GW Will Do Extensive Outreach as Work Begins on a New Campus Plan

With the George Washington University's 2007 Foggy Bottom Campus Planset to expire in 2027, a new comprehensive planning effort rooted in community engagement is beginning this fall. Input will be gathered from the entire GW community and surrounding neighborhoods, through an online survey, website and a series of upcoming public meetings. Students, staff, faculty, parents and alumni as well as people in the neighborhoods are invited to make their voices heard.

The goal is to create a new campus plan that provides a framework for future growth and development of the Foggy Bottom campus that is aligned with GW's strategic framework, accommodating academic and student housing needs while being responsive to the concerns and priorities of our community members.

Baxter Goodly, vice president for safety and operations, said extensive community outreach will ensure that Granberg's vision for a collaborative process is realized and will enhance GW's responses to many logistic, regulatory and legal issues surrounding the next campus plan.

"From where new buildings can be built to how outdoor campus spaces look, to how GW fulfills its many commitments to the D.C. government and local neighborhoods, to the types of classrooms and residence halls we construct, and to how we achieve the many academic and research aspirations detailed in our new strategic framework," Goodly said. "It's hard to overstate how important the campus plan is to the future of GW. That's why we are already working overtime to ensure that the plan's creation is guided by a comprehensive community-based planning effort, and why we are starting outreach to all parts of the GW community."

Goodly said initial planning outreach includes:

• Student listening sessions and informational tabling that builds on ongoing conversations begun this summer with members of the Student Government Association and Residence Hall Association.
• Orientation and listening sessions with each school and administrative department with a focus on creating ways to consistently engage with staff.
• Creation of multiple advisory committees to guide different key aspects of the plan (e.g., housing, classroom/research spaces, enrollment, regulatory considerations, transportation, sustainability, etc.).
• Informational updates with neighborhood organizations such as the next quarterly meeting of GW's Advisory Committee for the existing campus plan on Sept. 15, as well as throughout the fall with neighborhood organizations including the Foggy Bottom Association, Advisory Neighborhood Commission 2A, and West End Citizens Association.
• Alumni and parent outreach during GW's annual Alumni and Families Weekend, as well as online information sessions later in the fall and throughout 2026.
• In-person and on-campus community listening sessions and informational displays Oct. 6-8, to be detailed in a community InfoMail later this week.
• Launch of an online interactive survey to assess how community members use GW's campuses.

Adam Aaronson, M.B.A. '04, assistant vice president for campus development, said he and his colleagues in the Division of Safety and Operations will continue this outreach throughout 2026, first as planning scenarios are developed and then when these scenarios are narrowed into draft proposals.

"It's an iterative process that builds on both the parameters of the strategic framework and what we hear this fall as the initial themes, aspirations and desires about GW's future growth," Aaronson said. "We'll continue using community input throughout 2026 as the specific recommendations are distilled into a proposal we submit in 2027 for review and approval by the D.C. Zoning Commission."

Aaronson said that while this undertaking is officially for GW's Foggy Bottom Campus to fulfill D.C. government's requirement, the planning process will also include consideration of the Mount Vernon campus, Virginia Science and Technology Campus, and Arlington/Alexandria Learning Centers given the integral role they play in fulfilling GW's mission.

"Our campuses at Mount Vernon and VSTC as well as satellite locations in Arlington and Alexandria will be part of our considerations for the Foggy Bottom Campus Plan," Aaronson said.

Given the complexities involved, GW went through a competitive bid process to identify the best design partner to support efforts to lead the multidisciplinary effort to develop the plan. A selection committee consisting of students, faculty and staff heard presentations from four firms and unanimously selected Sasaki as planning partner.

The input and experience of students, faculty, staff and neighbors would make the plan a holistic vision for GW's future, according to Tyler Patrick, the firm's campus planner and principal.

"Sasaki has significant experience working with colleges and universities across the country," Patrick said, "and we look forward to extensive engagement with the GW community to understand the unique opportunities that exist to meet GW's strategic, academic, and campus experience goals."

Goodly said all members of the GW community and surrounding neighborhoods are encouraged to get involved this fall as the plan is developed:

• Visit the dedicated informational website at this link.
• Take the interactive map survey at this linkto show how you use campus today and share initial thoughts on what should be included in the next campus plan.
• Attend one of several information sessions or tabling displays Oct 6-8, with further details to come in an upcoming community mailing.

"We want to start this process now as a robust conversation," Goodly said, "and continue that collaboration through 2026 and into 2027."

The 2007 Foggy Bottom Campus Planhas enabled GW to significantly expand its academic and student housing space requirements within its existing campus boundaries while dramatically modernizing the campus, including construction of many buildings actively used by the GW community for learning and living:

• South Hall (Square 80): Construction began fall 2007 and opened fall 2009, achieved LEED Gold.
• The Avenue/2200 Pennsylvania (Square 54): Construction began May 2008 and opened spring 2011, achieved LEED Silver.
• Law Learning Center and Garage (Square 103): Construction began fall 2011, opened fall 2013, achieved LEED Silver.
• Milken Institute School of Public Health (Square 39): Construction began winter 2012, opened spring 2014, achieved LEED Platinum.
• Science and Engineering Hall (Square 55): Construction began summer 2011, opened spring 2015, achieved LEED Silver.
• The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum (Square102): Construction began 2012, opened spring 2015, achieved LEED Gold.
• District House (Square 77): Construction began summer 2013, opened fall 2016, achieved LEED Gold.
• 2112 Pennsylvania Avenue (Square 75): Construction began summer 2015, opened fall 2018, achieved LEED Gold.
• 2100 Penn (Square 75): Construction began spring 2019, opened 2023, achieved LEED Gold.

While new buildings may be the most noticeable aspect of the 2007 Foggy Bottom Campus Plan, the plan also enabled GW to provide lasting benefits not only on the campus but also for the adjacent neighborhoods and D.C. as a whole:

• Develop Square 54 (former GW Hospital site) into a dynamic mixed-use town center (The Avenue and 2200 Pennsylvania Avenue) specially designed to accommodate a grocery store, Whole Foods, and create a vibrant retail corridor along I Street from the Foggy Bottom-GWU Metro station to Western Market at 2000 Pennsylvania Ave.
• The Streetscape Plan provides a framework for the location and use of materials in public space, such as plantings, light fixtures, street furniture, signage and public art to create a sense of identity on campus.
• Enhances GW's ongoing sustainability efforts by employing smart growth and transit-oriented development principles and committing to meeting LEED Silver or higher standards with all new major construction projects.
• The Historic Preservation Plan preserves individual buildings and collections of buildings of historical and architectural significance while maintaining the diverse scale and unique character of the Foggy Bottom campus, including landmark designation of six buildings. In addition, through a partnership with D.C.'s Office of Planning, the plan provided for creation of the George Washington University/Old West End Historic District.
• Transitioning use of buildings outside GW's Campus Plan boundaries to uses other than undergraduate housing-including the sale of Hall on Virginia Avenue, One Washington Circle Hotel and The Aston.
• Implementation of a vehicle parking policy for first- and second-year students that prohibits them from bringing and parking vehicles in the neighborhood (other than in exceptional or extreme circumstances).
• Annual audit of student enrollment delivered to the D.C. Zoning Administrator to ensure GW's continued compliance with enrollment caps and requiring biannual reports confirming GW's compliance with the requirements and amenities included in its campus plan.
• Creation of the GW/Community Campus Plan Advisory Committee, which has met quarterly since 2007, allowing GW to consistently and extensively update the Foggy Bottom and West End communities on implementation of its campus plan and to work together with the community to identify, address and resolve issues of concern.