Ballston Condo Project Approved

Opponents Worry That Complex Is Too Dense for Site

The Arlington County Board has approved a developer's plan to build a high-rise condominium and retail complex in Ballston. In exchange, the developer has agreed to build part of a new west entrance to the Ballston Metro station.

County planners say the new entrance, to be located near Fairfax Drive and North Vermont Street, will eventually make Metro more accessible to neighborhoods west of Ballston, particularly Bluemont.

"Getting the station entrance open will benefit people throughout the area," County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman said. "It will bring the station closer to them and it will result in increased [mass] transit use, less traffic, better air quality and a better quality of life."

The plan, which was approved by the board Saturday in a 3 to 2 vote, was a blow to opponents who criticized the building as too dense for the site and have mocked the Metro entrance as a "tunnel to nowhere."

"The building is just too dense for the footprint it's being built upon," said Ari Meltzer, a spokesman for Citizens for True Smart Growth. "It's bad public policy."

Under the plan, JBG Companies will build a 23-story, 237-unit mixed-use development known as The Fairmont. The building will be at 4420 Fairfax Dr. on the Arlington Gateway site, which consists of office and residential buildings, retail and the new Westin Hotel. The parcel is one of the few redevelopment sites remaining in the high-density district surrounding the Ballston Metro station. The development, scheduled to open in 2009, will be the first glass-clad residential building in the Ballston area.

As part of its excavation work for an underground parking garage, JBG will build an entrance for a passenger tunnel giving access to Ballston's Metrorail platforms. County officials said the tunnel work will cost the developer about $11 million and constitutes a $20 million savings to the county, which will not have to pay to tear up the street a second time to build the tunnel.

The entrance, which will cost an estimated $50 million to $60 million, cannot be completed until the county secures the remaining financing, which could be a combination of local, state and federal money. But county officials say the project will eventually get more commuters off the roads by making the train more accessible to county residents and visitors.

"What it gets you is close access to all the people who live and work on the western side," said county spokeswoman Diana Sun. "Someone who might say, 'It's 10 blocks to the Metro; I'm not going to walk,' may now say, 'Gee, it's only six or seven blocks now . . .' As I understand it, there's been a lot of pressure from the community for this."

There also has been considerable public opposition. Citizens for True Smart Growth lobbied hard against the plan, which the group criticized for allowing 244,398 square feet of density -- or nearly four times the total size permitted by local zoning ordinances, the group said.

Zimmerman disagrees, saying the project's density and height fall within planned levels. He said that while the building is considerably larger than the 60,000 square feet allowed by county ordinance, the developer has taken advantage of consolidated density as a part of the Gateway site and is using additional density bonuses, allowing it to dramatically increase square footage.

But opponents still argue that constructing so large a building in space intended for a smaller structure may jeopardize the safety of motorists and pedestrians and cause parking problems. The structure also will be visually unappealing, they say.

As for the Metro entrance, opponents remain concerned that there are no firm plans in place to fully finance the project.

"Essentially, [the board] has given away an $11 million benefit, and there's no guarantee the public will see that benefit," Meltzer said. "This is all contingent on hopes that funding will come into place down the road, but there's no plan for doing so."

Zimmerman, however, contends that the end is in sight.

"We want to have a plan for the completion of the project before the end of the year," he said. "With this plan in place to take us halfway there, we can put together a funding package."