NCPC File No.7317

JUDICIARY SQUARE FEDERAL BUILDING LOBBY IMPROVEMENTS

633 3rd Street, NW Washington, DC

Submitted by the United States General Services Administration

Delegated Action of the Executive Director November 23, 2011

Pursuant to delegations of authority adopted by the Commission on October 3, 1996 and 40

U.S.C. § 8722(b)(1) and (d), I approve the preliminary and final building plans for lobby

improvements at the Judiciary Square Federal Building located at 633 3rd Street, NW in

Washington, DC, as shown on NCPC Map File No. 21.00(38.00)43470.

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The United States General Services Administration (GSA) has submitted preliminary and final building plans for lobby improvements at the Judiciary Square Federal Building. The project is part of GSA’s First Impressions program. First Impressions is a comprehensive, nationwide effort that extends GSA’s commitment to design excellence into the interior and exterior public spaces of existing federal buildings. The focus of First Impressions is on lobbies and public plazas and the program promotes five basic principles: streamlining security, consolidating functions, unifying signage, reducing clutter, and implementing architectural modifications that transform a building’s overall image.

GSA purchased the Judiciary Square Federal Building from a private sector developer and the building does not meet Public Buildings Service standards. Along with the First Impressions program, these standards are GSA’s criteria for new buildings, repairs and alterations, and modernization of existing facilities. GSA states that the entrance of the Judiciary Square Federal Building is shallow in depth with irregular shaped spaces to each side of the doorways. This entrance will be enclosed with a new glass storefront in order to bring the main entrance of the building to the sidewalk, thereby creating a double height lobby. A new revolving door will be installed and flanked by storefront windows. In order to enclose the space, a new roof will be NCPC File No. 7317 Page 2

constructed and a new structural beam will be added. Floor lighting will be integrated into the new enclosed space as well as the existing lobby. A new security station will replace a freestanding security station to reduce clutter and one location will be designated for package drop-off. The project will also include new building identification and unifying lobby graphics to improve signage. All work will take place within the property line and the existing plant bollards will be removed, protected, and re-installed when construction is complete.

Pursuant to its regulations implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), GSA submitted a categorical exclusion determination (5.4(b)).1 The categorical exclusion GSA is relying upon applies to “acquisition of space by Federal construction or lease construction, or expansion or improvement of an existing facility”, subject to certain conditions. In addition, based on the building’s date of construction (1984), GSA determined the project does not have the potential to cause effects on historic properties.

NCPC staff has independently reviewed the project information and has determined that the project meets NCPC’s categorical exclusion §8(C)(2) of the Commission’s Environmental and Historic Preservation Policies and Procedures. Prior to applying this categorical exclusion, NCPC staff determined that no extraordinary circumstances were present as required by the Commission’s NEPA procedures. NCPC concurs with GSA’s determination that the project has no potential to cause effects on historic properties.

The Coordinating Committee reviewed the proposal at its November 9, 2011 meeting, and forwarded the proposal to the Commission with the statement that the proposal has been coordinated with all participating agencies. The participating agencies were NCPC; the District of Columbia Office of Planning; the District Department of Transportation; the National Park Service; the General Services Administration; and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

______Marcel C. Acosta Executive Director

1 GSA’s categorical exclusions can be found in Section 5.4 of the GSA Public Building Service NEPA Desk Guide, October 1999.