Walter Reed Reuse Plan as an Urban Design Case Study

Tuesday, July 30, 2013 • 5:30 p.m. ET

The Walter Reed Army Medical Center Reuse Plan provides the urban framework for 66.5 acres of land to be transferred to the District of Columbia following closing of the military installation. The planning effort was led by the District Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and the Office of Planning. This land has valuable frontage to 16th Street and Georgia Avenue, two major axial corridors, with the former originating in the White House and the latter being a major passageway between D.C. and Silver Spring.

Presenters Susana Arissó, AICP, and Martine Combal, AICP, will discuss the cutting edge sustainable framework. This future neighborhood is set to become one of the five EcoDistricts in the Washington area, consisting of an exciting mixed-use development balancing new construction with historic buildings, open recreational spaces, destination retail, and residential, institutional and office uses totaling three million gross square feet. Located in an area of Georgia Avenue in dire need of revitalization, this plan envisions a "one-stop shop" for ordinary and extraordinary needs alike.

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Susana Arissó, AICP, is a graduate of the University of Michigan and senior urban designer at Perkins+Will. She has 17 years of experience in the architecture field, with a focus on planning and urban design over the last 13 years while working for SmithGroup and Skidmore Owings & Merrill. Two of her projects have been recognized by APA's National Capital Area Chapter: the Walter Reed Reuse Plan won the 2012 Award for Outstanding Neighborhood Plan, and the Pentagon Reservation Master Plan won the 2005 Award for Meritorious Work in a Plan, and was commended by NCPC for its sustainability strategies. Arisso and was recently invited to the Item Writing Task Force for AICP's upcoming advanced specialty certification test for Urban Design.

Martine Combal, AICP, is director of the Walter Reed Local Redevelopment Authority within the DC Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED). She manages the base realignment and closure process and proposed redevelopment of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Prior to DMPED, Combal was manager of the Property Acquisition and Disposition Division at the District of Columbia Department of Housing and Community Development. She has knowledge and experience with acquisitions, negotiating disposition agreements, and local and federal affordable housing programs. She has a Master's of City Planning and a Certificate of Urban Design from the University of Pennsylvania.