The proposed Arcola Center took its first step towards becoming a reality Monday, May 7, when the Planning Commission forwarded the application to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation of approval.
In the application, Buchanan Partners is proposing 650,000 square feet of retail across 75 acres north of Route 50. The application is part of the larger 400-acre plan for Arcola and was separated out in order to bring retail to the Route 50 corridor as quickly as possible, Nicole Morrill, the project’s manager, said.
"We were very surprised by the amount of interest from retailers in the area," Morrill said. "That’s why we pulled it out, so they could begin breaking ground as soon as possible."
While Morrill said most of the retail center is spoken for, there are no completed contracts, but added that she expects the contracts to be finished when the center is approved.
"We’re hoping that it will all coincide," she said. "Almost all of them have a Loudoun location, mostly on Route 7, but people are starting to realize that people on Route 50 need these resources as well."
BUCHANAN PARTNERS' vision for the Arcola Center is similar to the Washingtonian Center in Gaithersburg, Md., with the 650,000 square feet of big-box retail, such as Target or Lowes, combined with smaller and more specialized retailers in a Main Street setting.
"We’re really pretty happy with the tenant mix we are working on," Morrill said. "We wanted the highest quality possible. We knew we wanted as high-end a center as possible."
In the center, the big-box retail will all be located in one area, linked to the main-street specialized-retail area by a promenade.
"We focused on making sure it all connects," Morrill said, "and making it as pedestrian accessible as possible."
WHILE ART SMITH, the county’s senior transportation planner, said the project is positive from a transportation point of view, there were issues during the
Planning Commission’s work on the proposal regarding the amount of the money the developer would pay for improvement to roads in the area.
"There are no engineering issues," Smith said. "Overall, it is a good project."
After negotiations on the amount, the county requested $3 million from Buchanan Partners for roads.
At the same time, the developer was requesting $1.2 million in a regional road credit from the county for its intended road improvements, including the four-laning of Route 50 west bound and a portion of Dulles Parkway, the north collector road. Morrill said Buchanan Partners believed both road improvements were beyond what was needed for the retail development, but county transportation services disagreed.
"Because the four-laning would be necessary for the application, transportation services didn’t feel the credit was needed," Smith said.
In the final proposal forwarded to the board, the developer agreed to pay $2.4 million to the county for the design and construction of the interchange at Loudoun County Parkway and Route 50 and agreed to accept a credit for the four-laning of Route 50, Morrill said.
"$2.4 million is a number we could all live with," she said. Jl: amount of regional road credits - what are these?
In the end, Buchanan Partners received… have no idea what this means
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teaser:
L0523-151 (48x32, web)
<pc>Contributed
<cl>The 75-acre, 650,000-square-foot portion of the Arcola Center has been forwarded to the Board of Supervisors.
Box:
<ro>For More
<lst>To learn more about the plans for Arcola, visit www.thearcolacenter.com.
<ro>"We were very surprised by the amount of interest from retailers in the area."
<ro1>— Nicole Morrill, project manager, Arcola Center
<ro>"There are no engineering issues."
<ro1>— Art Smith, planner, transportation services
<ro>LS:
<60hd>Arcola Retail Heads to Board
jump head
<36hd>Commission Recommends Approval
<ro>LA:
<48hd>Arcola Retail Heads to Board
<sh>Separated portion of the Arcola Center includes 12 retailers.
<bt>The proposed Arcola Center took its first step towards becoming a reality Monday, May 7, when the Planning Commission forwarded the application to the Board of Supervisors with a recommendation of approval.
In the application, Buchanan Partners is proposing 650,000 square feet of retail across 75 acres north of Route 50. The application is part of the larger 400-acre plan for Arcola and was separated out in order to bring retail to the Route 50 corridor as quickly as possible, Nicole Morrill, the project’s manager, said.
"We were very surprised by the amount of interest from retailers in the area," Morrill said. "That’s why we pulled it out, so they could begin breaking ground as soon as possible."
While Morrill said most of the retail center is spoken for, there are no completed contracts, but added that she expects the contracts to be finished when the center is approved.
"We’re hoping that it will all coincide," she said. "Almost all of them have a Loudoun location, mostly on Route 7, but people are starting to realize that people on Route 50 need these resources as well."
BUCHANAN PARTNERS' vision for the Arcola Center is similar to the Washingtonian Center in Gaithersburg, Md., with the 650,000 square feet of big-box retail, such as Target or Lowes, combined with smaller and more specialized retailers in a Main Street setting.
"We’re really pretty happy with the tenant mix we are working on," Morrill said. "We wanted the highest quality possible. We knew we wanted as high-end a center as possible."
In the center, the big-box retail will all be located in one area, linked to the main-street specialized-retail area by a promenade.
"We focused on making sure it all connects," Morrill said, "and making it as pedestrian accessible as possible."
WHILE ART SMITH, the county’s senior transportation planner, said the project is positive from a transportation point of view, there were issues during the
Planning Commission’s work on the proposal regarding the amount of the money the developer would pay for improvement to roads in the area.
"There are no engineering issues," Smith said. "Overall, it is a good project."
After negotiations on the amount, the county requested $3 million from Buchanan Partners for roads.
At the same time, the developer was requesting $1.2 million in a regional road credit from the county for its intended road improvements, including the four-laning of Route 50 west bound and a portion of Dulles Parkway, the north collector road. Morrill said Buchanan Partners believed both road improvements were beyond what was needed for the retail development, but county transportation services disagreed.
"Because the four-laning would be necessary for the application, transportation services didn’t feel the credit was needed," Smith said.
In the final proposal forwarded to the board, the developer agreed to pay $2.4 million to the county for the design and construction of the interchange at Loudoun County Parkway and Route 50 and agreed to accept a credit for the four-laning of Route 50, Morrill said.
"$2.4 million is a number we could all live with," she said.
— Erika Jacobson