{"id":124,"date":"2019-05-29T19:57:09","date_gmt":"2019-05-29T23:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/takomatorch.com\/?p=124"},"modified":"2020-09-11T10:19:12","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T14:19:12","slug":"junction-development-changes-course-as-new-developer-agrees-to-build-project-for-only-1783","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/2019\/05\/29\/junction-development-changes-course-as-new-developer-agrees-to-build-project-for-only-1783\/","title":{"rendered":"Junction Development Changes Course as New Developer Agrees to Build Project for Only $1,783"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
Overhead view of proposed development location.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

After 4 years of packed city council hearings, protests, and\nsocial media battles, the City of Takoma Park announced today that the Takoma\nJunction Project has been abandoned and a new proposal has been approved.\nAccording to the city manager, a better deal was struck as a local community\ngroup secured a developer to build the project for only $1,783, or $21,998,217 less\nthan the original design.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a no-brainer,\u201d stated the City Manager. \u201cNot only is\nthe building basically free, but I\u2019m now free from having to deal with these\npeople. I\u2019m really looking forward to getting back to my regular job of reading\npublic complaints about new sidewalks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Takoma Junction Development has been the topic of controversy\nfor years with both sides showing no signs of compromise. Supporters maintain\nthe argument that the city needs more commerce and much needed tax revenue. Opponents,\non the other hand, believe if given the chance, they can easily find their own developer\nto build their vision: a multipurpose building with commercial space, rental\nhousing, community meeting rooms, a performance stage, an artisanal craft\nstudio, and an interior courtyard that functions as a public park, all financed\nwith taxpayer funds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only thing stopping them was finding a developer who\ncould deliver this project within the City\u2019s non-existent development budget \u2013\nthen a miracle happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll of my colleagues think I\u2019m crazy,\u201d stated Fred H.\nKleine, Owner of Mega Build Development, a Bethesda-based developer who agreed\nto execute the community\u2019s entire vision for just $1,783. \u201cMy company will lose\nmillions, my shareholders will be angry, and there\u2019s a near certainty that I\u2019ll\nbe facing personal and professional ruin in less than a year. But how could I\nsay no? It\u2019s not like I can just stand by and allow Takoma Park to turn into\nBethesda.\u201d
\n
\nAsked why the cost estimate is $1,783 and not zero, Kleine responded, \u201cThe\ncommunity worked hard to scrape up what they felt was enough money on GoFundMe to\nbuild a project of this scope.  Frankly, I\njust didn\u2019t have the heart to tell them they had no sense of reality. Sometimes\nit\u2019s best just to avoid confrontation with certain folks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Designs for the new proposal are currently underway as a\nlocal architecture student is working nights and weekends trying to squeeze in\nthe work around final exams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a crazy deadline, but frankly, I don\u2019t really mind,\u201d\nstated Paul Feeney, senior architecture student at University of Maryland, \u201cI\u2019ve\nwatched this development process long enough to know that whatever I draw now\nwill be scrutinized and changed repeatedly over 48 months of public review and\ncomment.  I consider it job security for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After 4 years of packed city council hearings, protests, and social media battles, the City of Takoma Park announced today that the Takoma Junction Project has been abandoned and a new proposal has been approved. According to the city manager, a better deal was struck as a local community group secured a developer to build…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":125,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[24,122,117,116,112,94,98,93,111,4,67,145,2,64,121,104,164,115],"class_list":["post-124","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-dc-satire","tag-historic-takoma","tag-junction-development","tag-nimby","tag-parking-lot","tag-parody","tag-political-satire","tag-satire","tag-satirical-news","tag-takoma","tag-takoma-junction","tag-takoma-junction-development","tag-takoma-park","tag-takoma-park-city-council","tag-takoma-park-historic-district","tag-takoma-torch","tag-takomatorch","tag-yimby","wpcat-17-id"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/takomatorch.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/takoma2.png?fit=1200%2C581&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paPZSG-20","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=124"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/124\/revisions\/126"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=124"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=124"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/takomatorch.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=124"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}