While a planned extension of Metrorail may boost land values throughout Tysons Corner, some say the presence of a track looming over homes and businesses could lessen the hoped-for jump in values.
Real estate values likely will be less than they would have been if Metro came to the area, but the trains were not rumbling over four miles of elevated track through Tysons — the current plan of Gov. Timothy Kaine after he scrapped a preferred tunnel option this week.
Bringing Metrorail to an area typically sparks increases in rents and land prices, but there is little data available on how an aerial versus an underground track factors into that change,said Greg Leisch, chief executive officer of Delta Associates, an Alexandria-based real estate research and advisory firm.
Leisch, however, said it’s likely the aerial rail option will lessen land value spikes.
“It’s likely to be less of an increase, so it has to be viewed as opportunity costs,” he said. “It could be higher [with a tunnel].”
Home values could take a hit around the rail, said Northern Virginia Association of Realtors spokeswoman Jill Landsman, though that impact will be outweighed by the overall net gain in value.
“Those are going to be minor, compared to the big picture,” she said.
The decision Wednesday to abandon the popular tunnel option, part of a $4 billion project to build rail to Dulles, was based on the potential loss of $900 million in federal funds if the tunnel failed to meet strict cost-effectiveness standards.
Besides land values, the aerial rail is expected to affect traffic, business and roads, and is largely seen as a inferior alternative to the tunnel.
Critics of the decision say the governor caved without considering the true costs of the elevated track. His supporters say Kaine made a wise choice in not risking nearly a quarter of the project’s funds.
