Alexandria/Arlington

Crystal City buildings a tear-down target

By David Francis, Examiner Staff Writer

May 17, 2006

Arlington County - A task force created by Arlington County to deal with the upcoming military base realignment’s impact on Crystal City will recommend next month that office buildings be torn down as part of an effort to redevelop the area, Arlington officials said.

All of the buildings in Crystal City are more than 20 years old and most do not meet modern office building construction standards. Tearing down the buildings and replacing them with modern structures is imperative to the area’s redevelopment, said Terry Holzheimer, director of the Arlington Economic Development Department.

“There’s an opportunity to basically recycle a lot of those old buildings” and attract new businesses and residents to the area, Holzheimer told The Examiner.

Arlington formed the Base Realignment and Closure Transition Task Force late last year following the Pentagon’s announcement that thousands of military jobs would be transferred to other bases as the Defense Department stopped leasing public space for its workers. The decision will result in the departure of 17,000 or more workers from Arlington and a loss of tenants for some 4.2 million square feet of leased space over the next decade, according to Development Department figures.

Task force chair Marty Almquist said the group was formed to help deal with the loss of jobs and office space.

The recommendation to redevelop Crystal City will be made to the Arlington County Board at a June 15 meeting, Almquist said. “We’re saying to the county: ‘Don’t get complacent. Let’s all be proactive.’ ”

Both Holzheimer and Almquist said they envision more residential units at Crystal City. Holzheimer said he expects “several more thousand” units than the approximately 7,000 already in the area.

Almquist said these changes will be made over the next decade.

“The important thing for people to recognize is that it won’t happen overnight. It’s going to take years,” she said.

Developers will cover the cost of building destruction and redevelopment. An Economic Research Associates report conducted this year at the request of the county found that following initial losses, developers could make $161 million over the next 15 years by redeveloping Crystal City buildings.

Affordable Housing Shortage Leads to Drop in Public School Enrollment

By David Francis, Examiner Staff Writer

May 19, 2006

ALEXANDRIA – Enrollment in Alexandria and Arlington public schools is dropping because a lack of affordable housing in those areas is squeezing out families, city and county officials said.

"You can see a direct correlation between increased rents and decreased enrollment," said Mark Jinks, Alexandria deputy city manager.

Enrollment in Alexandria's schools has decreased from 10,979 in 2002 to 10,134 in 2005. Projected enrollment in 2011 is down to 9,538, said Amy Calini, executive director of information and outreach at Alexandria public schools.

At the same time, the percentage of rental apartments affordable to low-income residents has fallen from 42 percent in 2002 to 4 percent in 2005, according to Alexandria housing office statistics.

Jinks said that increased demand for rentals and skyrocketing home prices have pushed middle- and low-income residents out of Alexandria. He said the migration of people to the capital area in recent years has made affordable housing a difficult issue, not only in Alexandria but around the region.

Calini added that the city, concerned with declining enrollment numbers, has hired consultants to study the cause of the enrollment drops more closely.

Arlington is experiencing similar losses. Enrollment in public schools has gone from 19,140 in 2002 to 18,411 in 2005. Enrollment is expected to be down to 16,712 by 2011.

This corresponds to a rent increase for a two-bedroom apartment from $999 in 2002 to $1,125 in 2005.

Laura Henderson, spokesman for Arlington public schools, said the city believes these increases have contributed to lowered enrollment, but also believes other factors are involved as well. She declined to comment on what those factors were.

Alexandria Housing Office Director Mildrilyn Stephens Davis said the conversion of apartments to condominiums has helped push low-income residents out of the area.

"We've had an incredible number of units converted to condos," she said.

Davis said the city is working to acquire more properties that will be made available to families that make $45,150 or less per year for a family of four - the equivalent of 50 percent of Alexandria's medium income.

Arlington, Alexandria municipal workers forced out

By David Francis, Examiner Staff Writer

May 31, 2006

Arlington is set to unveil a program aimed at increasing the number of municipal employees who can afford to own homes in the county.

Only one-quarter of the 3,776 county employees live in Arlington, said county spokeswoman Mary Curtius. The percentage of Alexandria employees living in that city is even lower, with approximately 14 percent of 2,254 full-time workers living in the city, according to Steve Mason, special assistant to the Alexandria city manager.

Providing affordable housing in these areas has been difficult recently due to skyrocketing home prices and an influx of well-paid workers. Officials worry that longer commutes and competition from other jurisdictions could lure municipal employees to other parts of Northern Virginia.

Under the new Arlington plan, the Federal Home Loan and Mortgage Corp. will provide $50 million in low-interest mortgages over the next three years to workers so they can purchase homes in Arlington, said Arlington Home Ownership Program coordinator Doug Myrick.

Myrick said an introductory meeting on the homeownership assistance program is scheduled for June 6. He said the county is working to educate private-sector middle- and low-income workers on homeownership and is pushing companies to provide financial assistance for home purchases.

Douglas Peterson, executive director of the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing, said around the country, employees are being forced to live far from where they work.

“The price of real estate is going up faster than inflation and salaries,” he said. Municipalities “can’t attract new employees. They’ll have to raise salaries, and then they’ll have to raise taxes.”

Helen McIlvaine, deputy director of the Alexandria Housing Office, said the city has four programs that target country workers, and that 16 city employees participated in the programs this fiscal year.

One Alexandria employee, who spoke to The Examiner anonymously because she feared for her job, said it was impossible to live in Alexandria on her salary. She commutes from Manassas each morning.

“Everything they’re building in the Washington area is too expensive,” she said.

A second longtime Alexandria employee said price wasn’t the only factor in deciding where to live.

“It’s not only the cost, it’s the type of housing money can buy,” he said.

After 16 years, Arlington still borrowing, but not yet building

David Francis, Examiner Staff Writer

June 16, 2006

Arlington - Despite having already borrowed $11 million over the past 16 years to build a new fire station for the Cherrydale Volunteer Fire Department, Arlington County has failed to start construction and will seek Tuesday to borrow an additional $13 million to keep the project going.

The county issued bonds to raise money for the station in 1990, 1994, 2004 and 2006. Numerous delays have kept the project from moving forward, and more money must be borrowed to complete it. In the meantime, condominiums have been built on the original site, which has more direct access to Lee Highway.

Cherrydale is not the only bond-supported project with problems. An additional $8 million for Westover Library was requested in Arlington’s 2007 Capital Improvement Plan. This is on top of the $4 million raised in a 1998 bond issue. Construction has yet to begin on the library.

Arlington was not prepared to begin these projects when money was raised and was forced to issue bonds repeatedly — and ultimately borrow more money in total — to keep them going, said Wayne Kubicki, a member of the County Board-appointed Arlington Fiscal Affairs Advisory Commission. As a result of the delays, the total amount of interest that must be paid on the borrowed money has increased.

Part of the problem, Kubicki said, is that bonds are only put before the public for a vote every two years. County planners are rushing to make the ballot before projects are fully thought through, he said.

“Stuff is hitting the ballot prematurely,” he said. “There’s a dollar amount they’re slapping on it” and asking the public to approve it.

The committee, in a report to the board on the improvement plan, recommends the county have bond referendums annually so that the project’s scope is defined before money is borrowed. Projects such as Arlington Mill, a planned community center for which a $26 million bond is being proposed for the 2007 ballot, should be delayed until all details are known, they said.

Bobbie van Druff, a capital analyst for Arlington, said the county implemented a policy in which separate bonds would be issued for design and construction so that the scope of the project is better defined and costs better estimated.

Arlington’s debt level expected to rise to highest percentage level since 1979

By David Francis, Examiner Staff Writer

July 14, 2006

Arlington County is expected to be more than $874 million in debt next year, just $126 million less than the $1 billion in revenue the county expects to generate.

This means the county’s debt accounts for 87.5 percent of its total revenue - the highest percentage its been since 1979 – and that debt will take up 17 percent more of total revenue than it does this year.

This percentage assumes Arlington voters will approve a $207 million bond referendum on the ballot in November. Chances for passage are high, as voters have not rejected a bond package since the 1970s.

The county primarily generates revenue through taxes. In recent years, Arlington’s largest tax generator has been the real estate tax, which has generated enormous revenues as the housing market has boomed. However, the real estate market is slowing, which will lead to decreases in real estate tax revenue. The county will be forced to find other sources of revenue, or scale back on spending.

County officials said they are not alarmed by the rising ratio. While new projects have been placed on hold while work on existing ones is completed and the county is taking a more conservative approach to capital improvement plans, they said the debt to revenue ration is healthy, and that other indicators show the county is on strong economic footing.

“As long as the ratio is under 100 percent, that strikes me as a fairly healthy measure,” Arlington County Treasurer Frank O’Leary said.

O’Leary points out that from World War II to the late 1970s, the debt to revenue ratio was consistently over 100 percent, reaching almost 200 percent in the mid 1940s. He said the county had to borrow large amounts of money to meet the needs of the region’s growing population.

“People wanted roads, they wanted indoor plumbing, and they didn’t mind paying for it,” he said.

The 87.5 percent ratio today is similar. The region is growing quickly, and Arlington is investing in infrastructure to meet the needs of the county’s growing population, O’Leary said. While he called the $207 million bond referendum “staggering,” he added that it is needed.

Hispanics are leaving Arlington

David Francis, Examiner Staff Writer

Aug 18, 2006

Arlington - The Hispanic population in Prince William County continues to grow rapidly and Fairfax’s population shows steady growth, but the growth of the Latino community in Arlington and Alexandria has slowed.

Demographers attribute this slowdown to rising housing prices and greater demand for low-skill labor in areas farther outside Washington.

Since 2000, the Hispanic population in Arlington has fallen 18 percent from 26,108 to 21,397, according to Census figures given this week. During the same period, the Hispanic population in Prince William grew by 162 percent, while this population in Fairfax grew by 7 percent.

The slowdown in Arlington’s Hispanic population coincides with a general slowdown in population growth. According to Census numbers, the county’s population grew by approximately 2,400 to 191,852, although the county contends population grew more quickly and is disputing these numbers.

Meanwhile, Prince William added more than 65,000 residents and Fairfax added more than 29,000.

Arlington County demographer Justin Clark said the rising cost of living in the county is the likely reason for the loss of Hispanic population.

“I think it’s probably the housing,” he said. Keeping residents “has been the real argument [for] getting more affordable housing.”

As for Arlington’s slow population growth, Clark said it was due to the type of people Arlington attracts.

“I think we seem to have fewer families,” he said. “Younger people is what we attract, and they don’t necessarily stay and have families.”

Arlington faces nearly $20 million deficit

By David Francis, Examiner Staff Writer

Nov. 14, 2006

Arlington County - Arlington County faces a gap of nearly $20 million for fiscal year 2008 if the county maintains its current level of services, according to a county manager’s report expected to be delivered to the County Board on Wednesday.

“A budget that maintains all current services at current levels should not be assumed,” the county manager’s report says.

The anticipated shortfall could get larger, as the $19.6 million does not include certain health care costs. It comes as county voters just approved five bond packages totaling $207 million.

This means that Arlington will have to change the way it spends money, reallocating resources within the county to adjust to a decrease in revenue, or raise taxes to generate more revenue, if it is to maintain the current fiscal year’s service level. While revenue in fiscal 2008 is expected to increase by 3.2 percent, it was up more than 9 percent in fiscal 2007, the current budget year.

“Our revenues are going to be darn healthy, but not as healthy as they were in the last four or five years,” said Mark Schwartz, director of Arlington’s management and finance department. “We need to save money.”

Schwartz said the fiscal 2008 budget would be hashed out over the next three months. He said the county manager would not submit a budget that raises taxes.

“The manager is going to have to submit a budget within current tax rates that’s balanced,” he said. The process “won’t be without pain, or without difficulty.”

Mike McMenamin, member of the Arlington Fiscal Affairs Advisory Committee, which advises the county board on budget matters, said the shortfall should not come as a surprise.

“We knew back in June that, indeed, the 2008 budget could have some shortfalls because of the fact that [real estate tax] assessment shortfalls were coming,” he said, referring to a drop in real estate tax revenue because of the slowdown in the housing market.

“The county told [the advisory committee] there were going to be cuts, and this time they’re serious about it,” he added. “We don’t know where those cuts are going to come from yet. We’re going to have to wait and hear back from the county in the coming months.”

City schools to feel budget crunch

Nov. 21, 2006

By David Francis, Examiner Staff Writer

Alexandria - Alexandria City Council asked Alexandria schools to downsize a requested $19 million budget increase for 2008-09 school year costs, citing falling revenues.

Each Alexandria agency and the school district is required to submit an annual budget estimate to the City Council.

The council then gives the agencies and the schools a target budget figure.

Budget officials then work to make their final budget match the Council’s target.

The schools asked for about $168 million from the city, about $19 million more than the $149.8 million they received last year. The Council responded with a target of about $155 million.

Alexandria’s budget and management office director Bruce Johnson said spending would be down across the city.

“A tightening of the belt would be an understatement,” Johnson said. “It’s a very ambitious objective for both the city and the schools, and probably requires a great deal of determination by both the city manager and the school board to meet their targets.”

Alexandria joins Arlington and other jurisdictions in the area that are facing a fiscal picture much more bleak than the ones they encountered in recent years.

Real estate prices have flattened, suffocating real estate tax revenue streams that have served as major capital sources for localities.

Johnson said the Council is operating under the assumption that taxes will not be raised, but that could change as it begins the budget process this winter.

“The Council set the [target] number ... that assumes current taxes and policies are maintained,” Johnson said.

“They’re asking what would happen if we didn’t raise taxes. They’ll decide when they pass the budget whether they can accept” no tax increases.

School spokeswoman Amy Carlini said the school district would do its best to meet the target but that the best interest of students needs to be remembered.

Superintendent Rebecca Perry “will try her best to meet the target, but she has to develop the schools’ budget based on the schools’ needs,” Carlini said.

Investigators to determine if support for concrete pour was adequate

By David Francis, The Examiner

Dec. 9, 2006

Rosslyn - Investigators are working to determine if there was adequate support for a floor that collapsed as it was being filled with concrete at a Rosslyn construction site Friday morning.

Jennifer Wester, spokeswoman for the Virginia Labor and Industry Department, said investigators are looking into whether support under the floor met Virginia construction standards. The Virginia Labor Department, which administers federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration policies meant to ensure workplace safety, is looking into the incident.

“What we’re going to be looking at specifically is whether, in the course of the incident ... our standards were violated,” she said. “We have to do a very thorough investigation.”

Virginia construction standards include rules on workplace conditions, protective equipment worn by employees and load-bearing requirements, among others.

Wester said the investigation could take up to six months. Clark Construction officials at the scene said work would not resume at the site until OSHA’s investigation was complete, but company spokeswoman Louise Pulezzi later said conversations on when work could resume are ongoing.

Crews from Clark started pouring concrete on the top floor of JBG’s new Waterview office building located at 1919 N. Lynn St. at around 6:30 a.m. At around 8:30 a.m., a 60-by-30-foot portion of the 24th floor collapsed under the weight of the still-wet concrete, trapping workers and injuring 16, three of who were in critical condition.

Workers from five unions were working at the site through subcontractors, workers said. All 16 of the workers injured in the collapse were non-union employees of Clark Concrete, a subsidiary of Clark Construction, Pulezzi said.

Workers were sent home after the incident. Pulezzi added that the cause of the accident was unknown.

“At this point, I don't think it's productive to speculate,” she said. “We have to be patient and wait until the review and investigation process is completed.”

Workers at the site told The Examiner they did not think there was enough bracing underneath the floor to support the weight of the concrete, which one estimated at 2.5 tons per square yard. This worker said people were avoiding the floor because of fears of collapse.

Kevin MacDonald, co-chair of the American Concrete Institute’s Cold-Weather Concrete committee, said given the circumstances of the collapse, there likely was not enough support.

“The forms holding the concrete were not strong enough,” he said. “Two hours after construction [began], if you have a collapse, you’re looking at” a lack of support.

Arlington considers building height limits

David Francis, Examiner Staff Writer

Dec. 14, 2006

Arlington - Arlington County is considering a study into whether it should pass a countywide ordinance limiting building height to prevent structures from interfering with aircraft coming in and out of Reagan National Airport.

According to Arlington Planning Commission member and former pilot Jim Pebley, Virginia code mandates localities have rules in place to ensure buildings do not pose a risk to airplanes. Arlington does not have a countywide rule, but as part of the approval process for buildings, requires a letter from the Federal Aviation Administration saying the proposed structure meets federal safety standards.

Last week, the FAA told the county a 390-foot-tall building planned for Rosslyn violated height requirements and posed a risk. The agency issued the warning despite signing off on a taller building just 400 feet away.

FAA spokesman Jim Peters said the agency cannot keep the project from moving forward. He said the agency could ask the owner of the building to install lights or a radar to let planes know it is there.

“It’s a preliminary finding,” he said. “We’ve requested some additional information; it’s not a final determination.”

Pebley said inconsistency in FAA rulings is one of the primary reasons he is advocating a study into whether a countywide standard is needed.

The FAA recently lowered its minimum allowable approach altitude from 1,000 feet to 900 feet, which could change the way the agency interprets building height standards, he said.

Having one countywide standard would eliminate uncertainty during the site plan review process, Pebley added. He said the FAA letter should not prevent work on the building from going forward.

Arlington, Alexandria voting systems present advantages and challenges

David Francis, Examiner Staff Writer

Dec. 18, 2006

Arlington - The charter of the city of Alexandria mandates elections for city offices be held in May, while Virginia code dictates that Arlington County conduct its elections in November. Officials in each jurisdiction said their respective systems have their advantages but also present challenges.

Alexandria holds elections for city officials in May every three years, according to city General Registrar Tom Parkins. All of the City Council members are up for election at the same time.

Parkins said turnout for elections in May is low because there are no federal races on the ballot, leading to discussion of amending the city charter to move the elections to November to align them with federal elections.

“The local elections by themselves tend to turn out fewer voters than statewide of federal elections,” Parkins said.

City spokesman Brian Hannigan said there were discussions of addressing the election issue last May, after Mayor William Euille ran unopposed, bringing out only 19.8 percent of city voters. He said no one he spoke with in city government was aware of a formal effort to look into the issue.

In Arlington, elections for local officials are held each November. Unlike in Alexandria, only one County Board member is up for election each year, giving each member a five-year term.

Arlington Registrar of Voters Linda Lindberg said the main benefit of November elections is they typically produce the high turnout Alexandria lacks.

“What we have seen in the cities in recent years ... is there isn’t that much of a turnout in May elections, and they’re spending a lot of money” to hold the elections, she said. “Why not move them to November?”

May elections do have the advantage of allowing voters to concentrate strictly on local issues, whereas November elections tie local and federal issues together, Lindberg added.

Jeffrey Miller, chairman of Arlington County Republicans, said this is a drawback of Arlington’s system.

“It really hurts voters,” he said. “They don’t have the opportunity to focus on local issues.”

Miller also said having only one County Board member up for re-election every year prevents voters from passing judgment on the board as a whole. He said the congressional elections this year, in which voters gave control of Congress to Democrats, is an example of why the entire board should be up for election at one time.