East County office building coming to Bailey’s Crossroads
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| The temporary Bailey’s Crossroads fire station is on the future site of the East County office building. |
Once the East County office building project is completed, it will spur further revitalization in Bailey’s Crossroads, said Carey Needham, director of the building design and construction division in the Fairfax County Department of Public Works Environmental Services. He presented an overview of the project at a Bailey’s Business Breakfast in the Skyline Center Feb. 13.
The county is working with the Weissberg Corp. on a public/private partnership to put a county office building and multifamily housing on a 6.46-acre property on Columbia Pike and Moncure Avenue. Discussions on the project started six years ago, stalled for a while, and now are back on the table.
The 180,000-square-foot East County building will house the agencies that moved last summer from Leesburg Pike in Seven Corners to the Heritage office complex on Little River Turnpike in Annandale. Those offices include Neighborhood and Community Services, the Health Department, the Community Services Board, Family Services, child and adult protective services, caregiver resources, assistance for the elderly and people with disabilities, and related offices.
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| The Bailey’s Crossroads Community Shelter |
The lease on the Heritage building runs out in 2020, so the county’s goal is to have the East County building completed and occupied before then. It would have five or six stories, Needham said.
The Weissberg Corp plans to build 425 residential units and possibly a limited amount of retail space. While the office and residential buildings will be an “integrated development,” it hasn’t been determined whether they will be physically joined or not. Weissberg owns two acres of the Columbia Pike site; the county owns the rest.
A temporary fire station and the Bailey’s Crossroads Community Shelter are currently on the site. The fire station will be torn down when the new Bailey’s Crossroads Fire Station is completed a couple of blocks up Columbia Pike. A new 8,000-square-foot homeless shelter will be incorporated into the project to replace the old one. The county will have to provide temporary housing for the shelter occupants during the interim.
The project also includes rerouting Seminary Road, a multilevel parking structure with 500 to 600 spaces, and a small number of single-occupancy units to serve as transitional housing for people leaving the shelter. Those units would be dispersed within the Weissberg property.
Needham outlined what he acknowledged is an aggressive schedule for the East County office building project: A concept plan drafted by September 2013; an interim development agreement with Weissberg this fall; rezoning during fall 2013 through summer 2014; and construction taking place in spring 2018 through fall 2020. Weissberg would develop its component of the project during spring 2015 through fall 2016.
The project would conform to the Bailey’s Crossroads revitalization plan, which was approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors as an amendment to the county’s Comprehensive Plan in July 2010.
Needham said the county’s expectations for the office building include silver LEED certification, infrastructure to accommodate electric vehicle charging stations, innovative stormwater management, a reflective or vegetative roof, lighting that takes advantage of daylight, digital security and energy management systems, and LED lights.
11 responses to “East County office building coming to Bailey’s Crossroads”
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I just wish they would hurry up and repair the fire station in Baileys. It's embarrassing that one of the richest counties in the US has yet to repair a fire station whose roof caved in years ago.
Unfortunately, most of Mason District is embarrassing. My husband and I keep fighting for change, hoping that we can make a difference, but eventually we may be forced to move before we lose the investment we have in our home.
Stop fighting and demand it. Join your Civic Association, work with Mason District Council. Call Penny Gross's and Sharon Bulova's office. The squeaky wheel gets oiled. In Mason you have to do more than squeak, you need to get involved and SCREAM!!!!!!! It takes more than a custodial local government to turn Mason around, it will take a rowdy constituency, vision and the gusto to make it happen.
So do it Masonites. And let the State Senate and House Delegates know it too. And don't forget to scream even louder at your Federal Congress and Senate representatives. Mason will crumble if we don't demand change and demand it VERY LOUDLY and NOW!
I hope they are planning on doing something about the bottleneck at that part of Columbia Pike. It's jammed during the morning and evening rush hours.
Feel the same. Fairfax Co. is one big social service and all the skanks of society are pulling our district down. Sorry – I realize some folks need the services – but really – is this all we can do here? It is a joke. More govt workers who cator to the illegals who do nothing for our society except throw trash on the ground and TAKE TAKE TAKE TAKE
What impact on the schools ? Hello we are over crowded in these schools — what is this?
Redevelopment in the name of community services (homeless shelter, multi-family dwelling when our schools are already overcrowded, multi-tier parking garage to offset Seminary Rd congestion)? These aren't the types of redevelopment that I want for my neighborhood.
How about some upscale retail/restaurants??
The County is too obsessed with Tysons and the less economically challenged areas such as McLean while they allow Baileys and its surrounds to have a slow and painful death.
Hello, is anyone listening??????
Who is going to live in those 425 apartments when there is a homeless shelter and single-occupancy transitional apartments included in the project? Sounds like it will quickly become "Culmore East."
I would like the community to know that the Mason District Council of Community Organizations has formed an Exploratory Cmte. to look at this more closely and its potential impact on our community. Please consider joining our committee. Email [email protected] for more info.
Regards,
Mollie Loeffler
Chair
Mason District Council
http://www.masondistrict.org
Why hasnt the Mason District Council formed an exploratory committee to look more closely at the impact of the giant cell tower proposed in Parklawn?