The Falls Church Insider All About the City of Falls Church, Virginia, For & By The Folks Who Live & Work There

I found the recent discussion surrounding the EDA Member Challenges Housing Project’s Value to City post on Falls Church Times to be really interesting.  As I’ve learned more about the City, a few things have become clear:

1. There has long been a segment of residents opposed to any significant commercial or mixed-use building in the City. Lots of people in Falls Church just don’t want tall buildings (even a few stories), retail shops, or anything else that would take away from the “small town” feel.  My sense is that over the past several decades, this opposition has discouraged a variety of development projects.
2. Increasingly, some citizens are convinced that without significantly increasing the commercial tax base over the next 5-10 years, our City will fall into financial ruin and be forced to merge with either Arlington or Fairfax County.  (Others would say that a bump in taxes will cover us just fine.)
3. There is a perception that attracting significant commercial development in Falls Church is difficult, even impossible.  Historically the reasoning seemed to be that doing so required an “anchor” building and/or tenant around which others could build (which we don’t have).  More recently, the down economy seems to be the primary reason.

For the sake of this post, let’s make two big assumptions:

1. Opposition to construction (i.e., #1 above) is fading.
2. Ignoring where the buildings would actually go and factors like congestion, everyone in the City agrees that commercial tax revenue would be a great thing if we can get it — regardless of whether you consider it to be (a) critical, or (b) possible.

Commercial real estate brings in lots of tax revenue without introducing new kids into the school system (a huge - and worthwhile - expense) like residential and mixed-use projects do.  I’m not educated on the detailed numbers, but I intuitively expect that if we had a dense “business district” of significant size, it could generate enough tax revenue to allow the residents of our City to enjoy benefits unparalleled in this region (fully funded schools, services, community facilities and events, etc.) with significantly lower residential taxes.

For example, if you use Mike’s presentation as a guide:

You can get an estimate of $1.3M/year in tax revenue from the scenario he outlines on slide 12 (four six-story buildings).  Extrapolate that to a business district with 12 office buildings (averaging six stories each) and you get close to $4M/year in revenue — without a single additional student in the school system.  Assuming those buildings are full of hungry professionals and built to support ground-floor shops, you’d also have critical mass to attract high-quality restaurants and retail to Falls Church as well.

But Where?

The scenario above would require almost 10 acres of space (again, estimating based on Mike’s presentation).  Where’s it going to go?  If you look at this PDF map from the 2005 City of Falls Church Comprehensive Plan you’ll get a sense.  Here’s a very rough sketch of what you’ll see:

The areas highlighted in yellow are the only (mostly) non-residential areas in the City.  As you can see, there just aren’t many choices for where to put office buildings!  There are basically four possibilities I could see:

1. East - the area near Seven Corners could undergo a complete redevelopment at some point, but that’s a massive undertaking that’s presumably far off.
2. West - the south side of Broad St. could be heavily developed, including the City recycling center (and whatever else is back there behind the Don Beyer Volvo Dealership.  Again, this seems like a long way off.
3. North - the N. Washington area could see major development, particularly if Arlington Country proceeds with a proposal to extend the East Falls Church metro station such that passengers can enter and exit the station from N. Washington St.  As I said in my previous comments: “If that indeed happens, the entire north side of CoFC would become significantly more accessible via mass transit, and therefore would benefit from high-density commercial and residential (mixed-use) construction.”
4. South - the S. Washington corridor already has undergone some recent development with the completion of the Tax Analysts building (where I work) and Pearson Square (mixed-use).  The central section of this area, highlighted below, seems ideally suited for the kind of business district we need in our City.

With so few suitable areas in our City, and with this part of our City being such an ideal area for more strategic construction, can we afford not to consider Mike’s alternative concepts to what’s currently being planned?

We Can Do It

The comments surrounding Mike’s presentation indicate a lack of confidence in our City’s ability to attract the right kind of development.  Ultimately, that’s what I’m trying to understand.  Why can’t we?  I see significant benefits to the City of Falls Church:

1. Location - we’re inside the beltway but not too close into the DC.  We’re accessible via several major road systems.  We’re central without being overly congested like Arlington and Tysons.  Real estate is all about location, right?  If you were going to pick any 2.2 square miles in Virginia (or the DC area for that matter) it would be hard to pick a better location than ours.
2. Mass Transit - the metro is close, and a more effective and simple bus system could really tap into that value, particularly if we have dense areas to transport people to/from.  With the expansion of the metro, our value only increases.
3. Size - we’re little, which means we can be nimble, agile, flexible, and responsive.  When working with builders and businesses who agree with our vision for the City and are willing to support it, we can be quick and creative.  We should have a reputation for being great to work with.
4. Community - our City is unique.  We’re a real independent community, with residents and business people who know and support each other, elected officials and city staff who are engaged and accessible, and an authentic atmosphere that comes from a rich history.  Our independence sets us apart from anywhere else in the region, and is attractive to residents, working professionals, and business owners.

Perhaps I’m naive.  I mean no disrespect to the many, many people who for decades have been and continue to work to improve our City.  I’m simply sharing my thoughts and experiences as I become educated on how our City really works, and how individuals can have an impact on our future.