…at least, the development around the ballfield did. The ballfield was already approved. Obviously this is a huge project, so I’ve had a few people ask me what I thought of it. Here’s the recap of the project, as best I can determine:

Kincora is a $2 billion, 336 acre multi-use development, located in Sterling across from the Dulles Town Center Mall, where Route 7 and Route 28 intersect. The plan for a 5,500 seat, 75,000 square foot baseball stadium was approved by the Loudoun Board of Supervisors last year, and also included just over 900,000 square feet of office space in 8 buildings, and 74,000 square feet of other uses, to include restaurants, banks, and other services. The mixed use portion that the Board of Supervisors approved this month totaled 2.7 million square feet of office space (not sure if that is in addition to what was already approved?), nearly 400,000 square feet of commercial, 575,000 square feet of hotel space, 277,000 square feet of ‘civic uses’ (including a fire/rescue station and a performing arts center), and 1,400 multi-family residential units.  The residential component allows for 228 Affordable Dwelling Units and workplace housing units.  The development is owned by a partnership of Tritec and Norton Scott called NA Dulles Real Estate Investor LLC (according to an article in the Washington Post.)

The plans also include road improvements: extending Gloucester Parkway over Broad Run, and providing shuttle service from the community to the Metro station planned at Route 606/ Old Ox Road.  The baseball stadium will be used by a new franchise of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. Kincora’s website also details plans for a 150 acre park and nature preserve including a wetlands trail and linking to the W&OD trail.

All of the information I’m listing here is from past Washington Post and Leesburg Today articles, and from the Kincora website. After reading the comments left on the prior articles, it appears that locals are divided on this; some are ardent supporters of either baseball or the growth coming to Loudoun, while others complain that a Board of Supervisors elected as ‘slow growth’ proponents are not fulfilling their promises.  Either way, with a timeline of completion of over 15 to 20 years, it may be a moot point.

As I was researching this post, the Loudoun Times Mirror wrote an article that echos my own thoughts…many of the mixed-use developments approved in Loudoun have not come anywhere close to breaking ground yet.  While it looks like the plans for the baseball stadium will be completed (the VIP Baseball group is planning to announce a timeline and a team name soon) there is no guarantee that the entire project will be finished as proposed.  The first phase is to include the completion of Pacific Boulevard and the construction of the fire station, followed by construction of an affordable housing development. The Times Mirror article quotes the developer as saying the retail, commercial, and office units will be built as soon as they have lease commitments in place.

Personally, I’d much rather see a well thought out approach to development, with a smart combination of mixed use. I like the way that the Village at Leesburg and the Lansdowne Town Center have added to our community; that kind of combined use is appealing in the use of space, the proximity of housing to restaurants/retail/office.  Loudoun needs more ‘walkable’ communities…or at least multi-use where you can accomplish multiple activities at the same place.  If Kincora allows live/work/play to happen in the same place (eventually, anyway) I think that’s smart growth.  Whether it gets accomplished without causing huge traffic issues remains to be seen. I’m optimistic for the positive impact  a minor league baseball team will have on Loudoun and the youth here;  I will certainly take my kiddos out to watch a game.

What do you think? Please comment and share your thoughts, I’d love to hear them!

Cheers,

Heather

(photo courtesy of B Tal)

Cheers,
Heather

I’ve been really apprehensive of what our real estate market would look like in Loudoun County after the first time homebuyer tax credit expired (which happened last Friday, so you can go ahead and exhale now).

Look at what our inventory levels did in the last two weeks…a lot of homes on the market all of a sudden. And apparently there wasn’t quite enough buyer demand to soak up all those homes. Of course, we’ll have to watch closely in the next few weeks to see if demand will pick up and these houses will go under contract. Otherwise days on market will increase and we will know for sure that the market has slowed down.

Cheers,
Heather

I don’t typically post market data here on LoCoMusings now that I have LoCoMarketStats up and running. However, I wanted to give you some links to this week’s market update posts so you can click on through if you are interested…

• At LoCoMarketStats… Western LoCo Looks Like This

• At AshburnMarketStats… Nothing Shocking, Stability is Good

• At LeesburgMarketStats… No Signs on Your Street?

• Also, last week’s post from LoCoMarketStats… Eastern LoCo Looks Like This

Cheers,

Heather

photo credit~~ phatman

If you would like to see more, visit LoCo Market Stats, Leesburg Market Stats, or Ashburn Market Stats…

Cheers,
Heather