Developer John Sekas told members of the Planning Commission they were about to cut off his neck.

“I stuck my neck way out on the limb on this application because the owner wanted to take the building down before we filed the application. And if this process goes any further, my neck is getting cut off,” said Sekas. A developer of thirty years in the County said he is at risk “because I did the right thing,”

Sekas and the owner applied to the county to propose to demolish the 48,200-square-foot former American Press Institute building to construct 34 single family attached dwellings and one multifamily residential building with 10 units, according to Planning Commission documents.

Planning staff had recommended approval at the vote to be taken on June 16.

“I told the owner not to take the building down. Period,” Sekas said. “The only reason why we were deferred was because of the small stormwater issue. There are no citizens [in opposition] outside of the Architectural Review Board. I mean, I’ve been in rezonings where the line goes up the staircase with opposition from neighbors. We’ve gotten calls from the neighbors who want this project.”

Eleventh-hour advocacy resulted in a much greater understanding of the American Press Institute building and architectural and historical relevance.

The building was designed by architect Marcel Breuer, called a "Master of Modernism," who also designed the Whitney Museum (now the Met Breuer-Metropolitan Museum of Art) and the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris.

Hundreds of people around the globe signed online petitions, wrote the Commission, and rallied to save the building.

“Especially as I look at the petitions, I see that there are many long-time personal friends, acquaintances and neighbors who are those that oppose this application because of its impact on the API building,” said Hunter Mill Planning Commissioner Frank de la Fe. He called his recommendation to approve the rezoning application “one of the most difficult ones that I have had to make in the many years that I have been on the Planning Commission.”

But he and his colleagues on the commission have a responsibility to analyze the facts based on what is presented to them. There was no discussion of preserving the API building, he said.

“During the multi-year review of the Reston Corridor Area leading to the adoption of the current Comprehensive Plan that now governs this area, the – there was no mention of the API building. This multi-year effort included participation by several hundred people, including numerous architects. Again, the API building did not come up and there is nothing in the Comprehensive Plan about it,” he said. “I understand the intensity and the desire to preserve the building but, as I’ve stated before, we must make our recommendation to the Board on the basis of the Comprehensive Plan, applicable codes, rules and regulations as they exist now, not as what may or may not happen in the future.”

Planning staff had recommended approval at the vote to be taken on June 16. Five members of the Commission voted for the application, five voted against it.

The Commission, with its deadlocked vote, sends the application to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation against approval.

“We’ve received a lot of information about this building, its importance, its significance, the people who came to meetings and participated in conferences at that building, and why it has a real special meaning,” said Dranesville Planning Commissioner John Ulfelder, who voted against the application.

When asked if he would grant county staff additional access to the building, Sekas testified that it was not his decision, it was the owner’s.

“I cannot tell you whether I can give you access or not because we might pull the application and start all over again,” Sekas said.