DRAFT - APRIL 18, 2001
National Capital Revitalization Corporation
Performance Plan for 2001
I. Background
Pursuant to Section 14 of the National Capital Revitalization
Corporation Act of 1998 (D.C. Law 12-144, referred to herein as the
"NCRC Act" and codified at D.C. Code §1- 2295.13), the Board of
Directors for the National Capital Revitalization Corporation
("NCRC" or the "Corporation") has adopted this
Performance Plan for the period of January 18, 2001 through January 18,
2002. NCRC is an independent corporate instrumentality of the District of
Columbia that has been charged with a specific mission: improving District
businesses, promoting real estate development, and infusing economic
development into the District of Columbia. The corporation's main goals
include fostering economic growth and employment opportunities in the
District; retaining and expanding businesses located within the District;
and attracting new businesses to the District. Thus, the three-pronged
focus of NCRC is real estate development, business development and
increasing the District's employment base.
The Corporation's Board of Directors approved a Revitalization Plan on
January is, 2001 and submitted it to the District of Columbia Council for
consideration on January 24,2001. Since the Council did not act within
forty-five days it is deemed approved. The Revitalization Plan is broad in
scope and general in approach. It serves as a framework for the operations
of NCRC.
The NCRC Act provides that the Corporation "shall prepare an
annual performance plan for the operations of the Corporation during the
5-year period that begins on the date of the Board's adoption of a
Revitalization Plan." As the Revitalization Plan was adopted on
January 18, 2001, this Performance Plan covers the first annual period
from January 18, 2001 through January 17, 2002. This Performance Plan is
also intended to serve as the basis for the future Performance Plans, and
it outlines the Corporation's strategic objectives over the next five (5)
years. As required by the NCRC Act, the Corporation will prepare a new
Performance Plan each year.
This Performance Plan consists of three Sections, namely: (1) Annual
performance goals for the Corporation; (2) Performance benchmarks to be
used in measuring or assessing the extent to which the Corporation has met
the annual performance goals; and (3) Methodologies for comparing the
performance results of the Corporation with the established annual
performance goals.
II. Annual Performance Goals
This Section sets forth the Corporation's annual performance goals for
January 18, 2001 to January 18, 2002. This Section also provides a more
general plan for the first five years of the Corporation. A number of the
Corporation's goals are long-term and cannot be completed within the first
year; however, this Performance Plan contemplates that progress will be
made toward these long-term goals. As such, these long-term goals are
included in this Section even though the Corporation does not anticipate
that such activities can be completed during the first year of its
operations.
Within six months, NCRC will develop specific criteria to be used in
underwriting projects for financing and making final decisions on which
projects to fund. As a first step, NCRC has prepared the attached Project
Screening Guidelines that will be used for the purposes of preliminary
review. Projects meeting these guidelines will be considered for
feasibility review. NCRC also will develop, within six months, a clear
process for how projects will come to NCRC for consideration, and the
process for review and final approval. The Project Screening Guidelines
may be modified during this process. In the meantime, NCRC will consider
projects on a case-by-case basis, including projects brought to NCRC from
outside sources and/or generated from within NCRC. During this period,
outside groups with projects they believe meet the attached Project
Screening Guidelines, should contact the NCRC President and CEO.
A. PERFORMANCE PLAN - YEAR ONE - January 18,2001- January 17,2002
NCRC's annual goals for its first year of operation are as follows:
1. Identify and complete feasibility studies of two or more projects
that have a high probability of being able to be brought to fruition
and/or to demonstrate significant progress within the first year. These
will be projects, typically brought to NCRC by outside entities that,
although relatively limited in scope and complexity, if implemented would
have a major impact on a neighborhood.
2. Starting no later than July, 2001, undertake a six month effort to
develop a Business/Employment Development Program, in coordination with
existing public and private resources, which will bring together those
resources to focus on a few key employment sectors, to be determined
through this effort. Sectors currently identified for concentrated focus
include technology, "back-of-office," tourism, biomedical
research, political campaign support; and government procurement. NCRC
will work in close cooperation with the D.C. Marketing Center, the Tech
Council, the District of Columbia Department of Employment Services, and
such trade organizations as may be appropriate, the Superintendent of
Schools, procurement agencies of the Federal and City governments, the
D.C. Banking Commissioner, local colleges and universities, other
appropriate city agencies, etc.
3. Transfer the powers, duties and responsibilities of the RLA Board to
the NCRC Board, as well as the assets, in an orderly manner chat will
allow NCRC to effectively manage the assets and maximize income and
potential return, given public purpose goals.
4. Transfer the powers, duties, and responsibilities of the Board of
Directors of the Economic Development Finance Corporation, along with its
assets to the Board of Directors of NCRC.
5. Assume development management responsibility for RLA parcels with
active Exclusive Negotiating Rights Agreements and/or RFP's previously
issued by RLA, such as Columbia Heights and Wax Museum sites. Expedite the
implementation of such projects.
6. Hire core skilled staff with expertise in real estate development
and finance, along with operational and administrative support staff as
needed for effective operation such as Chief Financial Officer, General
Counsel and administrative assistants and secretarial staff; and contract
with outside entities for specialized services, as appropriate, related to
business development and finance, asset and property management,
communications, and the like.
7. Starting no later than July, 2001, undertake a six-month effort to
prepare a corporate business development plan for implementation by the
end of the first year. The business plan will focus on NCRC strategies for
financial self-sufficiency and maximizing leverage of its resources.
8. Fully launch the operations of NCRC, including securing, through a
competitive process, consultants and other professionals to support the
work of the corporation, such as legal counsel, accountants, real estate
advisory services, etc.; and finalizing NCRC policies and procedures, such
as ethics rules, procurement rules, employee handbooks and detailed
criteria for assistance.
9. Determine the optimal structure of NCRC, given its overall mission,
for example, whether to form a holding company with subsidiary
corporations to manage large scale developments.
B. PERFORMANCE PLAN - FIVE YEAR OBJECTIVES
The Corporation's long-term objectives are generally described in this
Section II.B. During the first year of operations, the Corporation intends
to advance these long-term goals. The Corporation does not intend to
complete these activities during the first year of operations, but will
make demonstrable progress toward implementing these goals.
1. Explore development opportunities and, where appropriate, undertake
feasibility analyses, of at least five real estate development projects
that have a high probability of being able to be brought to fruition
within 5 years, if demonstrated to be feasible. Projects in this category
currently under consideration include: Skyland Shopping Center and other
development opportunities East of the River; economic development of areas
surrounding relocated municipal facilities and metro stops; development in
connection with Howard University's redevelopment efforts; Howard
Theater/Shaw Cultural area, implementation of projects generated by The
Office of Planning's Waterfront Planning Initiative, and related to the
Office of Planning's targeted neighborhood strategy, etc.
2. Commence exploration, feasibility analyses and predevelopment work
on at least five major redevelopment projects critical to the overall
economic health of the District that will take more than five years to
complete. Projects in this category include redevelopment of the Southwest
Waterfront and the St. Elizaheth's Hospital site, the South Capitol
Gateway, NOMA, Poplar Point, H Street Gateway, Georgia Avenue, Buzzard
Point redevelopment, Southeast Waterfront redevelopment, McMillan
Reservoir redevelopment.
3. NCRC's five-year plan is to have caused the implementation of the
projects identified during its first year of operation as economically
feasible. On each real estate development project, LSDBE goals and
employment diversity will have been accomplished. A minimum of 50% of the
jobs created through these projects will have gone to D.C. residents.
4. NCRC will operate an effective Business/Development Program, in
coordination with identified public and private entities that will have
significantly increased business and employment opportunities in the
District for new and existing businesses and residents. At the beginning
of each year, starting in year two, NCRC will establish specific goals for
employment and business development, against which it will be measured.
5. As requested by the City and approved by the Board, assume
development management responsibility for major City projects with high priority
and visibility where NCRC's expertise will benefit the City, such as the
redevelopment of the former Convention Center sire.
III. Performance Measures
The Corporation intends to measure its performance against the
performance goals established in Section II and, as mentioned above, NCRC
will establish specific goals at the beginning of year two, and each year
thereafter, for employment and business development. The Corporation's
stated goal is to have completed items 1 through 7 of Section II.A. With
regard to those items, the Corporation's performance can be measured by
whether NCRC has completed these activities by January 17, 2002. With
regard to these items, the Corporation's performance will be measured with
regard to the extent that these activities have been completed. All of
these items provide a general description of the time frame in which these
objectives are to be completed. In evaluating the Corporation's
performance, it is the Corporation's intent to measure its performance
based on the degree to which the activity has been advanced as compared
with the desired time frame for such an activity.
Items 1 and 2 of Section II.B can be measured on the basis of the
number of projects reviewed for feasibility and identified for
implementation. Typical In the real estate development industry, for every
project that ultimately proceeds to fruition, many are explored for
feasibility. The situation faced by NCRC, is somewhat unique, however, in
that projects which come to NCRC already will be have been identified
initially as promoting the public purpose and benefiting the city and
neighborhoods in which they are located. The challenge to NCRC will be to
identify all resources available, and to determine whether the financial
and other resources required and the potential economic return to NCRC
merit implementation.
IV. Methodologies for Assessing Performance
The Corporation intends to use a three-step process in order to
evaluate its performance at the end of the first year of operations. As
required by the NCRC Act, the Corporation will arrange for an auditor to
prepare an assessment of the Corporation's completion of the goals
described in this Performance Plan. First, the Corporation's CEO on behalf
of NCRC shall prepare a self-assessment that sets forth the goals and the
efforts that the Corporation has made toward these goals. Second, the
self-assessment shall be provided to the independent auditor. The auditor
will review the self-assessment and conduct a review of the Corporation's
files. Based on this analysis, the auditor shall prepare a report for the
Corporation's Board of Directors that shall set forth the auditor's
independent assessment of the Corporation's progress. Finally, the Board
of Directors shall review both the self-assessment and the auditor's
assessment and shall perform its own self-assessment, which shall be in
the nature of comments to the auditor's assessment.
Once this process is complete, the assessments shall be forwarded to
the appropriate recipients as required by the NCRC Act. |
