The Fairfax County Planning Commission will vote March 22 on a proposal to build 600 apartments and 275,000-square-feet of commercial space next to the Hungtington Metrorail station.
D.C. developer Stout & Teague has proposed 600 apartments, 65 town houses, 250,000 square feet of office space and 25,000 square feet of retail space on the 60-acre tract.
The firm has also proposed a garage to replace the 924-space parking lot that now sits on the land.
"It's a great site on one of the highest elevations in the area," says Neel Teague, vice president of Stout & Teague.
The Planning Commission held a hearing on the proposal March 1. If the planners endorse the project, it will be sent to the county's Board of Supervisors for final approval.
Some citizen groups say the project could increase congestion on nearby Huntington Avenue, a busy thoroughfare in the area.
But Stewart Schwartz, executive director of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, a collection of local environmental and civic groups, says the development could reduce traffic over time.
Ideally, the residents of the new housing units would use the Metro to get to work, he says.
"And hopefully, the retail component of the project will be commuter-serving retail like dry cleaners, so people won't have to hop in their car to run errands when they get home from work," Mr. Schwartz says.
The Huntington area will benefit from the revival of Route 1, a blighted highway that stretches through Northern Virginia, according to Mr. Teague.
In addition to the Stout & Teague project, Bethesda developer LCOR is planning a high-rise building in Huntington. New retail development is also planned, Mr. Teague says.
MORE DATA CENTERS
Qwest Communications has signed a $25 million, 10-year lease for two data centers planned at Dulles International Park in Sterling, Va.
Trammel Crow Co. will develop the buildings, which total 153,600 square feet. The D.C. real estate firm also arranged the leases.
This is the second time the companies have done business together in the park. In 1999, Trammell Crow developed two buildings totaling 108,701 square feet for Qwest, a national Internet-hosting company.
Construction on the new data centers will is scheduled to begin this summer and be completed between January and April 2002.
Data centers are used to house the heavy technology equipment that allow the Internet and other telecommunications systems to function. The centers usually feature extra-thick walls and floors to protect the machinery inside.
Trammell Crow is also scouting tenants for two data centers planned in Northeast D.C.
The Kay First Telecom Center at 101 K St. NE will be a 47,892-square-foot center, and the 52 L Telecom Center at 52 L St. NE will feature 112,000 square feet. The buildings, scheduled for completion by fall 2002, will be the first data centers built in the District without tenants lined up.
DEALS ANNOUNCED
The Northern Virginia office of national real estate brokerage CB Richard Ellis announced several deals last week:
* Internet networking company Cisco Systems leased 33,021 square feet at 13530 Dulles Technology Drive in Herndon from Lifeminders.com, an on-line marketing firm. Lifeminders also leased 12,954 square feet at 1110 Herndon Parkway to NetEx, a data storage company.
* Eplus Inc., a supply chain management firm, leased 19,533 square feet from Caleast Industrial Investors at 400 Herndon Parkway.
* New World Van Lines leased 18,020 square feet at 4106, 4108, 4150 and 4152 Pepsi Place in Chantilly.
* BWI Distribution leased 16,379 square feet at 6309 I-K Gravel Road in Alexandria from ProLogis Trust, owner of several distribution facilities across the world.
MOVING ON
William H. Hussman, the powerful chairman of the Montgomery County Planning Board, said last week he will step down to spend more time with his family.
Mr. Hussman is credited with pushing land preservation efforts in the county. His career in planning spanned 40 years, beginning in 1960 as a draftsman for the Rockville Planning Department.
IN OTHER NEWS
* Sterne, Kessler, Goldstein & Fox PLLC has renewed its $33 million lease for 80,823 square feet at 1100 New York Avenue NW, a 466,336-square-foot building near the Washington Convention Center. Insignia/ESG represented the firm.
* Columbia, Md., software firm Micros Systems will lease 75,000 square feet at Airport 100 Business Park in Hanover, Md., near Baltimore Washington International Airport. Bethesda developer Opus East is building the distribution facility.
* A real estate partnership led by local development firm Meisel & Cohen sold its interest in a 29,500-square-foot warehouse at 900 Rhode Island Ave. NE to Franklin & Rocky LLC for $1 million. The International Realty Group brokered the deal for the warehouse, which is across the street from the site where Home Depot, Giant Food and Kmart stores are planned.
* CB Richard Ellis said last week all of its brokers in the United States have become members of PropertyFirst.com, an on-line real estate technology, marketing and information service. As members, the brokers will able to use the site's for-sale and for-lease systems to market property.
* Cassidy & Pinkard has helped form iCap Realty Advisors, a new national real estate finance company with 20 offices around the country, including Rockville and Tysons Corner.
* NetCompliance will move into its headquarters office from Seattle to 900 19th St. NW this month. The national information technology company says it will take 2,700 square feet and employ 15 and 18 workers. Insignia/ESG helped broker the deal.
* Sowa & Nicholas Printing and Graphics will move from 2701 Wilson Blvd. to 3,100 square feet at 3301 Wilson Blvd. in Arlington. Local brokerage Buck & Associates helped broker the 10-year lease.
* Management Recruiters of Arlington has moved into its new office at 1700 N. Moore St. in Arlington. The company has a five-year lease with landlord Rosslyn Center Associates for 1,413 square feet. Local brokerage Buck & Associates represented Management Recruiters and Randal H. Hagner & Co. represented the landlord.
* NeuralStem BioPharmaceuticals will move from an incubator at the University of Maryland at College Park to a 27,000-square-foot facility in Gaithersburg. Rockville brokerage Scheer Partners helped broker the deal for the company, which uses central nervous system stem cells to develop new drugs.
* Chris Baker can be reached at 202/636-3139 or baker@twtmail.com.
