North Potomac Yard Small Area Plan Moves Forward

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(Thursday) February 25, 2010

By Carla Branch and James Cullum

alexandrianews.org

In April, the Alexandria Planning Commission and City Council will vote on the proposed North Potomac Yard Small Area Plan. On Tuesday night, the two groups got a first look at the working draft.

The proposed small area plan includes the redevelopment of the Potomac Yard shopping center and the construction of a $240 million Metro station. “This is going to be one of the biggest projects the City has ever taken on,” said City Councilman Frank Fannon. “It’s the perfect location – one stop from National airport – but  we can’t mortgage the City’s future with a project that’s not self sustainable.”

Council approved the Potomac Yard Master Plan in 1999 and, with multiple changes of ownership, the plan has been amended several times. Now, Council must consider the final development proposal for this property.

The 69 acre site is currently home to 600,000 square feet of retail. The tallest structure is 77 feet tall, but most buildings are under 50 feet in height. The plan proposes 7.5 million square feet of mixed use development: 2,000,000 square feet for office buildings; 930,000 square feet of retail; 4,400,000 square feet of  affordable housing and a 170,000 square foot hotel. Proposed building heights ranging from 65 to 250 feet.

This level of density is required to justify the construction of the proposed metro station. “This plan is predicated on a new Metro station,” said Mark Jinks, Alexandria Deputy City Manager. “Based upon guidance from the Master Transportation Plan, there can be no construction (at Potomac Yard) without a metro station.”

Shopping center landowners have agreed to assist in closing a $75 million funding gap for the construction of the Metro station, Jinks told Council. “We assume no federal funding and we have the finish line in sight. We’ve been negotiating, and, at the end of the day, (landowners) have agreed to pay $10 per square foot to close the gap and have agreed to the creation of a special tax district, which would be .20 cents per $100, or 25%. We now have a $32 million gap that needs to be filled.”

Councilman Paul Smedberg said federal assistance is vital. “I think we need to definitely go to the Commonwealth, if not to (the Federal Government) to manage how we’re going to get this moving. I’m very concerned,” he said.

The small area plan also includes a five acre site for a new elementary school. “If needed, a school site would be reserved for the City,” said Jeff Farner, who presented the plan. “We are working with school staff on the geometry and layout. School staff has said that would be a suitable site.”

Traffic

Even with a new Metro station and with bus rapid transit along Route 1, by 2030 transportation levels of service in the Potomac Yard area begin to break down, according to the Potomac Yard Multimodal Transportation Study. Commuter patterns indicate that 80% of drivers travel north/south on Route1. Planners are searching for a way to connect these commuters to the City’s east/west roadways.

“There’s going to be a cost of additional traffic but it can’t come to the expense of neighborhoods to the east and west,” said Vice Mayor Kerry Donley.

Moving traffic off Route 1 could present problems. “Mt. Vernon Avenue at rush hour is pretty much gridlock,” said Planning Commissioner Eric Wagner. “To dump more traffic to the west would create more problems for those neighborhoods.”

The solutions must be comprehensive. “We don’t want to get into the situation with consequences because things were carried out in a piecemeal fashion,” said Rich Baier, Alexandria’s director of transportation and environmental services.

Some of the proposed transportation solutions include:

• Crystal City/Potomac Yard Transitway: High-capacity transit service would be provided in dedicated lanes on Route 1 and Potomac Avenue. It would intersect with the Metro service to create a transit hub for Potomac Yard.

• Route 1 would be widened to accommodate any dedicated high-capacity transitway for the length of Route 1 to Arlington County. Route 1 would not be widened to accommodate additional vehicle trips.

• Internal Street Network: The Plan requires a fine-grained, interconnected network of streets with connectivity to the surrounding neighborhoods.

• New bicycle/pedestrian connection: This off-street trail connection would tie Potomac Yard directly to Four Mile Run through a linear park connecting Braddock Road and Four Mile Run, enhancing access to the major regional trail network that currently serves recreational users and commuters.

Obstacles

Because of its size and location, Potomac Yard presents many opportunities for development. However, these obstacles must be overcome.

• Existing Infrastructure: The existing road network and stormwater and sanitary sewage treatment capacity systems have limited capacity. Unless expanded, these capacities will limit the densities that can be accommodated at Potomac Yard.

• Financing: In order to finance the Metrorail station, significant developer participation is imperative but not easily achieved given costs and the realities of the current development financing market.

• Federal Aviation Administration Height Restrictions: North Potomac Yard is impacted by FAA height restrictions which have been imposed on properties in the vicinity of Reagan National Airport.

• Neighborhood Impacts: Potomac Yard is surrounded by many residential neighborhoods of historic significance. Development could have impacts on the adjacent neighborhoods, particularly in terms of traffic generation and building heights.

• Accessibility to North Potomac Yard is limited. The property is surrounded by water to the north (Four Mile Run) and CSX railroad and Metrorail tracks to the east. In addition, road connections to the north and south are limited, and there are no connections to the east.

“We had hopes and dreams with what happened at Carlyle, what we wanted to have happen at Carlyle but didn’t see happen. We don’t want that to happen here,” said Mayor Bill Euille.