WBJ post on AFRH deciding to bypass DC zoning to develop its site just north of Bloomingdale and the Hospital Center

This Washington Business Journal is behind a firewall, so I am only including the first few paragraphs. 

Federal government to bypass D.C. zoning for Armed Forces Retirement Home

May 22, 2018, 1:49pm EDT Updated: May 22, 2018, 3:52pm EDT

Daniel J. Sernovitz
Staff Reporter
Washington Business Journal

The Armed Forces Retirement Home plans to bypass the District's comprehensive planning process to speed up redevelopment at its campus in Northwest, an approach intended to avoid delays and community pushback against what could be a 4.4 million-square-foot project.
             

The General Services Administration, on behalf of the nation's oldest veteran's retirement home, issued a request for proposals Monday seeking developers to remake an 80-acre portion of its 272-acre campus just north of the Washington VA Medical Center. In it, the federal government's real estate arm noted the redevelopment will proceed as a "Federal action," rather than taking the property through the District's zoning process.
                                             

"Given the extended time frame that would likely be needed to put a new zoning process in place, AFRH has opted to retain control of the development by treating the project as a Federal action to make sure project timelines are met," AFRH spokesman Chris Kelly said in an email. "AFRH is still committed to working closely with the District Government and our neighbors throughout the project."

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