New projects will soon be under way as part of the Georgetown University 10-year campus expansion plan, as the school and its neighbors are now working together after a contentious start.
D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray on Wednesday announced a partnership has been formed between the school and the community’s Advisory Neighborhood Commission. The union came as a result of mediation between the parts, which had followed months of what Gray called a “stalemate.” The university and ANC both agreed to undergo mediation, which resulted in the newly founded partnership.
“I think we have reached an agreement,” Gray said. “An agreement that serves the university, an agreement that serves the community and an agreement that of course serves the students of Georgetown University.”
Details on the expansion projects are expected to be announced Thursday.
Georgetown University President John J. DeGioia and ANC Commissioner Ron Lewis both said they hope the partnership will help create solutions that will benefit all involved. DeGioia said the partnership focuses on recognizing the differences between Georgetown as a university and a community — and fulfilling the needs of both.
“There were tremendous obstacles in the past,” Lewis said. “The university and the community were really inclined to fight things out. Litigation on the plan 10 years ago took five or six years. We all wanted to avoid that.”
The Georgetown University Hotel and Conference Center was proposed as new student housing in November 2010, and the status of that is expected to be on the list of details to be released. Housing has been the university’s greatest concern, said university spokeswoman Stacy Kerr.
