Rumors that developers would announce seriously scaled-back plans for the persistently controversial Hurt Home are true. Thursday's joint roundtable with the Committee on Government Operations and the Environment revealed that instead of the 30-or-so luxury condominium units the Argos Group proposed to bring to the historic property at 3050 R Street NW, going forward, Argos is only proposing 15 units with 30 parking spaces.
At the roundtable, Ward 2 Councilmember Jack Evans responded to concerns that the City is tentatively disposing of the property for too little money, explaining that as the number of units that would be built in the home was whittled down, so was the price. The City and Argos have not determined an exact sale price, but with the current level of proposed develoment, it does not stand to make more than a few million dollars.
Neighborhood witnesses at the roundtable, including a resident sporting a handmade 
sign, also voiced concerns that the developers had not shared a timeline for construction on the property, which Evans said would be addressed at a community meeting on the development on Thursday night.
The Home has been the subject of continual neighborhood concern ever since a June 9 meeting where some residents were surprised to learn that the City intended to sell the home to a condominium developer. Complaints about the project going forward without more input have persisted ever since.
But at Thursday's hearing, Evans, who was recently on the receiving end of a deluge of complaints about the Hurt Home from Georgetown residents (callers to his office also claimed that Argos and the Deputy Mayors' Office for Planning and Economic Development did not do enough to share their proposals with the community), dismissed similar accusations out of hand. "I've heard the Bobby Kennedy story," he said, holding up a 2009 issue of the widely-read Georgetown Current. "The headline in this paper is 'Residents hear plan for Hurt Home.'"
Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells agreed, saying, "There have probably been more public meetings on this property than on any other property being surplused since I’ve been elected in Ward 6."
Check back later for coverage of tonight's community meeting on the Hurt Home from 6:30 - 8:30 at Hyde-Addison Elementary School at 3129 O Street in Georgetown.
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