Dulles Slows Down

http://loudounextra.washingtonpost.com/news/2007/nov/12/dulles-slows-down/

Well this slowdown in first class commercial is not a good sign for us to get roads built or keep our taxes lower.

I would say these new supervisors are going to have their work cut out for them especially if they want to get re-elected. The republicans are just waiting to say "see we told you so the democrats will raise raise taxes.

Well I have faith in one of the newly elected Stevens Miller and of course Lori Waters has always been a fiscal conservative the new other supervisors, well the jury is still out on them.

We need first commercial to keep our taxes low and get roads built. Hopefully they will be able to surmount this coming recession in first class commercial. Especially with the slowdown in government contracts being awarded.

I am very concerned that solving the road situation is getting harder and harder especially the waxpool situation.

I do have some ideas I am working on, but they are not ready for prime time as of yet.

Lee j

 

IMO - figuring out why businesses aren’t selecting LoCo as an option, may assist the County to establish a viable business plan. By increasing the business tax base, this is a reasonable way to mitigate the financial tax burden off homeowners.

Statistically more homes and higher density puts a higher strain on roads, schools, public utilities etc. If we can make LoCo more attractive to the “business tax” bracket, maybe our residential/property taxes will either plateau or decrease.

Sorry to ask this relatively naive question;

What has caused companies and/or Federal agencies to over look the benefits bringing some of their work force to Loudoun Co?

Example: Why did Volkswagen select Fairfax over Loudoun? or the HHMC (howard hughes med-center) -Why did the BoS litteraly give away some of the tax revenue?

 

Volkswagen needed a certain amount of square footage immediately. Loudoun did not have any buildings that fit their needs ready to move into. Fairfax did.

 

I will say it again Fairfax both along 28 by the dulles airport and along the dulles access road have built many many frist class hotels and class a office and beautiful campus style office. Even some of their flex looks better and you can't tell it is flex. Look at our gateways along twenty 28 we got hotels that are nice although they look weak and tinny in design and landscaping and certainly not near the caliber of the Hyatt's or hiltons. Look once you pass the greenways main tool both and right before you see flex and not even nice flex with trucks that have become legal billboards. and could the airport screen there parking with leaving a group of trees NOPE that would out of caliber of the way the flex developments look. Strip clear and plant a couple of twigs in a narrow space and call it a park like setting like some do. Give me a break. Then go a little further down the greenway what is the first thing built is more data flex the three gray ugly ugly boxes and of course build them right up right to the greenway and if that is not enough put it on a curve so they really stand out. And it even gets worse they are in the middle of the new major urban center for Loudoun county. And even if that is not enough the some yahoo's at the dominion power has to build there new substation right in your face and in the middle of the newest and largest future urban centers in Loudoun. Nooooo could they have built it further in the woods and screened it by surrounding it with the existing trees instead of planting more twigs. I can go on and on but we are not keeping loudoun beautiful enough using both our natural landscaping and enhancing it not destroying it. Our supervisors need people on the planning commission that know how to direct the developers to develop beautifully first and how their development will effect their neighbors. Even the by right developments could be directed by the planning commissioners to help them design and build what will be a good neighbor development. I have no clue why our planning commissioners have not done that first and foremost in the past and left it up entirely to the developer. All I can say most of the planning commissioners in the past had nor sense of what looks beautiful or how it was effecting the existing neighbors in the way it looked . Just because you have an architectural degree or planning degree doesn't mean you have a good sense of design or can see what a project will visually do to it's neighbors. I know many architects that really are extremely poor designers and way to technical and pragmatic and should been possibly an engineer. Met some when I went to the school of architecture.

I will be watching our new planning commissioners like a hawk and respond immediately if I see something I feel will be a disaster to itself and it and it's neighbors development wise. Personally I know a good part of loudoun both esat and west extremely well because I have driven and walked a good part of it and really look at what is being built and the existing landscape and am always questioning why why why is that beautifully done or did some yahoo just wanted a paycheck and did not care if their project is a good neighbor. Good neighbor also includes being a good neighbor to the natural landscape as well.

Well enough of this I am sick and tired of sseeing xcrap developments go up and just keep destroying the beauty of loudoun and the development itself. God help the new planning commissioners because I will speak my piece on a new blog about good neighbor developments and bad neighbor developments in loudoun both existing and future developments. Me and several other architects and developers including a very famous architect friend of mine from florida and texas who is quite the writer and intellectual. We will not just cover Loudoun but all of dc and and many parts of the world, but we will have a wonderful section that will discuss loudoun in depth. Hopefully we will get this off the ground early next year. Any coincidence that that the new planning commissioners and supervisors will be taking office at that time. you decide. I am just so sad to see how a lot of this absolutely one of the most beautiful counties in the world has been growing and not taking the natural beauty and their neighbors into account when a developer builds a development. Yes there are beautiful developments in this county but are now starting to be overwhelmed by the junk. We do not want pockets of beautiful development connected by trash architecture. Lets just say me and my design pals are for beautiful good neighbor development and we are forming the posse to try and keep it that way.

Lee j

 

Actually the building that trex the deck people leased for their new headquarters looks pretty empty. That is class A commercial office. I know trex decided to try to sublease their very large space because their employees refused to move here because the cost of living was way too high. Class A wants to be near more class A so for on more time the flex jumping out of the zoo is hurting at times and making class developers especially the ones that build just a single class A building at a time hesitant to build at times because they don't want to be near or next to the cheaper product such as industrial and flex and cheap strip centers. Fairfax does not have near that problem along 28 and the dulles toll road. Another reason why especially in Loudoun the class A developers are preferring the large urban center type development such as moorefield and one loudoun and kincora etc. At least they can keep the trash architecture at a distance from them. We have just about totally ruined our part of 28 between the airport and waxpool for decent class A development. There goes the gateway and some of what people get as an first impression when entering loudoun. No luxury hotels and plenty of industrial flex to scar the landscape as you enter Loudoun from the airport especially on 28 and a little on the greenway . It is like making your backdoor of your home the main entrance to your home and you hide your beautiful front door behind the service entrance. You wouldn't do that in the design of your home but that is what we are doing to the main entrances to loudoun county they are becoming hidden behind the service entrances. Weird and very poor planning and design. Lori Waters has not done that very much with rt seven and now will have the two most beatiful urban centers to date as her front entrance on 7 One Loudoun and Kincora. My hats off to you Misses Waters. Look at the dulles district entrances the slop of airport parking and flex at the greenway toll booth and further up the greenway with the gray boxes in the middle of some of the future dulles district urban centers. And the potential new front doors at the connection of shellhorn and sterling interchange at 28 is already and looks like a garbage pit and the same with the potential entrance front door to the south of the greenway to 606 more of the same entering the dulles district through the ocean of flex and not even remotely well designed flex. Maybe I am strating to paint a picture why fairfax along 28 and the dulles toll road has more class A office because it is mostly surrounded by class aA office and some beautiful campus stlye class office along 28. Nice visual impact as you are driving along those corridors. Not perfect but far more perfect then some of the already destroyed beauty along the entrances to loudoun.

That is the extremely simplified version of why we are not getting the class A developments as much as fairfax. And the potential of never being there. You already have many experts saying Loudoun can't command the rents like fairfax. Well hellooo if you keep building cheap crap you are very quickly eating up land that could of produced the high rent commercial. Crap arcitecture will get more crap architecture. Class A will get more Class A buildings. Class A does not want to adjoin the garbage design and architecture. 101 planning right there. The trillion dollar question is how do we fix it and create a high rent district. One LOudoun and Kincora are good starts.

Lee j

Lee j

 

Certainly not perfect steve but at least the front doors of fairfax dulles toll road and 28 have their front doors mostly on the main roads dulles toll road and 28 large ponds and fountains on some and even around reston their is better buffering then we see in Loudoun many times. Yes those pictures of yours show the dirty little secrets but at least most of the service industry flex and etc is a little better hidden. Far from perfect but better then loudouns front doors. Steve do you realize the two parallel roads to the greenway that are not on the proposed map but should be will have to penetrate the wall of flex and industrial to 28 and 606 which then becomes the front door to morrefield and loudoun station and all the other hopefully class A developments that will parallel the greenway from Ashburn village dr east.

Even the greenway's front door has already been compromised with airport parking and flex at the main toll both and not even attempt made to screen it from the greenway. That is like putting the compressors and and trash cans and whatever right at the front door of your home. At least the tank farm on 28 has been screened from the road and will look better and better once the landscaping matures but at least there is a poor attempt at a wall to screen it right now.

I don't have time to go into serious depth here about planning and zoning and the poor job that has been done in loudoun over the last many years. The sad thing loudoun started with a clean slate starting with the dulles airport main terminal that looked like a sculpture enven from a distance. And when I was living in California they started destroying the look of dulles especially as you drive up and from a distance and those new parking garages did a real hatchet job on the visuals of the main terminal. My buddy was on the airport board at the time those garages were approved and I gave a little lesson in design unfortunately it was too late. He has always teased me that he would consult me first if any other major projects came up on his watch that could have a major negative impact on the visuals of the dulles airport main terminal. Unfortunately he is no longer on the airport board as his law practice was growing at the speed of light and could not put the time in anymore.

Steve nothing is perfect but there is always ways to mitigate a bad situation in design if enough thought is put into it. and the development becomes a good neighbor to surrounding developments. Yes I have always been the believer beautiful growth is smarter then smart growth it is many levels above smart growth.

And when you have started with a clean slate such as loudoun in relatively modern times we should of know about beautiful growth and to get some of the garbage architecture and ugly roads that is showing something has been wrong with the past leadership of this county.

We live in times that absolutely nothing should be a bad neighbor development and all roads should look like Claiborne running thru the broadlands. Hell the GW parkway and many bridges in the dc area are prime examples of how roads should look like. We are going backwards not forwards in our planning. Many many many examples of large scale beautiful growth and good neighbor developments all over the world.

Steve your examples actually prove my points in loudoun at least in some of fairfax they are in the back not at the front doors like much of eastern Loudoun will end up if we are not careful. Really good planning on a large scale is when you can visualize the entire county and zone appropriately for the entire county not just pockets. That keeps your service industry and industrial industry somewhat hidden and properly screened instead of having it and making it your front door.

Lee j

 

One more thing I am not offending the good neighbor flex and industrial developers. I know some of them and they are not in the least offended by what I have been saying as a matter of fact just the opposite. They want direction and leadership from our politicians and planning commisioners. They know and are secure in what they are and they know they don't visually add to the look of the area. But what they do want is guidance and rules and planning that the county can accommodate them and the truck traffic and the noise. Loudoun is not so big that the entire county could not be totally studied in a big picture way and some serious guidelines put forth to keep loudoun beautiful and still accommodate the many different and diverse industry and businesses here and make all developments good neighbor developments and all roads beautiful and scenic like in the PUDS. Absolutely positively there is no good reason why all development can not be beautiful first and a good neighbor project and development. It is not too late for Loudoun but as more and more land is misused and approved by our leadership it will soon then spiral into the abyss of way too many bad neighbor developments that ruins a lot of the hard work of the good neighbor developments. All development must be good neighbor development including the roads and schools there should be zero tolerance just like in the school system we have for our children.

Lee j

 

Absolutely and that is why I prefer the large urban centers adjoining each other. That would go a long way to correcting this problem. What you are saying here shows how poor our past planning and zoning is. Steve you bring up another excellent point what the office people see from their windows. In high rise design the really good designers take into account of this as much as possible especially what you see straight down and all around. Many good examples of this around the world. A personal example I designed this stand alone Restaurant called Sangria to open sometime next year. Terrible site right adjoining an interchange. But I noticed it could have up higher a beautiful view of the sunsets and mountains beyond the interchange.

So I emphasized that view rather the the less appealing views even has a roof garden to enjoy the sunsets from. Perhaps a place for an future happy hour although it is a little distance from the Broadlands over in the rt 66 corridor. Another fun thing about this horrible site was. A civil war buff friend of mine told me the rich used to have picnics on this site which has a view of the valley below to watch the civil war going on below. He said it is ironic how it this site will again be a place where people congregate to eat and drink except watching a war they will be watching the sun set .

In my previous post I started to address these issues and the flex and industrial people would love a place to all their own and truck routes that would have less impact on the roads and their neighbors. This is what planners should of been addressing since the day they built and opened the dulles airport

Because some reporters have approached me from several publications including the washington post to do some articles on this from what they have read on this forums and others but they especially brought up the broadlands forum . Which I am planning to do in the near future. You may think this broadlands forum is not widely read. Well lets put it this way I went to a political event last friday evening sponsored by Too Conservation. Many of the newly elected politicians were there and people from all over loudoun county. To my amazement I got noted and a small applause for some of things I have said on these and other forums and blogs so there is a wider audience here and other places then people realize. The internet is an incredibly powerful tool these days. Look how fast the lies Steve Snow said in print and other places were exposed and even though he had a lot more money then Stevens Miller I strongly believe the internet had a lot to do with the exposure and equalizing the candidates in spite of the huge money difference. Thank God Stevens Miller pulled it out. Anyway that is why I will put my own website and blog together with my Famous and intellectual architect buddy John Henry.

When people say you live in a mistake and your neighbor should not of been there well that shows very shallow insight to planning and what I have said all along good neighbor developers can winmost of the time with the right exposure, and the bad neighbor developers can be called out with the same exposure. Further A good neighbor development should always over rule the bad neighbor developments especially when the good neighbor development was there first whether a mistake or not. It is all about getting along and designing and building with your neighbors in mind and what people visually see from where ever. Flex and industrial are a big part of all economies and they really want a home that does not have a negative effect on their surroundings or neighbors. Believe me most flex and industrial building developers don't want to be our front door here in Loudoun they were just forced to by poor zoning and antiquated zoning rules that make it way too hard and time consuming to change to something better and more appropriate for the TIME, PLACE AND MOMENT. when design and developments are in sync with their neighbors at the correct time place and moment it is a beautiful thing

Lee j

 

Lee-
I question one thing in your previous long posts. You claim that the flex builders really want to do the right thing, but build the garbage because they can get away with it. I find that hard to believe. If they want to do the right thing, they don't need a few politicians to tell them how to do it....they can just do it.

 

Well in another thread here http://www.broadlandshoa.org/hoaforum/showthread.php?t=6714

Two treatment plants one a good neighbor one at the old lorton prison and ours out here on LCP a failure in design both had to be directed by our officials the Lorton one very successful in being a good neighbor and ours a failure at being a good neighbor especially in design, but I do give it an A for effort but it still fails the class. sad very sad. Both plants I am sure used qualified professionals in the operational engineering but ours fails, an F in design here in Loudoun the Lorton gets and B in design. There are some A+ designed treatment plants on the planet with even extra credit because they went beyond the best of the best. I will post some pictures later.

Lee j

 

So much for your love of the Kincora project Lee...

http://www.loudountimes.com/news/2007/nov/15/supervisors-reject-mixed-use-kincora-proposal/

You heroine, Ms. Waters abstained.

It is not dead yet however. Guess this board is passing the buck onto the incoming board.

 

T8 perhaps this was a vote against Lori not the project because she got re-elected and 3 of the republicans did not and it is there way to say goodbye. Perhaps Kincora did not donate any money to the campaigns, I don't know so that would be interesting to see next month. The billion dollar question next will be, the Arcola town center and yes it is not a urban center, will it be passed with all the same old same old box stores and retail over in dulles south. Yes they show a rendering of a several block main street and some park. What they don't show you are any renderings of most of it that will be big box stores and industrial flex and a lot of townhouses(which will attract more families then singles. hmmmmm

Personally I have a feeling that the public just doesn't understand what they really are getting or know what the difference is between these projects to the public it is all the same thing and that is reflected in our supervisors.

First Kincora is an urban center and Arcola is an elaborate town center then there are the mall which is different then the others. Kincora's residential component would appeal to singles and Arcola's residential component would appeal more to families of course that my over simplified explanation and it is more complex then that. Most of the land Kincora Land would of stayed in a park like setting so. Kincora was designed overall far nicer then Arcolas and don't be fooled by Arcola's renderings because they only show us what they want to show you and KIncora has renderings that show way more of their project then Arcol'a does. Arcola does not show pictures of their big box stores and the oceans of parking and all the flex and industrial. Why would they do that because they are trying to fool us.

Anyway you all will just get to sit in traffic longer and longer on waxpool if they don't work something out to get gloucester thru and finish the road grid over there as a by right project Kincora will get the more wonderful flex and industrial on some of it, right at one of LOudouns front doors and fronts yards and perhaps ruin it for more class A office to be built there. Only time will see. Hopefully our next planning commissioners and supervisors can understand renderings and plans and be able to see understand the architects and site plans of how it will really look not just what the Architect is trying to fool you into seeing. Example the flex going up right now does not look like the renderings that are be shown on the billboards on the property. Parts are higher and there are many differences from the rendering to reality there. It was just another BS selling job from the architect and developer. Our new planning commissioners have to really decipher of what they are bing sold on compared to what will really be built. Even small things can have a major effect.

Anyway I hope the next BOS does something to improve roads and get Class A businesses here and not raise taxes thru the roof which is the easy way out. If they don't they will not get re-elected.

Lee j



Further we will see

 

That was absolutely a vote against Lori Waters by the spiteful poor losers. There are four major projects being looked at by this lame duck board. Kincora is absolutely the best of the bunch, it's located at the corner of 7 & 28 for crying out loud, exactly where you would expect to see that type of higher intensity development.

You want to see a project that makes absolutely no sense, look at Braddock Village, where they are proposing over 800 units on a site zoned for 60. It is in the middle of nowhere. But John Nicholas the developer has put a ton of money into the campaigns of the losers. So of course Snow, Staton and Delgaudio have been trying to push that one through. Unbelievable hypocrisy in the face of their Kincora vote.

 

I agree this one was the best of the bunch and I would have preferred they had sent it back for more study so the next board could vote on it instead (not sure which way to go on it myself). I'm hoping that this means the other 3 will also be shot down since they are obviously bad. I didn't think of the aspect that they were perhaps voting against Ms. Waters. I hope that's not the case.

 

I will say something else the flex project going up at waxpool and ashburn village drive does not look like the rendering on the billboard they have out front. So our planning commissioners with mostly no background in design or building got conned by the architect and developer. Personally I believe the planning commisioner position should require a background in development and design and planning so they don't get conned by the bad neighbor developers like that flex development and can make rational judgment and recommendations to their BOS.

Oh well hopefully Kincora comes back up with the new bos but I am not sure they would pass it either and just let it become a wasteland of junk planning and design and no roads such as Gloucester to help alleviate a little bit of traffic on waxpool, at least in the near term especially if it is built out BY RIght!! THere goes another front door and front yard in a prominent location if it is built ut BY Right.

These urban centers don't get built overnight far far far longer then any residential pud. The Reston urban center is still not finished and look how far back that goes. My point they are not in the same league as residential puds and should be studied with an open mind and again that is why we should have professionals on the planning commission these large scale urban projects are far beyond the thinking of most planning commissioners and BOS to think out effectively. If this is the sign of things to come for the next four years, then taxes are going to skyrocket and you all not me will sit in rush hour traffic of biblical proportions. One last thing Barbara Munsey thought Kincora was a good project and approved it before the election but Steven Snow after he lost voted it down. This is a Lori Water pay back from hell if I ever saw one. I am going to go out on a limb here and I bet the three republican losers vote for Arcola which is another con job by the architect and developer, they are only showing mostly the main street and the park in renderings and yet most of the project is big box stores and flex and industrial and OK office with oceans and oceans of parking. It will not build out as nice as what they are showing in the renderings in the big picture and that is a fact.



Oh well a very disappointed

Lee j

 

Hey Lee!
Time to ramp up that Waxpool Task force!!!!

 

Well Cliff if projects like Kincora are voted down then you don't have a Waxpool task force except talk. Where is the money coming for? Show me the money???? then we might have a task force that can do something in the next four years!!! I am not in favor of higher taxes on residents to pay for anything. I believe kincora was voted down as revenge against Lori and if arcola is passed, that will certainly prove it. I have written about this extensively on other forums and there is consensus to what I believe.

Lee j