One of the most promising changes Virginia officials have suggested to trim the ballooning cost of the rail extension to Dulles Airport is having a developer pay to build the garage at a Reston station instead of the public.
It’s a fairly straightforward plan — a company would gain the right to redevelop nine acres of Fairfax County-owned land on Wiehle Avenue in exchange for building a parking facility budgeted to cost $40 million to $45 million.
But the Wiehle Avenue redevelopment, the success of which could help make or break the extension of Metro to Dulles, remains swamped in uncertainty and setbacks. It’s a bad sign for planners who need to cut at least $250 million from the rail project to pass federal review.
This summer, the county ended two years of negotiation with Comstock Cos. after failing to reach an agreement over financing the deal. The latest attempt to seek new bidders was pushed back two weeks while county staff hammered out details. Worse, the county’s head of procurement on Monday said she didn’t think a developer would be willing to pay for all of the garage, which she said could run higher than $50 million if it’s put underground as planned.
“I’m doubtful that we’re going to get a developer to pay 100 percent of the cost of the parking garage,” said Cathy Muse, director of the Fairfax County Department of Purchasing and Supply Management. “We didn’t see it the last time [in negotiations with Comstock], and we didn’t get anywhere close to it the last time.”
Time is a luxury county officials don’t have. Under the contract, the cost of the Metrorail project escalates by as much as $6 million a month until it gets approval from the Federal Transit Administration.
“It’s critical [the Wiehle redevelopment] happens right away,” said Fairfax County Supervisor Cathy Hudgins, who represents the Hunter Mill District.
