Bypassed for Army Jobs, Springfield Pins Hopes on Mall's Renewal

By Sandhya Somashekhar
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, October 6, 2008

The General Services Administration warehouse in Springfield is iconic in scale. Shrink-wrapped boxes and folders of yellowing documents sit on shelves that soar to the ceiling. Employees joke that it is straight out of Hollywood: a set piece for Indiana Jones or the 1990s television show "The X-Files."

It has considerably less charm for local leaders, who have hoped for years that it would be torn down and replaced by something that could kick-start a long-awaited revitalization of Springfield, which is best known these days for the massive interchange that bears its name and its ailing regional mall.

Their hopes were raised last year when the U.S. Army proposed putting 6,400 Defense Department employees on that site. But last week, the Army decided to move the jobs to Alexandria, the latest setback to revitalization efforts in Springfield that began in the late 1980s. The Army decision dashed the hopes of many people who felt that an infusion of thousands of workers would have helped spur an economic boom in the lackluster central business district.

"We were sitting here saying, 'What?' We just don't get it," said John Pellegrin, president of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, who along with state and local leaders had also favored the location for its proximity to Metrorail and Virginia Railway Express. "This was the right location in so many ways."

Officials say they still expect Springfield to benefit from the decision to move the jobs, part of a larger plan by Congress and the Army to shift about 20,000 workers to Fort Belvoir, the nearby Engineer Proving Ground and Alexandria by 2011. Fairfax County officials are rewriting its master plan to encourage more development in the Springfield area in anticipation of an influx of workers, and many hopes hang on a proposal to transform the blighted Springfield Mall into a more walkable, urban center.

But rehabilitation efforts have been stalled despite Springfield's prime location along the Capital Beltway and easy access to Metro, VRE and three interstates.

Part of the problem, officials say, are deteriorating conditions at Springfield Mall, a once popular and vibrant shopping center. Built in 1973, as the area was suburbanizing, it was one of the region's big malls and a popular destination for families from across the Washington area. "It was a 'let's head out to the suburbs to the mall'-type thing," said Nancy-jo Manney, executive director of the chamber. "It was the regional mall, the place to go."

Today, about half of the storefronts are vacant. On a recent weekday evening, groups of young people milled about in the halls, but many of the stores were deserted.

Although police say crime at the mall has decreased since 2006, there have been several high-profile incidents. Most recently, a woman was abducted by two men in the parking garage. She later died when her assailants crashed the car in which they were riding. The perception that crime and gang activity are on the rise has driven some shoppers to Tysons Corner or Fair Oaks.

"I quite literally grew up" at Springfield Mall, said Mike Sohal, 29, who still lives in the area. He has fond memories of going to the arcade and baseball card shop as a kid. "It was a real community, something out of a TV show. Now, I don't feel safe. I don't know if I'm going to get punched or hit or have my iPod stolen."

Residents and officials say it is more vital to the area that the mall be redeveloped than the warehouse, and plans to do so are in the works.

Vornado Realty Trust took over management of the mall two years ago.

"From their perspective, it was a center that was under-utilized, under-performing and yet had all sorts of advantages associated with it, including transportation infrastructure," said Mark Looney, a land-use attorney representing the company. He said Vornado's goal is for the mall to regain "its prominence as the gathering place for greater Springfield and breathe new life into what over time has become a tired regional shopping center."

Vornado has proposed a major redevelopment of the property, including a $100 million interior renovation. Unlike the current incarnation as a suburban, car-dependent destination, Vornado officials plan to build a pedestrian-friendly development with an urban flare and as many as 2,800 residences just outside its doors. County officials are trying to fast-track the approval process and hope for construction to begin next year.

Another barrier to revitalization has been the construction of the Springfield interchange. Work on the $676 million interchange connecting interstates 95 and 395 with the Beltway lasted eight years, discouraging businesses from establishing a presence in the area, Supervisor Jeff C. McKay said. Construction was completed last year.

"Springfield has been a construction site for transportation for the better part of 20 years," said McKay, noting that the Franconia-Springfield Metro station opened in 1996. "I see this as Springfield's time to blossom and develop. All the good things are happening at once."

McKay and others also think the GSA warehouse's days are numbered. They say the warehouse, with its 144 employees, is not a good use of a property that is within walking distance of the Franconia-Springfield Metro station and a VRE depot.

GSA officials, however, say it would be a monumental feat to move the contents of the warehouse, which was built in 1953 and is leased out to a half-dozen government tenants, including the White House.

Hundreds of square feet of hard-copy patents are stored there, as are new windows for the Pentagon.

The GSA itself stores a fleet of government vehicles and piles of spare office equipment -- enough that after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks they were able to furnish within two weeks 880,000 square feet of office space for the displaced Pentagon workers, down to the staplers and notepads.

"It would be a truly monumental task," said Michael S. McGill, a spokesman for the GSA, who said it would take between $100 million and $130 million to move the warehouse -- not counting the cost of buying land and building new structures.