Masonic Temple Lot Construction
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October 31, 2022. DECAA has just received a favorable decision from the DC Superior Court in its lawsuit against the city to stop the Masonic Temple development. DECAA is also pursuing the case at the DC Court of Appeals
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Feb. 18, 2022
Appeals Court Sides with Residents on Masonic Temple,
Reinstates DECAA Lawsuit against City
On Tuesday, Feb. 15, just five days after hearing oral arguments, the DC Court of Appeals handed down a decision that agreed with residents trying to protect the iconic Masonic Temple at 16th & S Streets, NW. The Court reinstated the residents’ suit in Superior Court over the action by the city’s Historic Preservation Office (HPO) changing its position to favor the Masons after a single phone call from the Masons’ developer, Perseus.
Filed by the Dupont East Civic Action Association (DECAA), the lawsuits seek to preserve both the Temple Landmark site and the open space behind the Temple along 15th Street. The proposed massive luxury apartment building will block public view of the rear of the world-renowned monument designed by architect John Russel Pope, who also designed the Jefferson Memorial and the National Archives, and who is responsible for the emblematic neo-classical style in the city.
In the HPO case, DECAA asserted that the District erred when HPO applied the city’s historic preservation law in a manner never before applied when it moved the boundary of the site after a single phone call. This case will now be tried in Superior Court.
In a second case DECAA challenged the decision by the Mayor’s Agent for Historic Preservation, which relies on not yet resolved legal claims, and therefore should be suspended until they are resolved.
The Mayor’s Agent had found that “providing a source of revenue [from the project] is consistent with retaining and enhancing the landmark because over time there is cost to maintaining a historic structure.” In opposition, DECAA argued that would gut DC’s Preservation Act, as any project could satisfy this minimal requirement.
Further, in approving the subdivision based on “much needed repairs,” the Mayor’s Agent, relied on a report from the Masons that claimed that the Temple had not undergone “any major renovations since its construction over a century ago[.]” However, DECAA had discovered a webpage from a construction company asserting completion of a $50 million Temple renovation in 2015. The Appeals Court took this second case under advisement.
DECAA continues to fight for the preservation of historic landmarks and associated open green space in the District of Columbia.
IMPORTANT UPDATE
Masonic Temple Development Heads to DC Appeals Court
The Dupont East Civic Action Association (DECAA) has appealed to the DC Court of Appeals the dismissal by the DC Superior Court of the DECCA case to stop the Masonic Temple’s plan for a luxury apartment building at 15th and S Streets, NW. The appeal, Case No. 20-CV-315, was filed on August 19.
Neighbors in the historic, diverse neighborhood of East Dupont oppose the proposed five-and-half story luxury apartment building as oversized and inappropriate in an historic district. Among other objections, it would forever block public views of the rear of the world-renowned Temple, an early design by John Russell Pope, the architect who spurred the emblematic neo-classical style of Washington DC’s federal buildings.
In the appeal, DECAA challenges the DC Superior Court’s dismissal of March 2, 2020, arguing that the trial court erred in concluding that it lacked subject matter jurisdiction, that DECAA had not exhausted its administrative remedies, and that the Mayor’s Agent for Historic Preservation has jurisdiction. DECAA had also raised constitutional claims based on conflict-of-interest and due process, which the DC Appeals Court is expected to address.
“Difficult, complex cases such as this one are often dismissed because of lack of good legal representation and DECAA is fortunate to have a legal team headed by Barry Coburn of the law firm, Coburn & Greenbaum, leading our legal effort,” said Nick DelleDonne, president of DECCA.
A 501(c)3 neighborhood association, DECAA was initially chartered to oppose the Masonic Temple development. Dedicated to community engagement and civic action, it now pursues campaigns to house the homeless, affordable housing, the preservation of green space and pedestrian safety.
Visit DECAA’s website and sign our petition. https:// www.KeepDupontGreen.org
Nick DelleDonneDupont East Civic Action Association703 929 6656
Media release
March 4, 2020
Contact Nick DelleDonne
703-929-6656
Lawsuit on Masonic Development Dismissed without Prejudice,
Court Calls for Completion of Administrative Procedures
Calling for the completion of administrative procedures, DC Superior Court this week dismissed without prejudice the lawsuit filed by the Dupont East Civic Action Association (DECAA) to stop the proposed development at the Masonic Temple at 16th and S Streets, NW. “The good news is that the Court dismissed our case without prejudice. We plan to follow the administrative procedures and return to Court when they are completed,” said DECAA President Nick DelleDonne.
Since the neighborhood dispute began over the proposed construction of a building too large for the historic district, DECAA’s goal has been to stop an inappropriate project in an historic district right next to an historic landmark and improving the quality of life in the neighborhood.
The Historic Preservation Review Board has heard the case three times and the Mayor’s Agent is currently reviewing the proposed subdivision of the landmark site. A decision from the Mayor’s Agent is expected in a couple months.
DECAA is fortunate that the court allowed discovery with documents and depositions, before dismissing the case on a motion from the Office of the Attorney General. DECAA’s legal team is led by the esteemed attorney Barry Coburn.
“We are grateful to all our supporters and friends in the neighborhood who are fighting to retain the character of the community and hold off the commercial-looking fortress that is planned,” DelleDonne said.
Join the neighborhood discussion and action forum, HearUsNow! https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/hearusnow
Visit DECAA’s website and sign our petition. https://www.KeepDupontGreen.org
Donations can be made at www.GoFundMe.com/keep-dupont-green
Masonic Temple Update: Historic Preservation Hearing Feb. 7
Temple Witness Stumbles on Meaning of ‘Retain and Enhance’
The neighborhood campaign to save the open space behind the Masonic Temple at 16 th and S Streets, NW, was heard by the Mayor’s Agent for Historic Preservation Friday. The Masons, a nonprofit organization, seek to subdivide the historically landmarked lot to allow for an over-sized, 55 foot revenue-producing luxury apartment building. Responding to the large influx of families with young children, neighbors oppose the subdivision and the luxury project that would replace the open space. The community has experienced the arrival of a new demographic in the last ten years as families with children have raised a need for more parks. The site is the last open green space in an area the city has deemed short of parks for the quality of life. This is the third hearing on the subdivision, but the Mayor’s Agent hearing is different in that it allows cross examination of witnesses. Thus, although the Masons’ expert witness said the subdivision and development should be allowed, under cross examination, she seemed unfamiliar with the regulatory standard of ‘retain and enhance’ which must be applied before subdivision can be allowed. She could not show how a five-story building, which would block the rear view of the Temple, would ‘enhance’ the magnificent Temple designed by renowned architect John Russell Pope. Dupont East Civic Action Association (DECAA) was joined by the Dupont Circle Citizens Association and individual neighbors Michael Hays, Aydin Tozeren, William Murray, Diane Quinn and ANC Commissioner Ed Hanlon (2B09), all of whom opposed the subdivision. Tozeren added photos to the legal arguments, impressive for their rear views of the Temple which will be lost to the public forever if the development proceeds – the very photos the Masons themselves use to call visitors to the city. DECAA opposes the development to save the last open green space in the area as a Cultural Heritage Park dedicated to African Americans who once thrived here. DECAA separately filed a lawsuit against the city to stop, and continues to protest the Masonic development. Join our neighborhood discussion and action forum, HearUsNow! https://groups.google.com/forum/#!froum/hearusnow
Photos below are images of Temple Tweets!
Media release
Jan. 14, 2020
Contact Nick DelleDonne
703-929-6656
What Makes a Desirable Place to Live?
Neighbors Are Finding Out Together at Block Buster Funding Party
Neighbors pooled $7,200 in a fund raising party Saturday afternoon to fight the outrageous development planned at the Masonic Temple at 15th and S Streets, NW, an event called by the Dupont East Civic Action Association (DECAA) which has been leading the neighborhood campaign.
“Our goal was $4,000 but I guess we hit a vein,” said DECAA President Nick DelleDonne. Neighbors are protesting the proposed development as too big, and out of character with the historic district which DECAA is dedicated to preserving. The development is so large it will permanently block public views of the back of the Masonic Temple, the work of renowned architect John Russell Pope and regarded around the world for its splendor. “We want to see a park instead, in the last open green space in the area, dedicated to the cultural heritage of the African American community that once thrived here,” said DelleDonne.
DECAA filed a lawsuit against the city to stop the developer Perseus and its false claims of ‘by right.’ The lawsuit charges violations of constitutional rights, due process, conflicts of interest and administrative chicanery pandering to the developer.
DECAA has secured the pro bono legal services of the acclaimed attorney Barry Coburn, who has thus far fashioned a brilliant strategy, but depositions and other legal services will fall on the association of neighbors.
The project was the brainchild of former Councilmember John Ray of the firm Manatt Phelps, while now disgraced CM Jack Evans was attached to the firm and originally included a $22 million tax abatement to sweeten the deal. “Even our pro-developer ANC would not go for that,” DellleDonne said. “The project has corruption written all over it,” he said.
The matter of subdividing the Masons’ lot, which the Historic Preservation Office insisted was not a matter for the Mayor’s Agent, now heads to the Mayor’s Agent for a public hearing on February 7.
Donate to DECAA’s legal campaign at www.GoFundMe.com/Keep-Dupont-Green
Join the neighborhood discussion and action forum, HearUsNow! https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/hearusnow
BREAKING NEWS – Mayor’s Agent to hold hearing on Masonic Development
Suddenly yesterday, November 15, 2019, the District of Columbia Office of Planning mailed, to property owners abutting the Temple and Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2B, Notice of a public hearing by the Mayor’s Agent on the Mason’s application for subdivision of the site of the Temple at 1733 16th Street, N.W. (Square 0192, Lot 0108).
The hearing will occur at 10 a.m. on Friday, January 10, 2020, at 1100 4th Street, S.W., Suite E200, Washington, D.C. 20024. Notice of the hearing is expected to be published in the District of Columbia Register on Friday, November 22, 2019. The Notice advises that interested persons or parties are invited to participate in this hearing and offer testimony.
This unexpected development by the Mayor’s Office is on the agenda for DECAA’s Membership Meeting on Monday. Nov. 18, 7:15 pm,
St Luke’s Episcopal Church 1514 15th St, NW.
Meeting on …..
Court Lets DECAA Lawsuit Proceed against
Masonic Development
The key event in this week’s double header hearings over the Masonic Temple development is the decision on Friday, September 27, by the Honorable Judge Yvonne Williams of the DC Superior Court to deny the city’s motion to stay discovery. It is the first of a series of dates scheduled in the lawsuit against the city filed by the newly organized Dupont East Civic Action Association (DECAA) against the development proposed by the Masonic Temple at 16th and S Streets, NW.
Judge Williams scheduled dates for the exchange of materials and setting a pretrial date in June next year. “This is a breakthrough for the whole community.” said Nick DelleDonne, president of DECAA, which filed the suit to stop the development of a five and a half story apartment building in a protected historic district, in the last open green space in East Dupont Circle.
“We have been blessed at every turn in this community struggle to stop an outrageous overdevelopment while the agency, which was established to protect our resources, panders to developers,” said DelleDonnein a reference to the Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB).
Appointed to the Court by President Barack Obama in 2011, Judge Williams did not rule on the DC Attorney General’s last minute motion to dismiss the law suit. DECAA is represented by the celebrated attorney Barry Coburn of the law firm Coburn and Greenbaum.
In a related case, on Thursday, September 26, in its fourth hearing regarding the Masonic development, HPRB overruled the testimony of a dozen neighbors protesting the development, and approved the subdivision of the lot, which technically will allow the developer to apply for construction permits. “DECAA asked for a continuance of the hearing pending resolution of the lawsuit, but to no avail,” DelleDonne said.
DelleDonne put out an appeal for neighbors to take part in the struggle, sign our petition, make a donation and join our Association for the betterment of the community. “We can win this fight if we stick together,” he said. “We do not want to look back in 30 years and say we did nothing.”
Make a donation at www.GoFundMe.com/Keep-Dupont-Green
Feb. 19, 2022 Appeals Court Sides with Residents on Masonic Temple, Reinstates DECAA Lawsuit against City On Tuesday, Feb. 15, just five days after hearing oral arguments, the DC Court of Appeals handed down a decision that agreed with residents trying to protect the iconic Masonic Temple at 16th & S Streets, NW. The Court reinstated the residents’ suit in Superior Court over the action by the city’s Historic Preservation Office (HPO) changing its position to favor the Masons after a single phone call from the Masons’ developer, Perseus. Filed by the Dupont East Civic Action Association (DECAA), the lawsuits seek to preserve both the Temple Landmark site and the open space behind the Temple along 15th Street. The proposed massive luxury apartment building will block public view of the rear of the world-renowned monument designed by architect John Russel Pope, who also designed the Jefferson Memorial and the National Archives, and who is responsible for the emblematic neo-classical style in the city. In the HPO case, DECAA asserted that the District erred when HPO applied the city’s historic preservation law in a manner never before applied when it moved the boundary of the site after a single phone call. This case will now be tried in Superior Court. In a second case DECAA challenged the decision by the Mayor’s Agent for Historic Preservation, which relies on not yet resolved legal claims, and therefore should be suspended until they are resolved. The Mayor’s Agent had found that “providing a source of revenue [from the project] is consistent with retaining and enhancing the landmark because over time there is cost to maintaining a historic structure.” In opposition, DECAA argued that would gut DC’s Preservation Act, as any project could satisfy this minimal requirement. Further, in approving the subdivision based on “much needed repairs,” the Mayor’s Agent, relied on a report from the Masons that claimed that the Temple had not undergone “any major renovations since its construction over a century ago[.]” However, DECAA had discovered a webpage from a construction company asserting completion of a $50 million Temple renovation in 2015. The Appeals Court took this second case under advisement. DECAA continues to fight for the preservation of historic landmarks and associated open green space in the District of Columbia.
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DONATE TO OUR GO FUND ME Campaign
Faced with the proposed over-sized development behind the Masonic Temple at 16th & S St. NW, in Dupont Circle, grassroots neighbors rose up to mount a campaign of protest. In sympathy with the alarm expressed by residents at similar developments around the city reflecting an official thrust in favor of development, gentrification and displacement, in violation of the spirit of the grand design of L’Enfant and the DC Comprehensive Plan for a livable/walkable city, we welcome the formation of this coalition to reject the development planned by the Masonic Temple and demonstrate to preserve open, green space to save our neighborhoods throughout our city.
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$22M
tax abatements
150
Luxury Units
20
Subterranean Units
2
Basement Levels
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“It’s like living in a Metro tunnel. Is it fair? Is it human?”
Victor Wexler
Appeals Court Sides with Residents on Masonic Temple,
Reinstates DECAA Lawsuit against City
Appeals Court Sides with Residents on Masonic Temple, Reinstates DECAA Lawsuit against City