Developer wants parking deck at Spotsy VRE station

Spotsylvania County:

“Owners of the 25 acres that Spotsylvania County wants to buy for a Virginia Railway Express station parking lot say they have a better idea for land in Crossroads Business Park off U.S. 17. The property owners, George Lester and Fitz Johnson, say they have a vision for the development that would include parking decks for VRE commuters instead of a sprawling county-owned surface lot currently planned there.

However, Spotsylvania officials don’t agree with the developers’ plan to lease the parking lot property at the county’s first VRE station. The Spotsylvania Board of Supervisors recently approved Crossroads Associates LLC’s rezoning for Crossroads Station, which includes 610 apartment units and commercial space next to the VRE station site. They also hope to develop another 650 acres they own in that area west of New Post. County officials said that while they understand the property owners’ interest, their offer to lease the land for the parking lot is not acceptable.

The county has asked the Virginia Department of Transportation to handle the property acquisition, through its power of eminent domain, if necessary. VDOT’s Kelly Hannon said the department plans to handle the land negotiations ‘as quickly as we can.’"

~Writes Scott Shenk of The Free Lance–Star

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Metro Garages Pulled From Dulles Rail Project; County To Finalize Federal Funding Application

Loudoun County

“To help ensure that there will be federal funding for the project, the Board of Supervisors last week voted to remove the cost of constructing the three parking garages associated with Loudoun’s stations on Metro’s Silver Line extension, and find another way to finance them.

During 2011 negotiations on the Memorandum of Agreement between local and federal entities on the Metrorail project, the cost of constructing the parking garages was taken out of the Phase 2 construction program in an effort to cut the project’s overall price tag. Loudoun and Fairfax counties agreed to seek alternative funding for the parking garages, including forming public-private partnerships with area landowners and developers, or paying for them through local capital project budgets. If the funding could not be found, the costs would revert to the overall Metro project.

In meetings with the U.S. Department of Transportation this summer to discuss the potential to secure additional funding through the federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, or TIFIA, to help offset the overall costs of the Metro construction project, the federal agency told Loudoun representatives the final decision to remove the garages would have to be made before the application could be submitted.”

~Writes Erika Jacobson Moore of Leesburg Today

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