Dim Metro Outlook May Be Big Factor
By Arianne Aryanpur
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 3, 2008
With plans to extend Metrorail to Loudoun County in jeopardy, several Loudoun supervisors said last week that they may reconsider their decision to include the site of a future Metro station on a shortlist of possible locations for a new county government center.
Moorefield Station, a mixed-use development near the Dulles Greenway and Ryan Road, is one of three sites the Board of Supervisors is considering for the government center. The developer and county officials had thought the complex would be served by Metro, with a rail station opening in 2015.
Federal officials announced last month, however, that the $5 billion project to extend Metro from Tysons Corner to Loudoun is unlikely to qualify for $900 million in federal funding, which is crucial to the financing plan.
In light of that news, several Loudoun supervisors are questioning whether Moorefield Station would be a suitable location for the government center. They noted that Metro access had factored heavily into the site's appeal.
"The attraction to Moorefield Station was the Metrorail, in my mind. And if it's not going to be there, it certainly changes the equation," Supervisor James Burton (I-Blue Ridge) said. "But whether or not we'd still be interested in it as one of three sites is something I'd have to think about."
County officials put out a request in 2006 for proposals to build a new government center, saying that the center on Harrison Street in downtown Leesburg had become too small. They received 13 proposals and narrowed the field to three last month. The other two sites on the final list are in Leesburg, the county seat.
Some supervisors have argued that the government center should be moved east, closer to Loudoun's population center. If Moorefield Station loses favor, one option would be to bring back one or more of the eastern Loudoun sites that had been eliminated from consideration.
Supervisor Susan Klimek Buckley (D-Sugarland Run) said that Metro access distinguished Moorefield Station from the other proposals. "That was definitely a positive attribute about Moorefield Station, the proximity of the Metro being there," she said.
"I would want to reevaluate" Moorefield Station if the Metro extension falls through, Buckley said. "Does that mean looking at other sites again? I can't say. But there would be some kind of discussion involved."
Burton said he would consider putting another site back on the table if the Metro project collapses, but not one in eastern Loudoun.
"I don't buy this argument that the government center needs to be in the center of the population," Burton said. "The people who use the building the most are the people who work in it -- and 60 percent of our [government] employees live west of Leesburg."
Moorefield Station is envisioned as a 606-acre complex of houses, offices and stores. The government center would consist of an eight-story and a five-story building on 27 acres.
The project's density will depend on whether it is served by mass transit.
The minimum density will be 2,500 residential units and 5.5 million square feet of commercial space, said Chris Thomas, a spokesman for the developer, Loudoun Civic and Transit Center LLC. If a bus rapid transit system arrives, the development will increase to 3,750 residential units and 7 million square feet. And if rail arrives, the development will increase to 6,000 residential units and 9.75 million square feet.
Thomas said the project's success is not contingent on rail access.
"Even if rail never arrives, Moorefield Station will still be the largest development in the county because of its role as a [bus] transit center," he said.
County officials said the arrival of Metro is crucial in traffic-clogged eastern Loudoun.
"That area has serious transportation issues," Supervisor Andrea McGimsey (D-Potomac) said. She said an improved transportation network is important to the area no matter where the new government center is located.
The two Leesburg sites under consideration are the Village at Leesburg, at Route 7 and River Creek Parkway, and Oaklawn, at the Battlefield Parkway interchange of the Dulles Greenway. Both developments are mixed-used projects.
Unless the board makes a change in plans, the county will request detailed proposals from the developers of Moorefield Station and the two Leesburg sites next month, said County Administrator Kirby M. Bowers. The developers will have several months to come up with topographical maps, conceptual site plans and other in-depth information about their sites, and county staff members will then make a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors.
Bowers said that the board will host a public hearing before making a final decision, which he expects will occur after at least a year.
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