necessarily the police department. We're figuring out what our best option is."

Staff writer Elissa Silverman contributed to this report.