Last year, Eastbanc bought the gas station property at the intersection of Pennsylvania Ave. and M St. The developer hired premier Portgugese architect Eduardo Souto de Moura. And here is what he designed for the site.
Lots of brick, eh?
Frankly this is a bit of a disappointment for GM. Anthony Lanier has cautioned the community to be open-minded to the design. That led GM to believe Souto de Moura had something more radical planned. Something more like this house he designed:
Or the Paulo Rego museum:
The plans for Georgetown look like some bland 1980s corporate design. Granted, that is not inconsistent with the Four Seasons building directly to the south:
Maybe it’s just inevitable that the final design will get henpecked into blandness. But it would be a lot more fun if the opening bid were more audacious.
The Georgetown Metropolitan 
Very disappointing. The flat, hulking, “sliding panels” brick box looks like it got its inspiration from the equally uninspired Foundry buildings, the Four Seasons, and the questionable structures on M Street from the corner of 28th Street to Rose Park. Too bad the eastern entry to “Olde Georgetown” is starting to look like Ballston. Old Georgetown Board, where are you?
Is the garbage truck in the illustration a metaphor?
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This is a MONSTROSITY. OGB, ANC 2E (Tom Birch) to the rescue! Lanier is a good guy, and good for the community in many ways, but why must every building he designs be so (#$*)*Q$ ugly. Please, can we have something elegant for the entry of Georgetown? I frankly prefer the old gas station to this. Ballston indeed.
Ugly building. Lanier wants huge blocks of concrete and brick to jam as many costly condos into them that he can. It is all about greed folks. Say no to Lanier.
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