Land Exchange Proposal – Buck Property
On Nov. 28, 2016, the County received a proposal from Arcland Property Company for an exchange of land it owns on South Shirlington Road for part of the North Quincy site (the Buck property) that the County has an option to purchase.
Overview of proposal
- Arcland would exchange 3.5 acres of land on Shirlington Road for 2.3 acres of the 6.1 acre site on N. Quincy Street.
- If approved by the County Board, the exchange would take place after November 20, 2017 — the date for the County to exercise its option to purchase the N. Quincy site.
- Involves no additional cost beyond the $30M the County has already agreed to pay for the N. Quincy site.
- The County currently leases 2.5 acres of land on the Shirlington site, that is used for bus parking. The lease, which runs through 2023, would be terminated if an agreement for an exchange is reached.
Benefits of potential exchange
- Result in more land for needed County facilities — a net gain of 1.2 acres.
- County would save $4M because it would be able to terminate its current lease with Arcland.
- Shirlington site could provide long-term solution to park its ART bus fleet–expected to grow from 65 to 90 vehicles by 2020.
Arcland proposal for N Quincy site:
- A six-story, 150,000 sq. ft. self storage facility will be built on 1.2 acres of the Arcland proposed 2.3 acre parcel at the Buck site.
- Arcland proposes to provide County with a long-term lease on remaining 1.1 acre portion under terms favorable to the County.
- Exchange agreement requires high quality architecture from Arcland compatible with the surrounding neighborhood.
Read the full proposal from Arcland.
Next Steps
The County Manager plans to seek County Board support to pursue negotiations with Arcland during the County Board Recessed Meeting on Dec. 13, 2016. If the Board supports negotiations, any agreement would come before the Board for consideration in 2017.
If an agreement is reached, the County would continue to seek community input on the remainder of the N. Quincy Street site, and on the Shirlington site.
Role of Joint Facilities Advisory Commission
The joint County Board and APS School Board established the Joint Facilities Advisory Commission to provide input on capital facilities needs assessment, capital improvement plans and long-range facility planning for both County Government and Schools.
The new advisory group also will provide insights and recommendations on how to accommodate the siting of a variety of essential public services with limited supply of available land. This context will inform a series of immediate facility siting decisions related to APS and County uses in 2017 –including the Buck property on N. Quincy Street and the Virginia Hospital Center Carlin Springs site.