Newsroom
For Immediate Release
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Contact: Mary Curtius 703-228-7943 (voice) 703-228-4611(TTY)
Arlington County Board Approves Fire Station 3 Land Swap
Clears way for new fire station, parking garage, park in Cherrydale
ARLINGTON, Va. – The Arlington County Board has approved a land swap with Koons Arlington Toyota that paves the way for the County to build a new Fire Station 3 on the back of the auto dealership’s Lee Highway site. The agreement includes a construction timeline.
Under the development agreement, the County will pay Koons $5.5 million in a land swap. The payment amount is based on fair market value as determined by an independent appraisal. The deal grants the County:
- Land that will enable it to build a new Fire Station 3 along Old Dominion Drive, west of Military
Road/Quincy Street - Land to relocate and rebuild 21st Road N
- Land for public green space on the south side of the relocated 21st Rd. N
The deal grants Koons:
- Additional land on which to build a three-story parking garage to serve customers and park dealership inventory.
- Nearly $5.5 million
The plan will eliminate most surface parking on the Koons site. The money that the County is paying Koons as part of the land swap agreement is available in previously approved bond funds from a 1994 referenda to fund reconstruction of Fire Station 3. To view the Board discussion, or read the staff report, click here.
Construction timeline sets deadline for fire station
The construction will proceed in stages. In September, the County will begin relocating and rebuilding the first portion of 21st Rd. N, a project expected to last two months. Once the County completes the first portion of the road and it opens to traffic, Koons will begin building its parking garage. The garage is expected to be completed in the summer of 2009. Construction of Fire Station 3 is expected to begin in June, 2009 and is expected to take roughly 14 months.
Background
The Cherrydale Volunteer Fire Department built the current red-brick Fire Station 3 in 1919 and still owns the property and the building. The station is designated both locally and nationally as historic.
Plans to rebuild the fire station in a new location date back to February, 1990, when an ad hoc committee that included civic associations served by the fire station, Cherrydale businesses, the Arlington Planning Commission and the Cherrydale Volunteer Fire Department recommended eight alternative sites. The committee’s top choice was the site now known as the Bromptons.
When the County was unable to purchase the Bromptons site, a search was launched for a new site. In August, 2004, the County signed a Letter of Intent to acquire a portion of the Koons Arlington Toyota site for the fire station.
The Board’s unanimous decision at its regular July Board meeting to approve the development agreement fulfills that Letter of Intent.
Funding
Arlington County voters have authorized three bonds since 1990 that were partially or fully devoted to funding construction of Fire Station No. 3. The first was approved in Nov., 1990 in the amount of $2.5 million. In Nov. 1994, voters approved another $2.76 million in bonds to finance the fire station. Finally, in 2004, voters approved a bond that included $9.6 million for construction of “public facilities,” including fire stations.
Arlington, Va., is a world-class residential, business and tourist location that was originally part of the "10 miles square" parcel of land surveyed in 1791 to be the Nation's Capital. It is the geographically smallest self-governing county in the United States, occupying slightly less than 26 square miles. Arlington maintains a rich variety of stable neighborhoods, quality schools and enlightened land use, and received the Environmental Protection Agency's highest award for "Smart Growth" in 2002. Home to some of the most influential organizations in the world - including the Pentagon - Arlington stands out as one of America's preeminent places to live, visit and do business.
