Taxes Could Finance Potomac Yard Stop
By Lena H. Sun
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, June 6, 2008; B01
Alexandria officials are moving closer to adding a Metrorail station on the Blue and Yellow lines near the Potomac Yard development. It would be the first station built in the region since 2004.
The station would be on the east side of the $2.6 billion Potomac Yard development, between the Braddock Road and Reagan National Airport stations.
Earlier this week, the city Planning Commission approved higher-density projects at a town center near the proposed Metro station. The approval, along with an analysis that showed future tax revenue could help finance the $150 million station, has made the station more likely.
The analysis showed that the development of Potomac Yard is to include a hotel along with office, retail and residential space. The project, valued at $2.6 billion, could generate $27 million in annual tax revenue.
If the city borrowed $150 million to build the Metro stop, the city's annual payment on the debt would be about $9 million for 30 years, said Mark Jinks, Alexandria's deputy city manager. Tax revenue from Potomac Yard would be more than enough to cover the payments, he said.
A higher-density development would also mean "a larger and more vibrant town center" that would attract more people, he said. "Enough people to justify building the station."
Although city officials caution that it will be several more years before they know whether they can finance a new subway stop, recent developments are encouraging.
"This is the most movement on a possible Metro station in at least a decade," Jinks said.
At a public meeting in Alexandria last week, Metro and city officials talked about the physical and financial feasibilities of building a new station between two existing ones.
"We think this will be a great addition to the system," Metro General Manager John B. Catoe Jr. said yesterday at a regional transportation forum.
Catoe said Metro talked about "lessons learned" from building the New York Avenue station on the Red Line. "We pointed out that a new station at Potomac Yard is not likely to cost as much in today's dollars as the New York Avenue station," he said. At Potomac Yard, the area of track was originally constructed in a way to allow for a future station.
The New York Avenue station cost $104 million, using a combination of federal, city and private funds. The station took four years to complete and opened in November 2004.
With steep increases in the price of steel and concrete, Metro said it would cost $125 million to $150 million over four years to build a surface-level station with two platforms at Potomac Yard. Stations that are built between stations take longer and tend to be more expensive because construction takes place while trains are operating.
If the Potomac Yard station is built, Metro trains traveling between nearby stations might have to share one track for up to two years during the construction, Metro officials said.
"If the city of Alexandria wants to open a new station, we will be involved because expansion has to conform to our standards," Catoe said.
Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, said a Metro station at Potomac Yard would meet the needs of the Washington area's changing demographics. More empty-nesters and young professionals are flocking to transit-accessible areas. "Combine that with rising energy prices and concern over climate change and I think you see the development of places like Potomac Yard moving much more quickly than you might expect."
Potomac Yard, a large swath of land south of Arlington County, was a rail yard that belonged to RF&P, formerly Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Co.
When Alexandria adopted a land-use plan for the Potomac Yard development years ago, a site was reserved for a Metro station. The density changes approved by the Planning Commission still must be approved by the City Council at its June 14 meeting.
The City Council has already approved $500,000 in the coming fiscal year's budget to study building a station, Jinks said.
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