ONE LOUDOUN

After three years of debate and planning, Gov. Tim Kaine and local leaders broke ground today at the 360-acre One Loudoun site, the southwest corner of Rt. 7 and Loudoun County Parkway."It took a lot to get here," David Creek, president and cofounder of Meridian Group, said. "What's been promised will be done."One Loudoun will offer 3 million square feet of office space, 700,000 square feet of retail with fine dining and shopping, two hotels and a movie theater. Some 1,040 homes are also planned, built around the concept of a central park setting, walking trails, a town center, other public and civic spaces. The goal of the development is to create a pedestrian-friendly environment where people can live, work and play and rely less on a car.One Loudoun also features the World Trade Center Dulles Airport, projected to generate up to 14,000 new jobs-promoting international trade and worldwide investment. The World Trade Center Koeln based in Germany, the world's largest private trade organization, has agreed to participate in a joint partnership with One Loudoun. The World Trade Center Koeln's mission is to create new business opportunities by developing contacts all over the world."Other countries want to enter this market," Senator Dietmar Goetz, president of World Trade Center Koeln said. Goetz said his organization would help facilitate that.Miller and Smith, the developer, has proffered to build a new interchange at the Rt. 7 and Ashburn Village intersection because the county had already planned to fund the site's adjacent Rt. 7/Loudoun County Parkway interchange with tax-supported general obligation bonds. Other features of the project-an elementary school site and new ballfields for public use-have made it attractive to the Loudoun Board of Supervisors, which approved the rezoning in January. The project also is one of five finalists supervisors are evaluating as the potential location for a new county government office complex."When we first considered leasing in One Loudoun, it seemed pretty far out. We were focused on closer-in projects. Loudoun wasn't on our radar screen," Creek said, adding a pitch for the county office. "I can't think of a better location for the Loudoun County government center."The more than 150-person crowd filled with local business leaders and politicians clapped in response to Creek's suggestion.Joel Murphy, president of Cousins Properties Inc.'s retail division, said One Loudoun represents a union of Loudoun County, Meridian, and Miller Smith. Murphy said Cousins Properties has branded The Avenue as a "lifestyle center" to various communities since 1999 and has strong relationships with national retailers. Cousin's Properties has plans to do the same with One Loudoun."These retailers and those customers have come to know The Avenue as a place to dine and stroll," he said.Supervisor Lori Waters (R-Broad Run) said she helped negotiate One Loudoun and make it a reality. "When I approach land use applications, I say 'what will this bring to our community?'"Waters said she supported One Loudoun because of the new elementary school, funding of the roadway infrastructure, and the Loudoun Youth Initiative. LYI, with the assistance of the World Trade Center Koeln, will help foster an international marketing program in Loudoun local high schools. "Loudoun County benefits by your presence in our community," County Chairman Scott K. York (I-At Large) told the developer.Kaine complimented local leaders, saying One Loudoun "was about good planning.""As Lori said, it is the mixture of uses, community, residential...," he added.As mayor of Richmond, Kaine recalled the city neighborhoods that worked best, which were those that had a mix of uses. They also happened to be projects that often weren't allowed under existing zoning rules.The value of the project coincides with its proximity to Dulles Airport, Kaine added."The fact that we have Dulles cannot be underestimated," he said. "Dulles and Hampton Roads connect us to the world we need to compete vigorously with. For all the partners, congratulations."

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A developer has abandoned a proposal to build as many as 995 homes south of Leesburg, announcing his decision yesterday during the final meeting of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors before it reconvenes next month with a new majority that is sharply critical of the county's explosive growth in the past decade.
Ridgewater Park is one of four developments that the board has been considering in the waning months of its term, which ends Dec. 31. Slow-growth activists had feared that the outgoing members would make an eleventh-hour push to approve the projects, which would have allowed construction of more than 4,000 homes in Loudoun, where the population has virtually doubled since 2000.
The developer, Leonard S. "Hobie" Mitchel, said he regretted withdrawing his application, which had been working its way through the county's approval process for four years and had been rejected twice.
"It does my heart sad, and, emotionally, it has drained me to no end," said Mitchel, who was negotiating with county officials as recently as Monday night. "But I think this was the thing to do right now."
County planners had recommended that the board reject Ridgewater Park for several reasons, including the predicted effects on nearby roads and schools. Opponents also said they worried that it would open up a 9,200-acre buffer zone separating the county's developed east and rural west to suburban-style construction. Officials want to keep that dividing zone intact, said Supervisor Sarah R. "Sally" Kurtz (D-Catoctin).
"I thought Mr. Mitchel made a wise decision," said Kurtz, in whose district the homes would have been built, "because the only way you can pace growth is to not open up new areas."
Mitchel's supporters said Ridgewater Park was a worthwhile project by a respected businessman who has volunteered for local boards and developed two of the county's largest planned communities, Lansdowne and South Riding.
Moreover, they said, Mitchel had promised millions of dollars in transportation improvements and land for a school, which would have saved taxpayers money.
Only one of the four controversial projects up for consideration in the past few weeks was approved: Arcola Center, a pedestrian-friendly community of shops, offices and more than 1,000 residences southwest of Dulles International Airport.
Another, called Kincora, was rejected by the board last month.
The other one, Braddock Village, failed to get a yes-or-no vote because of a technicality and will probably be brought before the next board.
All four proposals were criticized by slow-growth advocates after the Nov. 6 election, in which voters replaced four Republican supervisors with Democrats who made controlling growth their key campaign issue. The slow-growth proponents worried that the board's pro-growth Republicans would use their remaining time in office to subvert the voters' will.
In parting remarks yesterday, Supervisor Stephen J. Snow (R-Dulles), who lost in November, took issue with the board's being described as pro-growth, citing a dramatic slowdown in the real estate market.
"This board will be known as the slow-slow-growth board," he said. "The traffic out there is not this board's. The number of children in school is not this board's. . . . The tax problem that you're going to incur on the next board is not this board's making."
Snow has been the board's most vocal supporter of approving large, planned developments in exchange for millions of dollars in roads and amenities.
Although Mitchel did not disclose a reason for abandoning Ridgewater Park, it is likely that the board that takes office Jan. 1 would have been skeptical of the project. And it will probably take a hard line on Braddock Village, which would bring about 500 suburban-style homes to an area southwest of Dulles Airport.
By Sandhya Somashekhar

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Commission Recommends Brambleton Approval

Approval of four in-fill projects in Brambleton would mean the completion of Loudoun County Parkway from Route 7 to Route 50, a project that senior transportation planner Art Smith calls "the most important existing road network gap in Loudoun County." That gap came one step closer to being filled Monday, July 30, when the Planning Commission recommended approval of Brambleton’s active adult community, town center's residential component, Brambleton Brandt and Brambleton Corner applications."We have already done the design of this road and it is sitting in building and development," Antonio Calabrese, attorney for the applicant, said. "I think that shows our commitment to get it done."While staff members had reservations about some aspects of the four projects, many commissioners said the biggest priority was completing the north-south connector, a project estimated to cost $28.5 million."The biggest issue to me is the transportation," Commissioner Barbara Munsey (Dulles) said. "It’s, how are we going to get the roads in there, and that’s with all four [applications] together. The whole reason to get all four together tonight was to get the roads in there."INCLUDED IN THE active adult community are up to 1,502 residential units and up to 140,000 square feet of nonresidential and retail uses. The plan also includes a 3.75-acre library site, which the applicant could give to the county or could work with the library board to create a facility similar to what is being developed at the Gum Spring Library in the Stone Ridge community."The library is trying to look at different options than us just giving them the site," Calabrese said. "We want to have the ability to talk to the library board in the future to make it a more mixed-use building."The application originally called for funding to be allotted for the library within 12 years, or the land would go back under the control of the applicant, but requested that the timeline be extended to 15 years."In reality, I just don’t think 12 years is long enough," Commissioner Teresa Whitmore (Potomac) said.THE BIGGEST PROBLEM county planners had with the town center residential proposal, which will be located across the street from the new Brambleton movie theater, is the proposed density. "The plan calls for a density of four units per acre," Michael Elabarger, the project’s manager, said. "The applicant is asking for 7.6 units per acre, which is almost double."Calabrese maintained that the community was needed to support the new town center."We spent a lot of money to make the town center attractive," he said, "and frankly we need the critical mass around it. Had this been integrated with the original Brambleton plan, nobody would have blinked at it."Calabrese said the feel would be similar to the Reston Town Center, not in density, but in its set up."There is a very nice synergy there and that’s what we’ve envisioned here," he said.The commission asked the applicant to take a look at the pedestrian walkways between the residential component and the town center and figure out how to streamline the design so it would be more conducive to walking. While Brambleton has proffered crosswalks at every traffic light, commissioners were concerned that people would continue to cross in the middle of the street."If this were a normal density, we would look for these crosswalks," Julie Pastor, director of planning, said. "So since there is the added density, we’re looking for more."Elabarger suggested a pedestrian bridge or underpass to move people across the roads, but commissioners said they would rather see more pedestrian trails or landscaping that flowed people toward the controlled intersections."We’ll look again at the trail system and trying to punch out something at those intersections," Calabrese told the commission. "We’ll take some time to look at in between here and when it comes before the Board of Supervisors."NO ISSUES WERE RAISED by the commission with the Brambleton Corner project, which would develop 49 town houses on 3.93 acres, but some commissioners questioned the phasing of the Brambleton Brandt application.The southern half of the application is planned for an approximately 26,000-square-foot retail center, which lies within the Dulles International Airport noise contours, and 109 single-family homes and 127 town houses in the northern portion."We want a commercial and retail center," Calabrese said. "We have a lot of interest down there and we’ve had some great support from the Brambleton community. Brambleton residents have had an interest in a service station there."Due to the need of Brambleton residents for services, commissioners asked for the commercial proponent of the application to be built earlier than the residential portion or for the applicant to guarantee the completion of both sections as they were laid out in the proposal."This is a true in-fill proposal and my concern is at some point the residential gets done and this little commercial piece somehow wants to get converted to residential," Commissioner Nancy Hsu (Blue Ridge) said. While Calabrese said the applicant could not commit to a completion agreement, he said they would look at starting the commercial component sooner rather than later. "We don’t think these uses are going to be fed just by this development," he said. "It is going to be serving the entire community. Our goal is to get the infrastructure in."

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Loudoun Growth: More people, more houses

The pace of growth in Loudoun County may be slowing somewhat right now, but as residents know from seeing continued construction as they follow their daily commutes, the county remains one of the fastest growing.The 2006 Annual Growth Summary produced by the county is being printed now, but the data is already online (go to www.loudoun.gov, choose “about Loudoun,” then “Growth Summaries,” then “2006”).The demographic numbers tend to quantify what we surmise, about what’s going on around us.For example, this year’s growth summary shows that the county’s Hispanic population has grown from 5.9 percent of the 2000 population, to 9.3 percent of the 2005 population.The new growth summary also indicates that the county will continue to have increasing numbers of students to educate in its public schools system. Residents aged 15-19 made up 6.5 percent of the county’s population in 2005; while residents aged 10-14 accounted for 7.2 percent, ages 5-9 made up 8.7 percent, and under 5-year-olds composed 8.9 percent. Note the larger percentages for younger children.In terms of all residents, the current summary estimates a 2007 population of 271,987 — a 60 percent jump since the 2000 decennial census, which counted 169,599 persons. Growth in population and households have increased at annual rates of 6.2 to 9.2 percent according to the new summary. More than half of the county’s housing units are single-family detached units. These units accounted for 57.8 percent of the county’s housing units in 2000; compared with 54 percent in the summary’s estimates for 2006 and 2007, indicating a bit more emphasis lately on building multiple family or single-family attached housing.
The summary confirms that the county’s growth has been predominantly here in the east. It provides population growth numbers between 2000 and 2006 for the county’s 10 planning sub-areas and for its seven incorporated towns.In those six years:— Ashburn has grown from 33,581 residents to an estimated 70,417 — an increase of 109.7 percent— Dulles, where South Riding is located, had just 7,795 residents in 2000, but grew to 27,374 by 2006 — a 251.2 percent increase.— The Potomac planning area, which includes CountrySide, Cascades and Sugarland Run, went from 39,115 residents in 2000 to 43,978 six years later, an increase of about 10 percent.— Sterling grew to an estimated 30,707 in 2006 from 27,450 in 2000, an 11.9 percent increase.Those four eastern planning sub-areas combined accounted for 58.9 percent of the county’s population growth during the period, with remaining growth spread over the other six planning sub-areas and in the seven towns.These numbers may be surprising to some because it indicates that more than 40 percent of the county’s population growth has been in the seven towns and in the Leesburg, Route 15 South and other sub-areas further west and north.

Feds raise questions about Dulles rail delays

Julia O'DonoghueAugust 1, 2007

Reston resident and real estate agent Rob Whitfield has been a fan of extending metro service out to Dulles for over 20 years but he cannot back the most recent incarnation of the project. "The things that makes me different from most people that are upset is that I was a big rail supporter but I cannot support this," said Whitfield in an interview Monday. Whitfield and his neighbors will be paying for the costs of the rail project through increased fees along the Dulles Toll Road but they won’t see most of the benefits, he said. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, who will take over a primary managers to the project this year, expects revenue from the Dulles Toll Road to cover over half the costs of the $2.7 billion, up to 75 percent of the project’s cost overruns and to pay back $200 million line of credit it hopes to get from the federal government.The toll road must also be used to maintain the road, according to project documents.According to the Reston resident, the Tysons Corner metro stations will be used mostly by people from Arlington, Maryland, D.C. and Tysons, not by people in western Fairfax and Loudoun who use the toll road. "If you are a resident of Tysons you won’t be paying a nickel for this rail. If you are a resident of D.C., Arlington or Maryland, you won’t be paying for this project," said Whitfield. "I think the residents of Reston are being treated unfairly." Whitfield and others like him are not alone in their concern about the rising costs of the Dulles Rail Project. A federal review of the rail project released last week cited several serious concerns about the management and financing of the metro extension, including the impact on the Dulles Toll Road. U.S. Reps. Tom Davis (R-11) and Jim Moran (D-8) both expressed their own concerns about the project after the report was released last week. The Northern Virginia congressional delegation has not been involved in discussions over rail management, which has been handled mostly by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and Govs. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, they said. "[The report] raises the issue of whether we can justify this project at $2.7 billion. … We are hanging on by our finger tips," said Moran. The federal report’s author, Acting Assistant Inspector General for Surface and Maritime Programs Rebecca Batts, urged the Federal Transit Administrator to proceed with caution when making decisions about the Dulles rail’s federal funding allocation.The Federal Transit Administration is expected to make a decision on whether it will approve nearly $1 billion in federal funding for Dulles Rail during the next 30 days. At certain points, the report draws comparisons between the Dulles project and other public works fiascos, notably the Boston Central Artery/Tunnel Project, otherwise known as the Boston "Big Dig." It also focuses on concerns about the Dulles Rail’s financial management, citing that the cost of the project has grown over $1 billion while its schedule has slipped more than four years since 2004. "In past reviews of major projects, rapid cost growth and schedule slippages so early in the project were clear signs of risk. The reliability of the current cost estimate is unknown," stated the Inspector General’s report. Fairfax County Board of Supervisors chairman Gerry Connolly said the report has brought nothing new to the table and many of its concerns have already been discussed. "The report itself is nothing but a rehash of old issues," he said in phone interview this week. "This is a solid project. It is big one. It is complex." Connolly added that the longer the federal government waits to approve the project for funding, the more expensive it will become. "If they don’t delay, we can make this work," he said. Due to rising expenses, officials also recommended that the local funding package be reworked since "even more local funding would be needed."The report states that Fairfax County — which has provided its funding through a special tax district along the propose metro corridor — may have come up with more revenue if the project’s price continues to go up. Like Whitfield, officials in the Inspector General’s office also believe the project relies too heavily on toll road revenue to fund the project. They were concerned that Virginia Department of Transportation did not put a cap on the amount the Airports Authority can raise the toll. "Users of the Dulles Toll Road could be subjected to large toll increases in the future if high project costs require more and more local funding," according to the report. Fairfax County would have preferred that the state government put it up its share of the money instead of using the toll road to cover its expenses. But the supervisors intend to monitor the rise in tolls closely, said Connolly. "We share the concern that we not be overly reliant on tolls," said Connolly. The report also raises questions as to whether the project is still cost effective. The project was nearing unacceptable levels earlier this year when the price was set at approximately $2 billion. It has now risen to $2.7 billion. The Inspector General’s report stated that the limited competition over control of the project — which was given to a joint venture of Bechtel Infrastructure and Washington Group International — may have contributed to the expensive growth. "Virginia entered into its first contractual agreement with the [Bechtel/Washington Group International] at the beginning of preliminary engineering, when there were still many unknowns about the project," said the report. Some supervisors have raised these concerns before. Dana Kauffman (D-Lee) and Linda Smyth (D-Providence) voted against allocating money to Dulles Rail last month partially because of the number of unknowns about the project. The other eight supervisors voted for the project. "The report bears many of the same concerns that Linda and I had raised," said Kauffman. "There is a means to do this."