MT. ALTO EMBASSY SITE IS ACCEPTED BY RUSSIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP92B01039R002204380019-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 23, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 23, 2013
• Sequence Number: 19
• Publication Date: October 4, 1967
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/04/23: CIA-RDP92B01039R002204380019-9
?
I 7
Mt. Alto Embassy /1ite.
Is Accepted by Russia
By WOODY WEST
Star Staff Writer
The 13-acre Mt. Alto Hospital
site on Wisconsin Avenue NW
ihas been accepted "in prin-
ciple" by the Russion govern-
ment for a new embassy, the
'State Department announced
today, ending a long deadlock
in negotiations.
The agreement Will provide
, a site for a new U.S. Embassy.
in. Moscow, and "the two goy.-
; ernments are proceeding to
work out the formalities for
the exchange of properties,'
the spokesman said.
No action by the District
government will be required
because the Mt. Alto site is
federal property. No price was
te: ned in the State Depart-
ment announcement A long-
term lease is the usual pro-
cedufe When government prop-
erty is involved. '
Long Negotiations
) The Moscow site is a 9.6-acre
tract sloping toward the Mos-
- 1 kova River; just behind the
present U.S. Embassy..
Both nations have been dick-
ering for a number of years
as they outgrew their facilities f Washington would be
? in the two capitals. The So-
adequate for ? a chancery-em-
bassi enclave.
..,
. ' In 1963, the required zoning
variaike was granted for the
site, but residents bitterly fight-
ing the relocation obtained a
court order overturning the
Board of Zoning Adjustment de-
cision. The citizens, however,
failed to obtain the permanent
injunction they hadjee - king
and a rehearing .-7:wf ? ;0
:.
See EMBA
viet -Embassy is now at 1125
16th St. NW.
As recently as two weeks
ago, the Soviets confirmed that
they had expressed a prefer-
ence for Tregaron?the estate
of the late Joseph E. Davies?
located on a 201/2-acre site in
Cleveland Park.
Reportedly, the Davies heirs
were asking $3.5 million dol-
lars for Tregaron. The Cleve-
land Park Citizens group en-
dorsed the site for use by the
Russians, but urged that the
tract be divided into two see-
til s, one for the embassy and
other for a city park. It
understood that this quali-
tion was one of the factors
t swayed the Russians
lard Mt. Alto,, in the 2600
k of Wisconsin Avenue.
mparable Sites Desired
e negotiations have dragged
or years, mainly because
nation wanted to be sure
the sites would be compar-
w;
fi
tli
tol
ei
th
a t
I e
edi
esqte
tion
Soviet government decid-
963 that the Bonnie Brae
in the Chevy Chase sec-
1-.. I,-1' ?1^ ',E'` -'" ? . ' ?" , '-
ontinued From Pag-;e A-1'
zoning board, then rejected the
zoning change in 1964.
The board at that time ruled
that construction of , the chan-
cery-embassy at Bonnie Brae
would, not be in the "long-run
national interest" because it
would mar the attractiveness of
the Nation's Capital, disregard-
ing a plea by Secretary of State
Dean Rusk.
The Mt. Alto site, 'where ,the
old-Veterans Hospital is now be.
ing razed, runs from Wisconsin
Avenue to Tunlaw Road just
north of Calvert Street,
The Slate Department an-
nouncernent today said,. "It has
been' agreed that the United
States government will. make
available the Mt. Alto site to the
Soviet government_ as a site for
a new Soviet Embassy in the
proposed exchange of chancery
sites in Washington and Mos-
cow. The Soviet ?government has
I
---.--- con`V4red its agreement in -puin-
ciple to the Mt. Alio site . . ."
llinqat4 propel* is valu=
ed a approximately $8 millia.
L_
Declassified and Approved For Release 2013/04/23: CIA-RDP92B01039R002204380019-9