It’s good to see that Dulles metro construction is progressing. This weekend all four lanes along Route 123 closed for bridge demolition. Once the old beltway bridge is demolished, they will begin construction on the new beltway bridges and a new HOT Lanes connection to Tysons Corner at the Westpark Drive Bridge.
Read more on Route 123, Tysons-McLean construction for Dulles Metrorail and HOT lanes, from Virginia HOT Lanes.
image: Fairfax County DPZ
For the fun of it, I digged info on “Who’s Who” Tysons Corner’s landlords. In this post, we’re trekking the landlords of Tysons using the data that was prepared sometime in 2005 for Dulles metrorail. So it may contain info that is not current as of this time of writing.
The landownership within Tysons Corner is divided into publicly owned and privately owned land. The other day, Washington Post had a piece about West Group (link to post), the largest ‘privately-owned’ landowner, that is selling land holdings to another company. While West Group is the single largest property owner, Tysons Corner Property LLC owns the largest contiguous land mass in Tysons, according to Fairfax County record.
The landownership in Tysons is divided according to the proposed four rail stations slated for Dulles metrorail:
In Tysons East. Who knew? That with the exception to the large parcel of Gates of McLean condominium, north of this station is owned by the ‘whats-in-your-wallet’ Capital One (25 acres) and West Group (10 acres). On the south of the station, the land is owned by a ‘few’ large landowners (no further info). However, land ownership along Colshire and southeast Anderson Road that range from 10 to 20 acres is owned by a few companies that includes Mitre Corporation, West Group, Northrop Grumman, MR Commons and Safeway.
Move on to Tysons Central 123. This part of Tysons has large parcel of land over 20 acres. North of the station, the owners includes Tysons II Land Co LLC (30 ac.), Tysons II Mall. South of the station, which is the largest single land mass under one owner is owned by Tysons Corner Property Holdings LLC (Tysons I Mall) with over 80 acres.
Then to Tysons Central 7. On this part of the proposed station, land masses ranged from 5.5 acres to over 18 acres, is owned by a few companies, i.e. SAIC (18 ac.), Booz Allen Hamilton (13 ac.), Sherwood Tysons (Marshall Shopping) owns about 16 ac. Koons Auto Dealership owns about 14 acres. Pike 7 Plaza owns about 12.6 acres.
Last station is Tysons West. This part of the proposed station no biggie landowners per se, because ownership is divided among several car dealerships and Rosenthal that owns 12 ac. of land, which is the largest piece over here.
Oh, there’s more here. There you have it..
Washington Post reports that the owner of West Group, the largest landowner of Tysons Corner cashing in his 142 acre of holdings to an investment group led by Robert Pence, a developer with local “Fairfax” root. The new owner will continue to focus on West Group’s vision for redevelopment of Tysons Corner.
The WestGroup owns about 140 office and apartment buildings in Tysons. Its office properties have as much as 2 million square feet of space available, according to the company’s Web site.
WestGroup developed two major pieces of Tysons Corner’s current landscape: WestPark, outside the Capital Beltway, and WestGate, inside the Beltway. The company’s buildings are home to major companies, including Freddie Mac, Mitre and Northrop Grumman.
OK, now we know that the Feds approved the project. This is the latest update from Dulles Metrorail, via email.
· On Jan. 28, the Fairfax County Planning Commission will hold public hearings on the proposed Phase 1 stations to determine conformance with Fairfax County’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan.· Utility relocations continue in Tysons Corner. The project team continues to work with local businesses to help ease the impact of these relocations.
Shoppers surrounding the new store are also invited to a special event called Taste of Teeter on Tuesday, January 13 at 5:30 p.m. At Taste of Teeter, shoppers will be able to sample a wide variety of top quality products available at our store including Farmers Market produce; USDA Rancher and Reserve Angus Beef; Fishermans Market and Fresh Foods Market Deli/Bakery items, along with an extensive selection of national brand and private label products.
Food tasting! Yum..
This is great news. Statement from Gov. Kaine per email:
“I want to extend my sincere appreciation to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters, FTA Administrator Sherry Little, and the staff of the U.S. Department of Transportation for their time, expertise, and commitment to work with the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, Metro, the Commonwealth of Virginia, Fairfax County and our other partners on rail to Dulles – linking our nation’s capital to our nation’s international airport. The steadfast support and commitment by our Congressional delegation, including retired Senator John Warner and Congressman Tom Davis, to the project has been unwavering and I also thank them for their efforts.
“This demonstrated leadership and willingness to work together can serve as a model for future complex projects on how federal, state, local, and private partners can work together to address the needs of our citizens.”
Pre-construction work for phase I Dulles Metrorail slated for Route 123 Tysons Corner area, schedule to begin the week of the 15th, which is this week. If you work, live, and play around Tysons, you know that this is going to be a traffic nightmare just to get around the area. Because you get the regular rush hour traffic and holiday traffic flow to the mall – combined.
Via Dulles Metro.
The work will take place on land bounded by International Drive and Tysons Boulevard, and by Route 123 and Galleria Place. The site will be cleared of existing brush and vegetation to make way for construction trailers, utility relocation work, and the start of the easternmost section of a 2,100-foot tunnel that will run below the intersection of Routes 7 and 123. This is the highest natural point in Fairfax County. Existing trees will be retained along the perimeter of the property. Some of the trees may have to be removed during future construction of the tunnel.
For the latest traffic updates check out here.
image: Washington Post
A few days ago I wrote something about Dulles rail utility relocation work. Now this? Washington Post is reporting that FTA [Federal Transit Administration] might not give the much needed $900 million of federal matching dollars for Dulles metrorail. Without the fed funding, there won’t be any metrorail! Via Washington Post.
The federal government will not fund the Metro extension to Dulles International Airport without drastic changes, officials said yesterday, effectively scuttling a $5 billion project planned for more than 40 years and widely considered crucial to the region’s economic future.
snip-
Kaine said Virginia officials and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, which is managing the project, would address the concerns of Simpson and Peters by Monday. But several project supporters, including state and congressional officials, said privately that it would not be possible to meet all of the federal government’s demands. The federal and state governments have spent more than $140 million in planning the rail line. [emphasis mine]
Simply stunning! The Feds has put us on the wrong track. A big ‘disappointment’ for Washington DC region, specifically for Virginia. Most importantly, is that we need to solve the transportation problems around here. It doesn’t really matter anymore whether elevated track or tunnel. Though, I strongly support the tunnel version. Just give us the funding, please.
Speaking about climate change. What about smart growth? Plus, the benefits of taking thousands of cars from the road that is not only reducing gas consumption but also reducing CO2 emission
What are they thinking?
Get ready for the traffic nightmare around Tysons Corner! Though, the funding from the Fed is not here yet. But, constructions for utility relocation has already started.
First thing first. Before starting with the constructions work for Dulles Corridor Metrorail project, they would have to relocate utility along the service roads on Route 7 and Route 123 and the Dulles Toll road. During the construction work, which will take from a short 4 months for Washington Gas to 24 months for other utility companies to complete the work, traffic will be diverted.
Via email.
Image: Dulles Metrorail Utility Relocation
One of two lanes will be closed during part of overnight hours. However, it will back to service after 5 am.
Here is the list of improvement projects coming on the pipeline.
For more info, you can log in to their website www.dullesmetro.com or call 703-572-0500.
In Tysons Space 