2920 S. Glebe Road will house a Head Start program.
In a 4-1 vote, the County Board on July 19 approved the purchase of a three-story office building at 2920 S. Glebe Road to house a Head Start program that will be displaced when the county transfers its Edison Center property to Virginia Hospital Center. The Head Start program serves more than 200 Arlington children from low-to-moderate-income families.
The purchase comes as the county and Virginia Hospital Center move forward on their Option to Purchase agreement, which will allow the hospital to expand at its 1800 N. George Mason Drive campus by purchasing the county’s Edison site next door. Currently, the Head Start program, operated by Northern Virginia Family Service, leases a building from the county at the Edison Center. The county’s planned transfer of the site to the hospital will displace the program as early as Aug. 21, 2018.
The county plans to refurbish and build out the building, now a shell, at an estimated cost of $6.6 million. The total project cost, including the purchase cost, will be $10.5 million. Funding will come from issuing bonds in fall 2017, with interim funding coming from existing pay-as-you-go funds. Construction is expected to be completed in late 2018. Operating costs are projected to be about $270,000 per year, with Northern Virginia Family Service covering $260,000 of that through the rent it will pay. The county will fund the remaining $10,000 per year in projected operating costs.