Metro and Fairfax officials broke ground Wednesday on a $31 million, 1,424-space parking garage at the Huntington Metrorail station.
The new garage, which will sit between the station’s two garages on Huntington Avenue and Kings Highway, will replace a 924-space parking lot and bring the station’s parking capacity to more than 3,000 spots.
The current spaces are usually filled by 8 a.m., Metro spokesman Stephen Taubenkibel said.
The garage is a joint venture between Fairfax County, Metro, Stout & Teague and Clark Realty Capital.
In 2002, Metro signed an agreement to sell 60 acres adjacent to the station for development. The developers, who plan to develop on the 924-space parking lot, agreed to replace the lost spaces with a new garage, said Todd Wigglesworth, Fairfax’s Metro liaison. The county added money to get even more spaces, he said.
“It is complicated to effectuate a working relationship between the developer and Metro. First and foremost, we didn’t want to make the situation worse for people trying to find a place to park,” said Dana Kauffman, a Fairfax
County supervisor and Metro Board member.
Kauffman said the community “largely welcomed” the transit-oriented, 650-home project that will include 250,000 square feet of office space and 30,000 square feet of retail space. Officials also worked to keep Mount Eagle, a local county park, within the development, he said.
Construction has begun on some of the townhouses and condo units, he said. Developers also will construct better pedestrian crossings from the community to the station, Kauffman said.
Unlike the Orange Line, the county found it difficult to get any interestin developing along the Yellow Line, Kauffman said.
“I think old prejudices die hard. Although, I’ll tell you, the Richmond Highway corridor leading to Metro when it opened some 20 years ago is vastly different than it is today,” he said.
