Trying to Head Off Leaner Times
Arlington Focuses on Business Development; Alexandria Works on Boosting Tourism

By Kirstin Downey
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, November 29, 2007

A slumping real estate market is depressing property values throughout the region, and a realignment of regional military facilities in coming years will move jobs out of Arlington County and Alexandria. To offset drains on revenue, the county and city are looking to drum up economic development to ensure they have enough money to maintain quality public services.

For Arlington County, the focus is on providing new, modern and transit-friendly office space to lure businesses. For Alexandria, where preserving the historic core is paramount, a primary goal is to capitalize on tourism, particularly as the National Harbor approaches completion across the Potomac River.

The financial stakes are significant. Like other jurisdictions in the region, Arlington and Alexandria face leaner budgets because of declining property tax revenue. The Pentagon's base closure and realignment process also is expected by 2011 to move many jobs from Arlington, Alexandria and other parts of the region's core.

Arlington is making headway in economic development. BNA, a publishing company, recently moved to Crystal City from the District, bringing 1,000 employees. The company joins defense firm DeticaDFI, which recently left the District to move to the Ballston area. The firm employs 250 people.

Within a few months, the Corporate Executive Board, which provides human resource research and executive training to employers, is expected to move to Arlington from the District. It will be the largest private-sector employer in the county, employing about 2,500.

"Some deals are coming together now that we worked on for as long as three years," said Terry Holzheimer, director of Arlington Economic Development. "We've been pretty successful."

Paul N. Wojcik, chairman of the board of BNA, said the company at first did not want to relocate, but the convenient bus, Metro and railway connections made the difference.

"A great number of our employees take public transportation to work, so transportation was key to us," Wojcik said. "Crystal City has great transportation. Even [Virginia Railway Express] comes into Crystal City, and that was very attractive to us."

BNA had considered moving out of the District about a decade ago. This time, BNA decided to make the move. Executives cited several factors: Its building needed to be modernized; taxes in the District were higher; and Arlington had become a more desirable urban location than it was in 1996.

"I hadn't been to Crystal City in years," Wojcik said. "They've really turned it around. It's a pretty lively place during the day, and there are about 30 restaurants within three blocks of us. That's appealing."

Arlington County Board Chairman Paul Ferguson (D) said the area's parks and cultural and educational programs are luring "young progressive workers" sought by many employers.

"There are a lot of cultural and fun things to do for young workers particularly, and for workers with children, we have great schools," Ferguson said. "We feel we have a complete package."

Bringing development to Arlington benefits area residents, Holzheimer said.

"It helps lower the taxes for residents," Holzheimer said. "We have 36 million square feet of office space in a very small community. It helps pay for what residents would otherwise have to pay for themselves. We can have really, really excellent schools because of our strong economic base."

Alexandria recently created a committee charged with looking for ways to sustain and build the city's economic base. Its six members will be appointed by Mayor William D. Euille (D).

At the top of its agenda will be preparing the city to take advantage of National Harbor, which is under construction in Prince George's County. National Harbor, which will open in April, is a 300-acre resort and retail complex that will include five hotels and an immense convention center.

"It's fairly unique to have a brand-new target market appear," Stephanie Brown, president and chief executive officer of the Alexandria Convention and Visitors Association, told the City Council on Nov. 19.

National Harbor is expected to serve as a new source of tourists for Alexandria, many of whom will cross the river on water taxis that dock at the city's marina at the base of King Street. A free trolley service, funded by the city, will ferry tourists along King Street to the Metro, with multiple stops for shopping, sightseeing and dining along the way.

The city originally set aside $700,000 for a tourism promotion program but decided to boost that to $1.3 million. City officials would like to offer marketing brochures and a video commercial that would be aired on water taxis and in hotel rooms at National Harbor. They also would like to lengthen hours at the Alexandria Visitors Center at Ramsay House, keeping it open until 8 p.m. daily. Officials plan to survey tourists to better understand how to capture their dollars.

The city also plans to improve lighting in the marina area to help newcomers feel more secure and to install four information kiosks and more benches and restrooms. A photo mural of city sites may be installed to help orient visitors.

The city also may deploy wheeled carts for sales of souvenirs and merchandise from local museums. Performers, depicting characters from Alexandria's past, may ply the streets in the waterfront area to help direct tourists to museums, in much the same way that costumed interpreters lead tours of the city.

The challenge for the city will be to get tourists off the beaten track, so that many kinds of businesses benefit. City and tourism officials are playing out the scenarios, trying to figure out how to handle the throngs.

"How can we best greet them, orient them and disperse them?" said Kathleen Beeton, a planning department official.

City officials said they realize that much needs to be done in a short time.

"It'll be a full-court press to get this done by April," said Mark Jinks, deputy city manager.

"We need to hit the road running and have this in place," said Vice Mayor Redella S. "Del" Pepper (D).