Developer's Proffers Help Sway Supervisors

Large Complex Wins Rezoning

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a large complex of homes, offices and shops with a pedestrian-friendly design, endorsing the Ashburn project in exchange for major concessions from the developer.

By a vote of 7 to 2, supervisors agreed to rezone a 358-acre site at Route 7 and the Loudoun County Parkway for the One Loudoun project, which will include three 12-story office buildings, single- and multifamily housing, a movie theater and two hotels as well as upscale shops and restaurants.

The vote came after months of negotiations with the developer, Miller and Smith Home Builders, which this month agreed to scale back the maximum number of residences from 1,569 to just over 1,000 and to upgrade the intersection of Route 7 and Ashburn Village Boulevard. In addition, the company will donate a 20-acre plot for an elementary school, among other proffers.

"This applicant has really stepped up to the plate with its proffers," said Supervisor Lori L. Waters (R-Broad Run), who brokered the agreement. "It is a complete package. I believe this is a real winner for Loudoun County."

Board Chairman Scott K. York (I) and Vice Chairman Bruce E. Tulloch (R-Potomac) voted against the rezoning, however. They said that there are many shopping centers in the area, including Dulles Town Center, and that they feared there would not be enough demand to support additional retail.

"We are already maxed out in both on-the-ground and planned retail uses," York said. "I'm just trying to understand why we need a whole lot more retail on Route 7."

Among its concessions, the developer agreed not to solicit department stores that are within 2 1/2 miles of the project. Dulles Town Center, which is within that distance, is home to such shopping center staples as Macy's, J.C. Penney, Sears, Lord & Taylor and Nordstrom.

The project was also criticized by the Coalition for Smarter Growth, which at a previous meeting called for the board to undertake a comprehensive review of eastern Loudoun's retail offerings before approving One Loudoun.

"It is a well-designed project by a well-respected new urbanist architecture firm," Stewart Schwartz, the coalition's executive director, said after Tuesday's vote. "The concern we have is that Loudoun really hasn't done an assessment of how many of these centers they can support and where they can be best located."

Supervisors praised the design of the project. The developer is planning a walkable community, with a central park, pedestrian trails and 120 acres of open space. Some apartments and offices will be "vertically integrated" -- perched above shops and restaurants -- which officials said will give the complex an urban, Main Street feel.

Part of the project will bear the name World Trade Center, which is expected to draw businesses from overseas. Officials estimate the project will bring 14,000 jobs to the area.

In addition to the office buildings, the project will have 700,000 square feet of retail space and 1,040 residences, including condominiums, townhouses and single-family housing.

"We think it's the first of its kind in Loudoun County and one that has a significant economic development potential," said William C. May, vice president of Miller and Smith.

May said the company hoped to break ground by 2008 and begin moving in the first tenants by 2009.

In other action at Tuesday's meeting, the supervisors sent another rezoning request for a large mixed-used development -- the 500-acre Crosstrail project southeast of Leesburg -- to a board committee for further study.

Supervisors said that they wanted greater consensus between Leesburg officials and the developer, Peterson Cos., and that they were still concerned about transportation and sanitation issues.