The Tysons Corner - Issue #3

mAPLE

AVENUE RETURN OFTHE

REDEVELOPMENT CYCLE TRIGGER THE

FAIRFAX PARKS GETS VOCAL

ENGINES OF THE ECONOMY ISSUE #3 MAY7, 2012

COVER PHOTO BY mkopka NORDSTROM WALKWAY ALL PHOTOGRAPHY AND GRAPHICS WITHIN THIS PUBLICATION RIGHTS RESERVED TO THE ARTIST

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CONNECTION NEWSPAPER QUESTIONS FUTURE OF TYSONS CORNER

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THE ECONOMIC POWER OF CITIES

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WE ARE LOOKING FOR WRITERS

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A NEW BLOG BY FAIRFAX COUNTY PROVIDES INSIGHT ON PARK EVENTS

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A REVIEW OF MAPLE AVENUE RESTAURANT

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WHAT MAKES IT A GOOD TIME FOR A PROPERTY TO REDEVELOP? PAGE 3

THE

CONNECTION

SENDS THE WRONG MESSAGE This past week the Connection Newspaper carried an article which was critical of the future envisioned for Tysons Corner, specifically with respect to how the recession has evidently stopped all plans. “But now in 2012, the hopes of that glorious vision have run into the reality of a post recession Northern Virginia and the tightening of federal expenditures that could spell limitations in the future.”

Well we think that’s bogus information Connection Newspaper.

We’d like to know why you believe the new plans have been derailed.

Several extremely large investors are moving forward as fast as they are allowed to because the market has shown that it wants more housing options in Tysons Corner. Lerner, Macerich, Clark, Avalon and Greystar are all under construction and will end up bringing nearly 3000 units online by 2014 with investments that are counted in the billions not millions. J.P. Morgan reaffirmed the fiscal solvency of the Greystar project in providing funding stating; “We believe Tysons Corner will continue to grow and expect to see development in a number of areas, including of Class A office space, multi-family housing and mixed-use projects…Given the expansion of the Metro to Tysons Corner, this area will be an even more attractive place to live, work or visit in the future.”

The Connection Article goes on to say that Tyson’s plan was for a walkable community, to change its current preference towards roads, and says that this runs into constraints given the current economic environment.

Again, total non-sense, all of the developers are on board with creating more retail friendly, marketable areas for residents, because as developers they understand providing this

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atmosphere will increase their net gains.

Who has opposed it? The biggest developer and land owner in Tysons Corner, VDOT, who almost a year after the first zoning submissions were filed still has not released their ellusive findings on the Comprehensive Plans impacts to traffic. VDOT has stated that their goal was to temper back the density, which would throw off all of the economic incentives for developers to provide anything but the status quo.

This has NOTHING to do with the recession and it has EVERYTHING to do with ideology at the state level dictating land use on Fairfax County.

Next inaccurate statement by the Connection comes in the form of a typo and misinformation, “The Metrorail has arrived and is slated to be completed some time in 2013; four stations in Tysons and one at Wiehle Avenue in Reston. The $2.9 billion project was on budget until this spring when the Washington Metropolitan Airport Authority acknowledged that it was $150,000 million over budget.”

Well first $150,000 million would be $150 billion (that would be quite the cost over run). Clearly this was just a mistake, and should be $150 million however the sentiment itself is markedly false as well. This $150 million was and remains a cost that was known at the time of the contract formation. It is an issue of the original bid documents not being delayed in order to further investigate the possibility of this cost. It has always been known as a possible cost increase and should be viewed as an amendment NOT a cost overrun. This is a subtlety that people who are involved in cost estimating might understand but that the layman would not. Regardless painting it to be a sudden cost overrun is just not accurate.

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The article goes on a tangent, discussing the future of western Fairfax’s and Dulles’ metro line. “Whether the second nearly $3 billion phase from Reston to Dulles will go forward is in serious doubt unless Loudoun County votes to pay its share (answer in July) and millions of additional dollars come from Virginia and the federal government. Fairfax County has already voted to pay its share of Phase 2. Up to now this entire project is backed primarily by tax payers and the drivers along the Dulles Toll Road.”

Firstly we are rounding the cost up $300 million dollars to call it 3 billion… I would not say that 2.7 billion is “nearly” 3 billion dollars. Secondly, PHASE 2 is not in trouble of being constructed, just delayed to redesign the routing to remove the Loudoun County station and possibly the removal of the Innovation Metro station (or atleast the removal of a parking lot located there). MWAA will build silver line to Dulles no matter what. What is in question is how much of that cost will need to be incorporated by toll road pricing that will back private bonds, and how much will be provided by the municipalities.

Additionally, the Connection notes that all of the cost is being provided by the Toll Road and Tax Payers. This is true technically, but what they don’t say is that a lot of the cost is being paid by Developer tax payers, not the general public. Fairfax county residents are only paying for $150 million of the project cost, Fairfax county as a whole is on the hook for $900 million.

So what gives? The very successfully implemented Special Tax District. All of the people who complained that Phase 1 was being carried on the backs of the public to grant money to a select few developers clearly didn’t realize that most of the cost was actually on the backs of those same developers.

In Phase 2 it will be the same with almost all of the anticipated Fairfax share coming from a Reston special tax district on new development, something that Reston developers also volunteered. This would only be important if you wanted to share accurate information though.

The Connection goes on citing Thomas L. Cranmer of the Fairfax County Taxpayers Alliance (gee I wonder which political leaning he has) “The taxpayers have generously provided subway stops for developers.” He is one of a growing clique who thinks that Phase 2 of Dulles Rail will be an economic disaster, based on faulty estimations of cost.

Again the fact is the developers are the ones paying for this in a vast majority of the funding.

In the Connections defense they do get something right, Mr. Cranmer is in a growing clique of the population who is being misinformed, frankly by poorly written stories like the Connection’s.

The article continues on its tax-centric first message by stating “Housing values have fallen due to recession, but the high taxes of the mid-2000s have remained high.”

1.07 cents per 100 dollars is a historically “high” tax rate? It’s actually one of the lowest historical tax rates in our County in the past century. I suppose fact checkers might have been sent home for that statement.

The Connection’s citing of federal contracts dwindling continues to be on its head about actual facts. Is the prospect of federal contracts being reduced a real possibility? Yes, a 5-10% reduction in federal contracts in this area is possible, but the Connection also doesn’t realize that in the past 10 years Tysons Corner and Fairfax as a whole has successfully diversified its major corporate private work to include significant biotech, healthcare, financials, and high tech employment in addition to Defense and IT contracts for the government. While 510% reductions will hurt part of the economy, the growth in other sectors is showing that it will not slow the economic prosperity of the region, and at a minimum it hasn’t shown significant signs as yet.

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Next up by the connection; “IN 2009, the Fairfax Planning Commission estimated that to make Tysons Corner into the city of the planning vision would cost $15 billion for roads and transit not including the Dulles Rail costs. Who is going to pay this enormous cost is the argument now reverberating around Fairfax.”

WRONG. This is just not an accurate number, the current number stands at 2.1 billion dollars. I have ranted over and over on TTC, even this number is completely out of whack. First, the study period is a 30 year time frame, which makes all numbers seem huge. Taking this as a yearly cost it would be $70 million per year. Now when you actually look at the costs of creating an urban Tysons, removing $500 million dollars in non-actual costs for ROW and road grids which developers will provide organically in construction, and $700 million for road projects that are not even part of Tysons Corner, we end up with an actual cost over the next 30 years of $900 million, or per year $30 million. Not an absurd amount based on the fact that the annual budget for Fairfax County is nearly $4 billion. This therefore would constitute 0.75% of the County Budget… hardly something that is a pipe dream.

The Connection stays on course attacking developers with their final statement “One proposal was a 50-50 split with owners and developers of Tysons paying 50 percent of the cost and the taxpayers the rest. But Rob Jackson of the McLean Citizens Association argues that it should follow the pattern of the Route 128 project with the developers paying 75 percent. Others believe that the developers, who will be the principal beneficiaries of the redevelopment, should pay 100 percent.”

anticipated to cost less than $100 million over the next 30 years they would be all on board. Heck if it meant making their properties more marketable, they would be willing to invest far more, just as they did with the metro. And based on the fact that Tysons developers have already built Fairfax an entire metro system with very little help from Fairfax (mostly just Federal funding) it is just ridiculous to say that the developers aren’t doing their part.

Its time for the County to do their own part, with political strength not money, and tell VDOT to stop demanding road projects from the new city that no longer wants them.

If VDOT wants to build a road that undercuts the fiscal stability of the Silver Line and Toll road by attracting people to keep driving into work, all the while doing so for free by creating an artificial highway, then let VDOT and those commuters pay for it.

I have no personal problem with the author of this Connection article. I don’t know Nicholas Horrock, so I have no idea why he wrote this story and if he meant it to be so outrageously biased in sentiment. What I do know is that spreading false information is a dangerous game, it continues to make people believe that the very parties who are investing billions into our region, helping our economy, improving traffic problems through infrastructure improvements, are some how to blame because at the end of that investment they will make a profit.

If the developers make a profit, it will mean that we ALL make a profit because their gain is the gain of the taxpayers in the form of high density taxes that will easily overshadow the anticipated 30 million dollars per year in Tysons Corner infrastructure cost. Let’s start questioning the status quo and rationalize the way forward out of the traffic and land use mess we have found ourselves in.

This is the most dangerous of all statements, because it paints the developers as cheap antagonists. The truth is the largest disagreement remains what the funding will go towards, not how much. If you are saying that widening Route 7 between Tysons and Reston helps Tysons developers reformat the city into an urban environment, then clearly you don’t know the first thing about mixed use development.

If developers were in charge of providing pedestrian and bike facilities, currently

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CITIES: ENGINES OF THE ECONOMY Over the past year a lot of questions have been asked whether creating an urban center to Fairfax will bankrupt our region. One thing has been lost in the discussion, if a city pops up then regardless of the cost of infrastructure it is essentially impossible for the county not to benefit. The Tysons Corner area has been typified for decades with massive parking lots, the lowest form of development, even though the land values in the millions of dollars per acre would deem the area prime for an urban district.

For years Fairfax has allowed a piece meal development plan which banked billions in tax revenue, but did not leverage that revenue into a central concept for the emerging city.

Billions of dollars might seem like a stretch, but actually, over the past 10 years, Tysons Corner has easily surpassed this value. Our analysis of tax assessments for real estate within Tysons Corner has shown that properties such as Lerner’s Tysons II, Solutions Plaza, and Capital One all surpass $10 million per year in tax payments. In fact there are nearly a dozen cumulative properties within Tysons which exceed this mark.

If the city is already making this kind of revenue for our region then what is the point of changing anything? Well it was all unsustainable. As early as 2001 the area had become more known for pavement and traffic, than a corporate hub. No one thought of supplying a residential demand, that existed, due to Tysons Corner’s central location.

More importantly, while high rises began rising, feeding the need from corporate partners, retail establishments were finding that they could not rely on a steady stream of customers. The problem was the daily mass exodus which lacked the characteristics to help small businesses thrive. While weekenders kept both malls profitable, small strip mall retailers and independent restaurants continued to fail. As more road widenings were incorporated to assist commuters travelling out of town, prime locations with natural walking paths evolved adjacency to congested and hazardous highways.

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CURRENT TAX PAYMENTS IN 2011 FOR A PORTION OF TYSONS CORNER IN THE PORTION OF TYSONS CORNER WHICH INCLUDES LERNER, SOLUTIONS DRIVE, AND GREENSBORO, THE 2011 TAX ASSESSMENTS SHOW THAT $25.7 MILLION IN TAX REVENUES WERE PAID.

FUTURE TAX PAYMENTS BASED ON CURRENT ZONING APPLICATIONS

safa

IF WE NOW OVERLAY THE PLANNED DEVELOPMENTS INCLUDING SAIC/DITTMER, THE NEW LERNER OFFICE, RESIDENTIAL, AND RETAIL TOWERS, AND THE TYSONS CENTRAL DEVELOPMENTS WE FIND THAT THE TOTAL REVENUE BECOMES $52 MILLION. THIS IS JUST ONE TENTH OF THE TOTAL REDEVELOPMENT AREA ASSOCIATED WITH THE TRANSIT ORIENTED DISTRICTS IN TYSONS CORNER. FOLLOWING THIS THROUGH WE COULD ANTICIPATE WELL OVER $150 MILLION IN TAX REVENUE OVER THE NEXT TWO DECADES.

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CURRENT TAX PAYMENTS IN 2011 FOR 100 ACRES (500 UNITS) IN BURKE

Let’s give some context to the values presented. in an affluent region of Burke with fairly consistent subdivision houses and a strip mall encompassing 100 acres attains approximately $2.2 million a year. Given the likely 200 or 300 school aged residents in these 4 neighborhoods, the maintenance required for the roads and common green areas, and the existence of 3 separate parks it can be anticipated that this neighborhood provides no surplus to the county for public improvements. Many people believe this should be the case, that tax rates should be created to only provide for the base capital needs of a jurisdiction.

I agree, however the needs of these residents exceed just the area directly located above when there are no jobs located in this neighborhood. When highways, mass transit, public water, sanitation, etc are necessary then in order for this neighborhood to not bankrupt the county it must have it’s taxes raised.

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Or Dense regions such as Tysons Corner should be invested in, to spur growth that outpaces residential neighborhoods by orders of magnitude, and can keep tax rates for residents as historically low as we currently enjoy.

When 100 acres of an affluent neighborhood provides the same tax base as a single high rise you can see how important creating a healthy city will be to the future of our region.

The argument to reduce Tysons urbanization plans do not pass the logic test. When urban failures such as Miami are evoked when discussing the comprehensive plan it does not fully understand the uniqueness of Northern Virginia.

Unlike Miami, the economic strength of this region is established. The planners are not trying to create artificial jobs through these concepts, they are trying to address traffic and housing price concerns that are forcing stagnation.

When we provide more space for people to live and work, and when it is provided in a manner that also helps retail thrive with a natural customer base, we are inducing innovation. People with great ideas can find a workshop setting, can communicate faster, and find employees who can afford to live in the area. This is the final benefit of urbanization, a healthy genesis of new thoughts becoming new businesses.

Those who oppose the plan say that we are wasting money on Tysons, pointing to the 2.1 billion in transportation costs, and 3 billion in metro. What they don’t define is who we are. The public and residents are not on the hook for much of this, really only a few hundred million spread over decades. What is lost is this investment won’t be needed unless the plans are a success (we don’t need the infrastructure unless something is going to be built. This is a low risk investment whose returns will take months to repay, not years.

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The Tysons Corner is a website in its infancy, started in 2011, created to discuss the local issues specific to eastern Fairfax including the regions of Tysons Corner, Falls Church, McLean, Vienna, and Merrifield. Our goal is to provide a deeper analysis of progressive topics centered around the new urbanism concepts of a 21st century Northern Virginia. We have seen the region grow from a quiet suburban community to a cultural and economic contributor of the east coast rivaling other more established cities. The area for many years grew without direction leaving a disconnected community of micro-developments without any coordinated design concept. Our goal is to create a unified, or cacophonous, voice of residents and interested parties to discuss what the future vision for the

region could or should be.

We look to fill the questions that many have and provide the depth of coverage that is difficult for overall news publications to provide.

We are currently looking for interested bloggers who are looking for a forum to discuss their ideas as a writer for TTC. This could be done as an exclusive TTC format or as a crosspost with other independent blogs. If you are interested in reaching a large base of readers specific to this region think about joining.

FAIRFAX PARKS GETS VOCAL If you have been a resident of Fairfax County for a while you might have noticed we have a lot of park land in our county. Between the recreational parks for little league teams and adults to the natural preserves and trails that wind through Fairfax our County has made a huge effort in preserving the beauty that drew early colonists to our region. Unfortunately new comers to the area, of which there is always a steady flow, might not be aware of everything that the Fairfax County Park Authority has to offer. So Fairfax is getting vocal with the start of their new discussion blog, started last month, that discusses various events and happenings for the Park Authority. This week's story is all about the Farmer's Markets that are available in every corner of Fairfax. http://ourstoriesandperspectives.com/

Please feel free to contact us; navid@thetysonscorner.com

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OFTHE

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I have no idea what took me so long to try Maple Avenue.

It shows how many great restaurants are available in our area.

Duck Two Ways photo There were so many great things that I took away from my visit to Maple Avenue restaurant that it is difficult to know exactly where to start. The story of the chef, Tim Ma, is a good place to start. Tim started as a colleague in the field of engineering, in fact I first learned about Tim when he catered a work event coordinated by my boss, who was a coworker of Tim’s when he still wore the office uniform. After working in the field he found that his real passion existed outside of the realm of change orders, design documents, and water reports. He

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left the lucrative and steady work force of engineering to follow his dream of being a chef.

As a part time foodie this story speaks to me. We in the engineering field are often confined to the realm of the right brain, what is the most efficient design. Food is a realm of creativity. Like great stories, great food is a tough trick to create without plagiarizing or creating a hackneyed cuisine. Chef Ma brings a unique voice to every meal possibly by being an outsider to the process for so long.

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This was the best salad I have ever eaten.

The decor presents this anti-restaurant concept aptly. Instead of creating a 100 seat dining atmosphere, the location has been selected to be intimate and small.

Right off the bat this shows that money is not the primary motivator, the experience remains first and foremost. When you sit down you feel more like you’ve been invited into someone’s home than into the traditional business operations of a restaurant.

The menu is focused and precise but contains more flavors than the 30 or so

items would suggest. I had to try the Duck Two Ways when I saw duck prosciutto with shaved foie gras torchon. This dish is so complex in flavors that every bite was unique. The duck prosciutto created an earthy base complimented by a rich Belazu balsamic which provides a sweetness to the dish. The shaved foie gras with the wild greens kept the appetizer light, and unlike many decadent salads it was very easy to get an even fork full of each piece. This was the best salad I have ever eaten. The problem now becomes that anytime I return it will be difficult not to reorder it.

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The entrĂŠe, butter poached scallops, was just as impressive as my appetizer. The potato puree with the champagne sauce was, in lay, the creamiest mash potatoes you could ever hope for. The sauce was velvety which was very crucial to the composition of the plate as a bedding of the equally smooth butter poached scallops.

The smoked jowl hash, which I have to admit I had no idea what it was until it came to the table, had a southern home cooking feel to it, it was comfort in every bite.

The plate was well thought out, unique, but familiar in many ways. I got what I paid for with this dish. Instead of the cost of the meal going towards overhead and operations while giving the patron the same old recipe, it was clear that the cost was almost completely incorporated in providing excellent ingredients paired in harmony.

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Not to be outdone, the risotto was also excellent, with a delicious base which reminded me of fondue, with a gruyere cream sauce.

The crostinis smelled and looked great, and I would have tried one if it hadn’t been for the death stare I received from my girlfriend as I tried to get a piece.

I was told before attending to save room for dessert, thank you DL Thurston (see his blog dlthurston.com). I am glad we did because the Yuzu Lime Pie with the home made marshmallow was the cherry on top of the meal. Its not usual to find a restaurant that focuses on dessert in equal priority as the dinner, but in this case Maple Avenue provides a dish that stands on its own.

I’ve always found that key lime pie/tart/etc is one of the most varying desserts in terms of execution. Some places make it too tart and bitter, some making it sugary sweet. When you find a good key lime custard it reminds you how poor in quality the knock offs really are. The rich brown sugar and graham crackers provide a depth to the sweetness and the marshmallow makes me now which that I could put this topping on everything that traditionally is finished with whip cream.

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Our meal, which by the way was my two year anniversary with my girlfriend, was exactly what I was hoping for from Maple Avenue. It was intimate. It was all delivery and no brand name. What’s that

mean? The bells and whistles which cover up the inadequacies of bigger restaurants aren’t needed here. Maple Avenue stands behind its food, not its austerity, and it delivers a genuine, masterful meal.

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Support the arts and creativity in our schools

Photo: Tysons Corner, taken at Anthropologie by aspiring photographer Taylor Worsley

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REDVELOPMENT CYCLE TRIGGER

THE

Photo: Chicago Skyscrapers, jNIGIM

In our story, the Economics of Redevelopment, we gave a financial background as to why some mid rise structures can remain in urban settings while others are torn down for true skyscrapers.

When one views how much a building makes, and how much it could make by removing inefficient land uses such as parking spaces, above ground storm water management ponds instead of rainwater harvesting, and mechanical facilities at ground level instead of at the penthouse you can see how the land value makes all the difference.

When land is cheap it doesn’t make sense to increase the cost of building construction to save a little space, but when an acre costs upwards of $10 million a design should consider the cost saving up going vertical.

When land prices reach these levels planners and zoning administrators should understand that given certain density maximums they run the risk of allowing a property to stagnate when the benefit of new development is not outweighed by the minimum return on investment.

The price of land and land use policies, given the same employment and residential base, is why some cities rise while others wither.

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When parking lots sit on a property worth $10 million dollars per acre, each parking space has an equivalent cost of $50,000. When a parking lot contains 100 spaces this cost can get huge very quickly.

Beyond the cost of the original purchase itself ($5.0 Million) going without production, leasable space, there is also the taxes that the owner pays on essentially un-used land. Now of course parking is a necessity even in the densest urban settings, however constructed parking within a building takes 1/5th of the land needed for surface parking and takes up NO equivalent space when it is incorporated in the structure of a building.

The reason why a building as shown doesn’t incorporate parking garages as part of it’s structure is due to the cost/benefit of doing so at the time of construction. When a county will not allow a certain height to be surpassed then the builder can either go below ground (which causes extensive costs in excavation) or to eat up leasable space above ground.

The latter rarely ever happens unless the owner is allowed to build a structure vertically larger to accommodate the loss.

Excavation is typical when the building sales can return the difference. So in this example, where the parking lot has an indirect cost of $5.0 million capital, $50,000 annual tax, and $25,000 annual maintenance at

a certain point it makes more sense given demand to pay more up front to redevelop.

In Tysons that parity point is here in many cases and approaching in almost all. A parking space of 180 sf in the new comprehensive plan would be replaced with 4500 sf of developed space. Residential/ retail/commercial spaces can vary between $15 to 40 per square foot. The parking space which cost $50,000 can now make $100,000 annual revenue. The question becomes is there enough benefit to outweigh the extensive (often more than $100 million) in construction cost in a timely return?

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