Public hearing tonight on changes planned for Greenbelt Metro Station if FBI HQ is built there @WTOP @wmata pic.twitter.com/PahzOTQdTW
— Michelle Basch (@mbaschWTOP) February 23, 2016
More pix from public hearing on planned Greenbelt Metro changes that will only happen if FBI HQ is built there @WTOP pic.twitter.com/ringssoL6z
— Michelle Basch (@mbaschWTOP) February 24, 2016
GREENBELT, Md. — Greenbelt, Landover and Springfield are the three locations being considered for a new FBI headquarters, and it’s not clear when the General Services Administration (GSA) will make a final decision.
Still, plans for big changes to the Greenbelt Metro station are moving ahead, just in case that’s the chosen spot.
The proposal – which will only happen if the FBI relocates to Greenbelt – would reconfigure many parts of the station and add an 8-story parking garage, as well as hotel, office, retail and residential space.
“There’s about 1.5 million square feet of mixed use development that’s proposed to be located over our bus loop and over our Kiss & Ride parking area,” says Rosalyn Doggett, Senior Real Estate Advisor with Metro’s Department of Planning and Real Estate.
She says it would be a big improvement for Metro riders.
“Instead of walking through a fairly desolate parking lot to get to the station, they would park in the garage and they would have a bridge that goes over to this new mixed use development from the garage. Then they would walk through a plaza which would be lined with some retail shops.”
At a public hearing on the plan Tuesday night at the Greenbelt Marriott, some people called for a more pedestrian and bike-friendly plan.
Another thing some people are unhappy about is a proposed $14.50 fee for drivers who use the garage, but don’t ride Metro.
Metro wants to hear what you think through an online survey. You have until 5 p.m. on March 4 to email your comments so they can be submitted to Metro’s Board of Directors.
Metro says the earliest construction may start is next spring.
