Author: Jhanna Virabian

– Lincoln Property Co. is now in control of the former National Bank of Washington at 619 14 St. NW, paving the way for its planned redevelopment of the historic building that’s been a blight on the resurgent downtown for years.

D.C. deed records show the Cafesjian Family Foundation Inc. sold the building and three adjacent parcels Tuesday for $57 million. The buyer is 14th G Street Holdings LP, and Bari Nichols, a senior vice president with Lincoln Property, signed the trust documents reported with the deed. Lincoln Property acquired the property in partnership with Pearlmark.

The trust shows that a firm called Cara Investment GmbH is putting up more than $48 million for the project.

The partners plan to start work on the trophy office development in the fourth quarter of 2017, Lincoln Property said in a release. The new building, to be branded as 699 Fourteenth, is slated for completion in the fourth quarter of 2019. Lincoln Property will oversee the project’s development, leasing and management.

Lincoln Property in August filed plans to redevelop the bank and the adjacent parcels with an 11-story office building that would sit behind it on G Street NW. Lincoln is working with architect Shalom Baranes on the proposal, which would add 127,186 square feet to the 35,000-square-foot existing building.

The historic bank building, which dates to the 1920s, would serve as the main entrance to the building, with the cavernous, ornate bank hall serving as the building’s lobby. The proposal does include restoration of the bank’s historic facade, as well as the bank hall and mezzanine level in the building. The Historic Preservation Review Board approved a slightly modified version of the concept in December.

It is just the latest proposed breath of new life for the Classic Revival structure, in which which the Cafesjian Family Foundation hoped to install an Armenian Genocide Museum before those plans fell though and the property became embroiled in years of litigation.

Later, the foundation floated the idea of filling the building with retail tenants.

 

 

 

The April session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe promises heated debates with President Pedro Agramunt expected to be in the spotlight. The spring session that kicks off on April 24 may even be the last one for the Spanish lawmaker.

“Pedro Agramunt’s recent visit to Syria has stirred outrage among legislators at PACE. Axel Fischer, who heads the German delegation and the European People’s Party (EPP) group, the largest faction in PACE, has drafted a resolution condemning Agramunt’s steps. This can be called nothing but crisis at PACE,” says Samvel Farmanyan, member of the Armenian Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly.

The reaction has been ambiguous first of all because Agramunt’s visit to Syria had not been sanctioned by the Assembly or any of its structures.

“The draft resolution makes it clear that the President’s recent actions amid the corruption row at PACE strike yet another blow to the reputation of the organization and cast doubt on its impartiality,” Farmanyan said in an interview with Public Radio of Armenia.

Samvel Farmanyan sees Pedro Agramunt’s resignation as the only civilized way out of the crisis, especially considering that the criticism comes from the faction that has enabled him to take the post.

The new scandal comes amid serious allegations of corruption at PACE.

Money laundering scandal has tainted the organization with allegations of shady money transfers and votes for cash.

A judge in Milan recently decided to try Luca Volontè, the former chair of the European People’s Party group in the Council of Europe and a former Italian MP, for money laundering.

Prosecutors allege that Volontè was paid almost €2.4 million by Azerbaijani officials in exchange for “his support of political positions of the state” at the Council, which also promotes democracy and rule of law.

The court hearing into the case, to take place in April, is likely to draw renewed attention to allegations of corruption and bribe-taking at an institution that has long sought to create better governance practices in countries such as Azerbaijan.

Perdo Agramunt was also summoned to the Spanish Senate to give explanations about his connections with Azerbaijan.

The European Parliament has backed a motion setting out its position for the Brexit negotiations by 516 to 133, the BBC reports.

Although MEPs will not participate directly in the exit talks they will have to vote in favour of the final deal for it to go ahead.

UKIP’s Nigel Farage accused MEPs of trying to impose conditions that were “impossible for Britain to comply with” and likened them to the “mafia”.

The motion for debate was supported by the two largest groups of MEPs.

It set out general principles at the start of the two year negotiations for the UK to leave the European Union under the Article 50 process.

The Belarusian Belavia Airline will resume Minsk-Yerevan-Minsk direct flights from May 2017.

The General Department of Civil Aviation of Armenia has provided the air company with a license to operate regular flights.

In the summer navigation period Belavia plans to operate flights twice a week on Wednesdays and Sundays.

The last flight along the route was carried out on February 4, 2016.

Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan sees no controversy between Armenia’s membership in the CSTO and its strategic partnership with Russia and the development of cooperation with NATO.

“Armenia and Russia are strategic partners, co-founders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Armenia has always played an important role in the CSTO. We have backed all integration processes within the framework of the organization –establishment of peacekeeping and rapid response forces, etc,” Vigen Sargsyan said in an interview with Public Radio of Armenia.

“We believe the CSTO has a huge potential. For us it is reflected in agreements, which allow CSTO member states to purchase armaments, military equipment at internal consumption prices, use each other’s opportunities in the field of military education. This is truly a huge privilege,” Minister Sargsyan noted.

He added, however, that “over the past years Armenia has been guided by ‘both/and’ rather than ‘either/or’ principle, and has succeeded in both military and economic domains.”

“Armenia interacts with NATO under the Cooperation for Peace Program and has an Individual Partnership Plan (IPAP) with NATO. Our peacekeepers are carrying out mission in NATO-led operations in Afghanistan and Kosovo, and are present in Lebanon within the framework of a UN-led peacekeeping mission,” the Minister said.

He noted that “Armenia has grown from consumer of peace into a contributor of it, and it’s a huge achievement.”

“We also have a close cooperation with our strategic partner Russia. In cooperation with Russia, Armenia has sent several batches of humanitarian aid to Syria,” he said.

“We have managed to equally develop effective cooperation with both our strategic partner Russia and other countries, rather than take sides in the existing controversies,” Vigen Sargsyan stated.

Shushan Yeritsyan will represent the Nagorno Karabakh Republic (Artsakh Republic) at the contest.

The contest will take place in Spain May 5-15.

“It’s a great pride to represent free and independent Artsakh on the international arena,” Shushan Yeritsyan said in a .

She pledged to spare no effort to represent the country on the highest level and return with best results.

On 20 February Artsakh Republic President Bako Sahakyan voted at the 3/3 polling station of Stepanakert.

Bako Sahakyan noted that the new Constitution Referendum is a progressive step in the state-building process, expressing confidence that the referendum, as any such event in the state, would be held in a free and transparent manner, in full compliance with the international norms and principles.

There is no alternative to the international recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic, Armenian Deputy Foreign Minister Shavarsh Kocharyan has said.

“Azerbaijan has not refused form its terrorist policy ever since 1988,” Kocharyan said at a conference in Yerevan titled “Breaking the Siege of Stepanakert: 25 years later.”

“This policy took the shape of war crimes during the April war. In the face of Azerbaijan we have to deal with a subject that pretends to be negotiating and refuses from its own signatures,” the Deputy Foreign Minister said.

“Azerbaijan uses the negotiations as a cover for its preparations for a new war. Under these conditions there is no alternative to the international recognition of the Nagorno Karabakh Republic.”

The Armenian National Committee of America-Western
Region’s (ANCA-WR) Education Committee announced earlier today the honorees of the 2017 Armenian Genocide Education Award.  A diverse group of public school educators, the honorees, have shown exemplary use of technology, art, music, and/or theater in their lesson plans, while also empowering their students to apply in depth research on the specific topics within the context of the Armenian Genocide.

These extraordinary educators will be recognized on February 25, 2017, 11:00AM at the ANCA-WR Armenian Genocide Education Luncheon, at Dream Palace Banquet Hall in Glendale California.

“The ANCA-WR Education Committee was pleased with the overwhelming response to our request for nominations for this award. It is obvious many talented and dedicated educators see the importance of teaching the Armenian Genocide. We are convinced this award program will lead us to finding more outstanding educators in the years ahead. I would like to encourage every Armenian, who is the child, grandchild, or great grandchild of a Genocide survivor to attend the luncheon. It is time we thank those who teach our history,” noted Alice Petrossian, ANCA-WR Education Committee Chair.

The committee received countless nominations for educators across
California, who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to teach
about the Armenian genocide in the context of crimes against humanity within their classrooms.. The following 17 educators were selected to receive the Armenian Genocide Education Award:

Alicia Harris, Crescenta Valley High School

Brad de la Garza, Toll Middle School

Brent Beerman, Crescenta Valley High School

Christina Fahad,  Burbank High School

Erin Perusse,  El Camino High School

Frank Perez, San Benito High School

Gabor Kincses,  San Fernando High School

Genely Chan,  Pasadena High School

Grace Sheldon-Williams, Glendale High School

Heidi Suburu, Endeavour Elementary School

Kathi Chaplar Beerman, Crescenta Valley High School

Ken Rice, John Muir Middle School

Kevin Henry, Verdugo Hills High School

Mary Janzen, Emma Duncan Polytechnical High School

Mayte Hernandez, Pasadena High School

Peter Paccone, San Marino High School

William Jenkins, Pasadena High School

The committee plans to announce additional honorees in the coming week.

“Resources to help teach about the Armenian Genocide in public schools are not always readily available or offered by school districts for our teachers. We are proud to honor these model educators who took the initiative to obtain the resources and ensure that this significant part of both world and American history is passed on to the future generations,” said Elen Asatryan, ANCA-WR executive director. “The role of these educators is ever so important today as we forge ahead to continue our work with the CA Department of Education to incorporate the Armenian Genocide in textbooks,” added Asatryan.

Financings include €51 million loan to upgrade the 405 MW Complex

ContourGlobal has announced that its subsidiary, ContourGlobal Hydro Cascade CJSC, signed two credit facilities which comprise nearly $200 million of non-recourse long term financing for Armenian business on December 29, 2016.

A $140 million long-term financing provided by the International Finance Corporation (“IFC”), Dutch development bank FMO and DEG the German Investment and Development Corporation was closed and disbursed on December 29, 2016.  Proceeds from the loan will be used to refinance bridge loans and shareholder loans that were put in place to fund the acquisition of the Vorotan Facility from the Government of Armenia in 2015 and to pay an initial distribution to shareholders, as well as to fund the rehabilitation of the complex.  The amortizing loan has an 18 year final maturity and IFC also provided an interest rate swap.

This financing comes alongside a €51 million loan from German Development bank KfW to the Government of Armenia that is being on-lent to the project to fund the electro-mechanical refurbishment and modernization of the plant.  This on-loan, which also closed on December 29, 2016, has several tranches with maturities ranging from 2025-2050 and will be used to fund the refurbishment works.  As a result of the refurbishment project, new turbines, generators, transformers and auxiliary electrical and mechanical equipment are planned to replace the old equipment in the Tatev, Shamb and Spandaryan hydro power plants, which together make up the Vorotan Facility. This will improve the reliability and safety of operations, prolong the life cycle of the plants and increase the availability factor of the cascade. The refurbishment is planned to be completed in 2021.

Joseph Brandt, President and CEO of ContourGlobal, the parent company of Vorotan, said, “We are very pleased to have completed these innovative long-term financings for Vorotan and we would like to thank our partners at IFC, FMO, DEG and KfW for their commitment to the project.  We would also like to thank the Government of Armenia for their work to facilitate these transactions.  These financings provide a stable, long-term capital structure which allows us to continue our work making sure that the operational performance, safety, reliability and efficiency of this plant are maintained at world-class standards.”

Vorotan is a series of three individual hydroelectric power plants with a total electrical capacity of 405 MW located on the Vorotan River in southern Armenia.  The facility was acquired by ContourGlobal in July, 2015 with IFC concurrently acquiring a 20% interest in the project.