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Vienna officials opt to keep meeting invocations – Story, Page 10
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SunGazette
VOLUME 36 NO. 17
G R E AT FA L L S • M c L E A N • O A K T O N • T Y S O N S • V I E N N A
Homes Market
Sales are Down But Prices Still on the Rise
Higher average sales prices couldn’t offset a decline in sales, as the Fairfax County real estate market saw its November volume dip nearly 3 percent from a year before, according to new figures. Also somewhat vexing to sellers: Homes lingered longer on the market, and garnered a smaller percentage of listing price, than those a year before. A total of 821 residential properties went to closing across the county last month, according to figures reported Dec. 10 by RealEstate Business Intelligence, an arm of the local multiple-listing service. That’s down 9.2 percent from the 904 properties that changed hands in November 2013. The average sales price for all properties was up just under 7 percent to $537,818, but that increase was due, in part, to the larger number of single-family homes in the overall sales mix than a year before. Of the three segments of the market, only one showed a price increase: • The average sales price of single-family homes rose 4.6 percent to $692,818. • The average sales price of attached homes, such as townhouses, Continued on Page 29
DECEMBER 18, 2014
Vienna Council Wants Upgrade All at One Time
Community Center Would Take Priority Over Town Police Station BRIAN TROMPETER Staff Writer
With an ingenious portrayal of a Christmas tree, Xena took first place in the small-dog category at the McLean Chamber of Commerce’s annual “Reindog Parade,” held over the weekend. Find a slide show of photos at www.insidenova.com/news/fairfax, and watch for a full page of photos in an upcoming edition. PHOTO BY DEB KOLT
Seeking to save at least a half-million dollars and avoid burdensome construction delays and program disruption, Vienna Town Council members indicated Dec. 8 they want to expand and renovate the Vienna Community Center all at once, rather than in phases. “It makes more common sense and seems more logical,” said Mayor Laurie DiRocco. Doing so means the Vienna Police Department must wait several more years before improvements can be made at its 20-year-old station. According to a memorandum from Vienna Parks and Recreation Director Cathy Salgado, completing the community center’s renovations in one stroke would reduce construction time by one year, lessen the impact on programs and avoid the need to relocate the center’s staff twice. Council members originally had planned to renovate the center in two phases, using the hiatus to expand and improve Vienna Police Headquarters. The first phase would have
added a new front lobby and exterior hallway to the community center, relocated a 75foot stretch of the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Regional Trail and involved site work for the center’s future expansion. This phase would have been finished by September 2016, followed by a 15-month break so town officials could focus on the police station project. Work on the community center would have resumed in January 2018, with the addition of a new gymnasium and restrooms and relocation of a larger section of the W&OD Trail. This phase would have been completed by May 2019. The town does not have enough money now to pay for the community center’s new gym and site work, said Town Manager Mercury Payton. Instead of using 2014 bond moneys for the community center and money from the 2016 bond issue to finance the police station’s expansion, Council members agreed the 2016 moneys should be spent on the community center as Continued on Page 29
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