mayor's vision for McMillan: best-in-class medical center

Note the vision for McMillan is "best-in-class" medical center.  But there are only three medical buildings currently planned for the site.  How do three medical office buildings in an of themselves comprise a best-in-class medical center?
 

Mayor Unveils Five-Year Economic Development Strategy

Posted by Aaron Wiener on Nov. 14, 2012 at 12:33 pm
 

Speaking this morning against a backdrop of construction on the CityMarket at O site in Shaw, Mayor Vince Gray laid out his ambitious five-year plan to bring jobs and economic growth to the city.

``This is our first-ever economic development strategy,`` Gray said proudly, ``which has emanated in part from our relationships with universities and the business community.``

The 112-page plan aims to bring 100,000 new jobs—more than three times the number of unemployed D.C. residents right now—and $1 billion in new tax revenue to the city over the next five years. It`s based on six ``visions``:

 1.``Establish the most business-friendly economy in the nation`` by assisting businesses through targeted programs and relaxing building height restrictions in certain parts of the city

 2.``Create the largest technology center on the East Coast`` with a bub at St. Elizabeths and tax incentives for tech firms and investors

 3.``Become the nation`s destination of choice`` by improving infrastructure (including a ``District-wide Wi-Fi system``) and promoting tourism

 4.``End retail leakage`` by changing zoning and bringing retail to underserved areas to help reduce the $1 billion spent each year by D.C. residents on retail outside the city

 5.``Build a best-in-class global medical center`` at the McMillan site

 6.``Become the top North American destination for foreign investors, businesses and tourists,`` particularly through efforts in China

         

Gray acknowledged the skepticism his numbers were likely to engender. ``Within five years, this plan will allow us to create—and you`ll probably ask, `What were you smoking in the back?`—100,000 new jobs and $1 billion in revenue,`` he said.

But he says the city`s come a long way to bring it to this point. ``When you talk about Microsoft wanting to locate in Ward 8, that would`ve been considered heresy a few years ago,`` he said.

But the plan, while impressive in its ambitions, isn`t terribly detailed on the specifics, despite its many charts and graphs. In response to a question about how to account for the sudden spurt in construction and economic activity—Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Victor Hoskins, who dubbed himself ``the official crane counter,`` said there are currently 52 cranes up in the city—Gray replied, ``It`s outstanding mayoral leadership.``

The plan also makes several references to the constraints on office space (and the resulting high office costs) due to the restrictions on building heights in the city. But when I asked Gray if the plan anticipated changes to the Height Act, which are now being studied, he said no.

``We`ve tried to craft a plan over which we have reasonable control,`` he said, referring to the congressional approval needed to amend the 1901 law. But he acknowledged that a change to the Height Act would affect the city`s economic development and ``probably would have a major impact on the number of people living in the city as well.``

The plan does, however, factor in the potential effects of sequestration if the federal budget impasse is not resolved. ``We`ve already factored that in,`` Gray said. ``If it doesn`t come to pass, we`ll be in a better situation.``

The city, Gray said, will get half its new jobs in the real estate and construction sector. An additional 25,000 will come from the tech sector.
    

``We`ve had two kinds of tech firms in D.C.: those that have started and failed, and those that have started and succeeded and left,`` he said.

One of Gray`s goals is to make the city less reliant on the federal government. The fortunes of the city, he said, have been ``tied to the rise and fall of the federal government. It doesn`t have to be that way.``
 
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Greater Greater Washington also covered the Mayor's five-year economic development strategy. 
 
Here is the brief paragraph on McMillan:
 
For example, this plan envisions a world-class medical center at the McMillan Sand Filtration Site, which is right next to a cluster of hospitals. The job growth in health care and higher education has exceeded all other sectors in DC in the past decade.