• By Stephen Staudigl
• October 10, 2023

NCPC Approves Final Bureau of Engraving and Printing Currency Production Facility Plans

At its October 5, 2023 meeting the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) approved final site and building plans for the Bureau of Engraving and Printing Currency Production Facility to be located in Beltsville, Maryland. Plans submitted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, in coordination with the Department of the Treasury and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, are for a new 920,000 square foot 40-50’ tall facility to be located on a 104-acre site on the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center grounds. It would replace an existing facility in downtown Washington, DC. Construction is expected to begin later this year with the first employees arriving in 2027. Full occupancy is anticipated in 2031.

In its approval, Commissioners appreciated the improvements made to the project in response to previous NCPC feedback submitted during the review process. These include a reduction in wetland, stream, and buffer impacts made by retaining and reusing 100-percent of stormwater on-site and redirecting wastewater to the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission; developing a Transportation Management Plan that reduces single occupancy vehicle trips; reducing surface parking by 34-percent (385 spaces) resulting in an improved employee parking ratio; reducing vehicle emission air pollutants by approximately 27-percent by making off-site intersection and roadway improvements; increasing tree canopy by planting 2,035 new trees; and incorporating native pollinator plant species, including milkweed, into the landscape plan.

The Commission provided comments on the Draft Pentagon Reservation Master Plan Update submitted by the Department of Defense Washington Headquarters Services for the approximately 245-acre campus in Arlington, Virginia. The Draft Master Plan Update also includes the approximately 16-acre Mark Center, located in Alexandria, Virginia approximately 4.5 miles away from the Pentagon. The master plan updates the 2016 plan’s existing conditions and identifies future projects. While this update only proposes minor revisions, a more extensive master plan update will take place in five years.

The Draft Master Plan Update’s overall goals are to improve security; enhance safety and quality of life for employees and visitors; enhance environmental sustainability and climate resilience; balance planning factors and development pressures; and enhance multimodal access. Pentagon projects are focused on security; new facility changes (in the next five years); land use changes (for the next six to 20 years); circulation; environmental sustainability; and energy. The only projects proposed for the Mark Center are energy conservation measures. Specific details may be found in the Staff Report.

The Commission supported the update’s goals and overall approach and requested that security projects be submitted for NCPC review to ensure they balance security needs with accessibility, design quality, historic preservation, and pedestrian considerations. They were pleased by proposed increases in green space and bioretention, projects to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, and proposed land use changes to reduce the Pentagon’s impervious area and the amount of land dedicated to vehicular parking. They also encouraged, in addition to documentation, that other efforts be considered to address historic communities displaced by the Pentagon’s initial construction including interpretive signage or other types of memorialization, sustainable and enhanced green space, and that affordable housing opportunities on current Army Navy Drive surface parking lots be considered if the Department of Defense disposes of them.

Commissioners also recommended that the applicant coordinate pedestrian improvements between the Pentagon 9/11 Memorial and the proposed Visitor Education Center with Arlington National Cemetery, the Pentagon Memorial Fund, and applicable local and federal transportation agencies.

Commission actions and related materials are available online.

The Commission approved four items on the Consent Calendar (no presentations were made). Unless otherwise noted, all projects are in Washington, DC.
1. Preliminary and final site and building plans for the Marine Barracks Washington P158 Bachelor Enlisted Quarters and Support Facility, 1053 7th Street, SE. (8456)
2. Preliminary and final site and building plans for the Richmond Highway Bus Rapid Transit Station, Richmond Highway and Belvoir Road, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. (8494)
3. Preliminary and final site development plans for the Mount Vernon Circle Security Project, 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, Alexandria, Virginia. (8495)
4. Report to the Zoning Commission of the District of Columbia regarding a Consolidated Planned Unit Development and Related Map Amendment for Squares 3351, 3352, and 3353, 7024 Eastern Avenue, NW. (ZC 22-36)

The Executive Director approved six items under authority delegated by the Commission. Unless otherwise noted, all projects are in Washington, DC.
1. Preliminary and final site development plans for the National Building Museum Exterior Signage, 401 F Street, NW. (8488)
2. Preliminary and final site development plans for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Headquarters Resilience Plaza, 2701 Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, SE. (8490)
3. Preliminary and final site and building plans for the National Zoological Park Kudu and Hornbill Yard Renovation, 3001 Connecticut Avenue, NW. (8491)
4. Preliminary site and building plans for the Browne Education Campus Modernization, 850 26th Street, NE. (8492)
5. Preliminary and final building plans for the NOAA Antenna Array Modification, 1335 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland. (8486)
6. Report to the Zoning Commission of the District of Columbia for the Map Amendment from RA-2 to RA-3, at Square 2947, Lots 808 and 815, 6634 Georgia Avenue, NW. (ZC 22-37)