Alexandria officials are moving toward adding a Metro station to the rapidly developing Potomac Yard area and have allocated a half million dollars toward studying the idea.
The City Council will decide this month whether to approve a proposal to shift 765,000 square feet of planned office space from the south side of the development to the north side to help create a bigger town center that could support a Metro station.
City Council members said in January that they strongly supported adding Metro stations to Potomac Yard and to Eisenhower Valley and that any development proposals in those areas should include plans to help fund the stations.
“Essentially, with the Eisenhower Valley and the stretch of Potomac Yard, you have two of the longest stretches of Metro tracks that don’t have stations on them,” Councilman Rob Krupicka told The Examiner in February. “I think for Alexandria to be viable in the long term — for our transportation to be viable in the long term — we need Metro stations there.”
Deputy City Manager Mark Jinks said that althoughthe city recently allocated half a million dollars to study the feasibility of adding the station, officials are still years away from making a decision.
“The challenge is that the cost for a new Metro station is between $125 million and $150 million,” he said, citing estimates from Metro officials.
Officials have discussed tax increment financing, in which revenue generated by the Potomac Yard development would be dedicated to paying off bonds issued to finance the station.
The city also could create a special tax district in Potomac Yard and charge businesses in the area an extra tax to help fund the station, Jinks said.
Adding a Blue/Yellow Line station at Potomac Yard would be relatively simple because the station would be built over existing tracks on a site that was originally reserved for a Metro station, officials said.
The District completed a similar project in 2004, when it added the New York Avenue station to the Red Line.