Coraggio Consulting
Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Economic Initiatives Committee, Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Date: Tuesday, June 18, 2024
Place: Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Virginia
Length: 1h 30m (video)
Official meeting video (Fairfax County): https://video.fairfaxcounty.gov/player/clip/3421
Official Board of Supervisors page (Fairfax County): https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/boardofsupervisors/

Machine transcript (speech-to-text) produced by Coraggio Consulting. Not an official county record. Names and numbers may be misspelled; check the video at the timestamp before quoting.
Speech-to-text: whisper.cpp, model large-v3-turbo. Produced 2026-11-01. Timestamps are [HH:MM:SS] into the meeting video.

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[00:00:04] Hey, folks, everybody could take a seat. We'll go ahead and get started.

[00:00:18] This June 18th, 2024 meeting of the Economic Initiatives Committee will come to order.

[00:00:34] And I thank everybody very much for being here. And we are going to go ahead and just kind of jump right into it. We've got two major topics today. But before we get started, I want to just ask everybody, we have some notes from the previous meeting, just to see if anybody had any questions or concerns or issues related to the meeting summary that we did.

[00:00:55] I'm looking to see if there's any questions answered. I don't see any. With that, we're going to move right on to the next item, which is the Economic Incentives Program Update and Proposed New EIP Areas. And with that, we have Elizabeth Teig, and you're going to, or Rebecca, I'm not sure how you want to get started, but all right.

[00:01:16] Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone. It's a pleasure to be back here. I think I've got some great data on the EAP areas, and then there's been a proposal to look at a couple new areas, one of which we deferred in the past, which is the Lake Ann area.

[00:01:45] So this may be a recap for the supervisors that have been here in the past, but for some of the new supervisors, I'll just recap that. The economic incentive program really was to look at certain areas that have not had significant development activity relative to their comprehensive plan potential, and they have been experiencing declining competitiveness, certainly relative to some of the newer areas in the county.

[00:02:19] And in general, they suffer from kind of an outmoded land development pattern and architectural designs. So in the past with the revitalization program, we have some initiatives, mostly they were regulatory in nature, and for a long time there was a thought that it would be great to have a financial incentive.

[00:02:41] And that opportunity came in 2017 through the General Assembly, and they passed some legislation that we turned into a program here. And it essentially offers county the ability to provide both regulatory and financial incentives to the private sector should they assemble, revitalize, and redevelop property for economic development purposes.

[00:03:11] And the legislation allowed for up to a 10-year program, and it specifically was tied to parcel consolidation. And we worked on this program for a couple years and put together a package of financial incentives which include a 10% upfront reduction in the site plan fees, but more significantly, a partial real estate tax abatement that is based really on the difference between the pre- and post-development value of the project.

[00:03:50] And we established timeframes for each of the areas, and we'll get into that. Now, here's a prototypical example. Say your site was worth about $5 million, which would generate under the current tax rate about $56,000 and change a year in real estate taxes.

[00:04:12] But the post-development value is a significant increase to $120 million. So that increment, or the $115 million, is what would be the basis for the real estate tax abatement. And if they were able to avail themselves of the full 10-year period, it would be significant value, close to $13 million.

[00:04:37] So these are, the program originally was passed in September of 2020. It set up six districts. There was consultation and awareness of various development activity levels in the areas under consideration.

[00:04:57] And so we knew that you have to, of course, build something before you can get a real estate tax abatement on it. So there's time for entitlement and construction. And we established these effective dates. So this is really when the 10-year, call it time clock, starts ticking.

[00:05:17] And we knew that things were primed for Bailey's Crossroads area before some of these other areas. So you can see that we have some starting later than others and when the 10-year time period concludes.

[00:05:35] So this is the really, I think, exciting information. The map that you see are the general locations of eight EAP applications approved to date. and you can see they're pretty well scattered around the six areas so the the only area we we haven't had one yet is is lincolnia and we're still working on that one the first project to reach substantial completion which is the rule the earliest they could come in to get their final

[00:06:12] assessment value was skyline building one so they came in with three buildings if you recall, these were repurposing office to live-work units. And they ran into some snags with utilities and whatever, but so they thought they were going to be finished sooner. Unfortunately, took them a little longer. So Skyline 1 came in last year, and 2 and 3 are expected to be completed

[00:06:44] in this year. And so we have our actual first tax abatement project, and their abatement is estimated at about $823,000, and that they will receive an estimated total abatement of the $6.5 million. And then we also have shown what we think, again, assuming Skyline 2 and 3 reach substantial completion this year that they'll come in and that remainder would be about 11 and a half

[00:07:18] million. But we're very happy to see this much activity and that they are sprinkled all around in the areas. And I wanted to share some quotes from some of the projects. So the first one is from Eric Christensen, who's the general manager at the Springfield Town Center, and he emphasized that this has been an invaluable tool to jumpstart projects that might not otherwise have moved

[00:07:51] forward, and that really it was a key component in their residential development. So there's a multifamily project that is happening now at the Springfield Town Center. If anybody's familiar with the Springfield Town Center, we have struggled for years, partly because the property went, changed hands and went through some different scenarios. But we're finally getting development around the town center. The other one is from Jack Perkins, Vice President,

[00:08:26] Elm Street Communities, who did a project on Richmond Highway. And he said, it's a very powerful tool that can overcome the high cost of redevelopment. He cited a number of things of aspects that it can offset the costs of, but basically, you know, can help make a project happen sooner than it might have otherwise happened. And so these are real testimonials to the difference that this financial incentive has made, particularly we're in a challenging

[00:09:00] um real estate market right now so there are a couple new areas that um we wanted to share with you um that have have there's been some interest in for a while the first is the huntington area and i'll show you a map of the area in a minute but this this is an area and includes the the

[00:09:31] metro station site which has struggled to attract development to redevelop obviously it's tied to a complicated transportation project but aside from that and also adjacent to it the Huntington Club condominium project has also hit some snags in achieving its its redevelopment proposal it is a challenging site if anybody's been out there. It's extremely steep slope and it suffers from

[00:10:07] marine clay soil. So it's not great to begin with. But we can achieve much more if we can actually consolidate these parcels for greater plants. So the area proposed is the area with the kind of colored land bays. The gray property that you see, that's the Womata site. You can see the garages, the metro rail tracks. The brown next to it is Huntington Club condominiums, and then we

[00:10:43] have some adjacent commercial or multifamily properties that are planned for greater intensity that we think would make sense to incentivize. So all total, it's about 61 acres, and we did collect some data on them.

[00:11:06] Looking at assessed values over a 15-year period, 2005 to 2020, we saw that assessed values in the county grew about 112%, Whereas in Huntington, it grew by about half as much to maybe three quarters as much.

[00:11:28] However, Huntington Club condominium site only grew by 8% increased value in that time. So clearly troubled. And then in terms of sales price, the sale price for condominium units in the Huntington Club development actually, sadly, decreased in value from 2005 to 2020.

[00:11:50] from $221,000 to $185,000. At the same time, you know, the countywide multifamily market value was about, well, in 2020 was about $265,000.

[00:12:07] So while in the past we have purposely sort of avoided metro sites, thinking that the metro station alone incentivized the redevelopment, This particular metro site has some anomalies, I think, that need extra incentives to realize the many visions and plans that we have had for it.

[00:12:38] The other area that we would like to propose is the Lake Ann area. This actually was an area we were thinking of the first go-round, but the feeling was maybe there needed to be some additional study done there, and we are studying it now.

[00:12:58] There has, for about the last little over a year, there's been an economic visioning study going on there where we are assessing the real estate market. We're looking at potential redevelopment sites and scenarios to see, you know, what could benefit it.

[00:13:20] And we obviously recognize that area as an important area for affordable housing. We do have multiple property owners. We have a somewhat complex ownership structure and kind of a sustainability issue that all leads to this being very complicated.

[00:13:50] So we have basically mapped out here the proposed area. The colors correspond sort of to the underlying land use. It also has not kept up with the overall assessed values, similar to the county, looking at 2002 to 2023 assessed value and percent change over that time.

[00:14:20] The county grew by about 77% compared with some of the properties maybe were in the 40% increase value, and the Baptist church site was only about 21% increase.

[00:14:39] So some of these, they're not keeping pace with the overall market. They face significant financial liabilities with some deferred maintenance and infrastructure costs.

[00:14:57] And so we are looking at an e-peer to, again, help catalyze some redevelopment. Now, what we're proposing, we're not changing the eligibility requirements for these new areas.

[00:15:14] It would be consistent with the current program in terms of what would be an eligible redevelopment type, commercial, industrial, multifamily. We are keeping with the same consolidation requirements of two properties totaling at least two acres.

[00:15:36] And it could be, there could be a portion of existing development that could be retained, it could be repurposed, or it could be totally redeveloped. So now we have proposed dates that are a little, may seem a little bit far out of January 2030.

[00:15:58] Part of that, I can tell you with the Lake Ann Residential Market Assessment, We have looked at the 10-year market demand, and there's a lot of development currently in the pipeline around the Reston Metro Rail stations.

[00:16:13] And this date, we feel, would respond to that market assessment as well as allow time for potentially complicated consolidation redevelopment with multiple property owners.

[00:16:30] Similarly, the Huntington one is time to some transportation infrastructure coming online as well as when we've talked to many of the landowners when they think they could realistically bring a project online.

[00:16:49] So these are the two additional areas we're proposing, and we welcome any questions or comments that you may have about this. well thank you liz and i'm happy to go down the line uh yeah oh yeah please yeah chairman mckay please i'm in a different line that's all right that's all right um i i just had a quick simple question the um two areas i mean i appreciate that you've given us some data um you know real estate assessments and other things i'm

[00:17:29] just curious when we set up the original ones did we use the same data to look at these two expansion areas and were there other areas of the county that we also looked at that are close calls or were not included for some other reason? It is the same data. We pulled the same data.

[00:17:49] I have not been directed to look at other areas, so I don't have other, we don't just go out and kind of pull data and see, you know, how other areas are performing, but we were directed to look at these two areas and perform the same background data collection.

[00:18:14] I'm sorry. And then I think the following question to that is maybe you should look at the data and see if there's any other areas that have similar kinds of characteristics as what we're looking at here. I know these are unique in some ways, but I'll...

[00:18:31] Yeah, I mean, I think my reason for asking for it is to not be responsive necessarily to a proposal that we got or an idea that we have, but actually being fair and responsive to what is actually happening on the ground and having criteria that we use for this as opposed to an appearance that, you know, we're chasing a particular concept.

[00:18:53] And so when you say, you know, I wasn't directed to look at any other areas, I think it's a good conversation for us to have as a board is maybe that's not the right standard. Maybe it's triggered by other economic data that the county keeps that becomes quasi-automatic to say, hey, we should look at this area as opposed to being directed to look at that area.

[00:19:14] Exactly. I think that's your question is an excellent one for that. And if I may just add, that may be something that we work with DEI on as they're doing their place-led economic development, that they're collecting similar data that could lead to that.

[00:19:31] But, yeah, I could see that tie-in. Thank you. I'm going to go to the vice chair next so I don't get in trouble again. I really appreciate the chairman chairman's questions because, you know, when I look at this and I look at the size of our county and you wonder why these, and you talked about it was for economic development purposes and property consolidation.

[00:19:59] And so I guess I would like a better understanding of, and I know you said you were directed, but really the effects of this and the impact and the benefit from the county from picking these locations, and then how you would visualize the consolidation happening.

[00:20:22] Sure. If I can step back to when we were proposing the original program, the thought was that we should focus, and it's been a county policy, a land use policy, to focus development into our commercial revitalization districts and areas.

[00:20:41] So that is tied into a comprehensive plan strategy, whereas other areas we, you know, there are other categories of activity centers that we're directing growth to, but those have had a county priority.

[00:20:59] And so I think when we started this with an initial program, it was like, well, let's, like many things, let's pilot that. Let's look at those areas first, see how it goes. And it may be that we're at a point where it's time to consider whether other areas need similar intervention.

[00:21:20] But that was the thinking at the time that's consistent with our land use policies and to get an initial program out the door and try it. I appreciate that. And I do have one more question because you talked about comparisons of the increase of property values to these certain properties. And sometimes that's affected by how the properties were taken care of over time. And so it's not so much a consequence of where something's located, it's how it was taken care of. Reminds me of our school board days. There

[00:21:57] were certain principals that took good care of their schools. There were other principals that let them go and they thought they should be renovated first but that's not where they were in the queue and so you know my thinking comes back to that personal responsibility too along the way and you know where do you find the best thing to do this and evaluation was one piece of it we also looked at development activity and the challenges of achieving the comprehensive plan vision. And these areas, both Lake Ann and Huntington, have struggled mightily to achieve

[00:22:33] that vision. And so it's a combination of factors, art and science, that feeds into these selections. Thank you, Liz. And just maybe on the point for Huntington, there's lots of levels of challenges and we've spent years trying to address and overcome those challenges and continue to get new challenges as you address a couple of them.

[00:23:01] So this is a way to maybe get us past that, but there's no guarantees, not at all. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. So specific to Lake Ann, yeah, Lake Ann's been a revitalization area since revitalization areas were created, I think, a couple decades ago or longer.

[00:23:26] Yeah. But I think this is the right time. We did hold off putting Lake Anne into this program several years ago because it wasn't ready. There wasn't really any – it wasn't anywhere near getting to the point of having any redevelopment, except on the one parcel, Lake Anne Fellowship House, where, frankly, the old building was falling apart and had to be replaced with a new building.

[00:23:55] So that's one piece that has gone forward, and I think the numbers would have looked even worse if that had not happened. But I do want to just make sure everybody who's following Lake Ann understands that the historic nature of Lake Ann is respected in this process.

[00:24:15] Really, the comprehensive plan does a good job of laying out all the historic considerations for Lake Ann and the preservation goals, those are not changed at all, or would not be changed with the addition of this. So, yeah, I just want to make sure that this respects the clear guidance and the comprehensive plan. So, thank you, Mr. Chairman. Absolutely, and that's actually built into the ordinance. Thank you. James? Thank you, Mr. Chairman. One of the, part of the rationale

[00:24:52] now for the program, it's not just revitalization, but it's to encourage consolidation of parcels where consolidation has been a barrier maybe to revitalization and redevelopment. And I'm wondering, especially as we're looking at adding new areas, what are we doing to ensure that we are getting true new assemblages? In other words, what are we doing to prevent somebody who owns a parcel in one of these upcoming or prospective areas from disassembling, distinction

[00:25:31] from dissembling, but disassembling an existing parcel and then coming back to us two years from now and saying, I've got a newly proposed assemblage of parcels here and I should be eligible for this tax abatement. Yeah, so currently we adhere strictly to the language of the ordinance and I can refer to our county attorney perhaps to speak more to that issue.

[00:26:02] I was going to say the other thing that we know is the board gets to decide, and if that's what's believed to be happening, then we can choose not to support the implementation or the... Even if they're consistent with the ordinance? The board, Corinne Lockett with the county attorney's office, the board has ultimate discretion with every application that comes across and can make a decision based upon just solely on your own discretion as to whether or not it passes.

[00:26:30] So there is always some wiggle room there. That is an issue that's been happening, though. It's my understanding that a lot of developers are coming in, dividing, subdividing, and reassembling and changing names and changing their corporate structure and retitling to get around, I mean, some of these loopholes.

[00:26:47] And that's something that we could tighten up, but if we tighten it up, then they'll find something else or you may kill some consolidation redevelopment that you didn't want to kill. So that certainly is a policy decision.

[00:27:03] But under the current ordinances, which are in place, those programs are kind of set in stone. But these could be amended to address some of those issues depending on the board's discretion. All right. I mean, to me, if somebody is gaming the system, it just damages the credibility of the program and is contrary to the purpose of the program.

[00:27:26] So at a minimum, I think if that happens, when one of these comes to the board, we need to have an understanding of those timelines. There was an ownership change, a new LLC was created, so we can make a determination. It probably is a longer-term process to determine whether we need to tighten up the ordinance itself.

[00:27:46] It seems to me that you could say, for example, we're looking at some of these districts, and you would have to have the same rules for each district, obviously. we're looking at a district where eligibility would start in 2025, you could say that the parcels that exist as of the date of adoption are the parcels that can be considered for assemblage.

[00:28:09] In other words, you can't divide your parcels after we adopt the ordinance update adding these new areas. I don't see why we wouldn't look at something like that. Now, maybe you would have folks between now and when we adopt that trying to divide up their parcels.

[00:28:27] But I feel like we have to get our arms around that, because I don't actually think us denying something like that would be preventing revitalization. I think what that demonstrates is that development was going to happen, and they're trying to figure out a way to get the tax abatement on top of the development that they were already planning to do.

[00:28:47] Otherwise, they wouldn't be dividing their parcels. So I think we've got to get our arms around that. So just for me, at a minimum, when any of these come to us, I want to know that history of those parcels. And I think we also should look at, is there language that we think we could come up with to amend the ordinance to put a stop or halt anyone from going in that direction?

[00:29:12] It's unfair to those who aren't doing that, quite frankly, who aren't eligible for the program. We could certainly add restrictions into the terms of the new ordinance. Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Supervisor Stoick, and I think this is really going back to not to add more work, but as we do that thorough review, and I appreciate you working with the Department of Economic Initiatives on this, a question I have, maybe because I have so many of these borders, are to look at where we border other jurisdictions, where sometimes they are building

[00:29:47] something that maybe has a negative impact on our ability to match that, so whether it's the cities or surrounding counties. I mean, I think you already have a few of these are along the border with Arlington. And I think we sometimes see that stark contrast between city versus county and the development opportunities there. So just something to look at as well.

[00:30:11] All right. Thank you. Yes. Andres. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And obviously, if we look at this slide number five, we definitely see that a lot of these economic incentive areas are in Mason District, which I think is a good thing. But what I'd like to ask of you is, one, what are we doing to get the word out that these areas exist? Two, how are we trying to overcome some of the hurdles when we hit those hurdles? So one, we've reached out to someone and

[00:30:48] then there's some hurdles, obviously, that come up with that or whatever they may be. How are we trying to jump over those? So question one is, how are we getting the word out? Two, how are we trying to jump those hurdles sure so we do periodic outreach and and marketing to various groups um i just recently did a presentation to the mount vernon lee or mount vernon springfield chamber um so we we do that um we have had um we have helped some properties uh some some have managed to do it on their own, the consolidation.

[00:31:25] I'm thinking of one on Richmond Highway where there was a guy wanting to do townhomes, and we worked with him kind of through the process, the development process, and how the two property owners could work together.

[00:31:43] So it's kind of facilitating often the rezoning case that goes concurrent with the application that we work with them on. Okay, thank you. Thank you. Any other colleagues? If not, thank you very much. Liz, appreciate your presentation.

[00:32:07] And we're going to move on to the next presentation. And I think we have Rebecca, would you like to initiate that for us? Yeah. Hi. Good afternoon. Rebecca Mowgli with the Fairfax County Department of Economic Initiatives. Happy to be here. Talk about something very important and actually a great kind of transition from the last discussion.

[00:32:29] So I'm going to provide just a very brief introduction and introduce our speakers in turn. So this place development is not a new topic for the board. We have come forward several times to discuss place development, which through kind of our business-focused lens, we have called place-led economic development.

[00:32:49] For example, last December, we presented our findings from the pilot commercial corridor analyses. And at that December committee meeting, we heard from the president of the BC7RC, which is now called the Crossroads and Corners Coalition, looking at Supervisor, did I get that right?

[00:33:10] Okay. C3. And Mr. Van Atta spoke to the importance of data to help develop organizational strategy, focus, and to attract investment opportunities. We've also heard from the community revitalization section just now, today, and on many other occasions on individual projects and initiatives in revitalization districts focused on placemaking or place development.

[00:33:37] So the goal of today's discussion is to learn from our two county-supported place development organizations that are working in very different areas of the county, the Richmond Highway Corridor and Tyson's. And through the board's support, these two organizations are on the ground every single day to build on local community assets, to support local businesses, to address gaps, and create new opportunities. Their presentation is intended to highlight the activities and systems that are effectively supporting place-led economic development,

[00:34:13] as well as present some best practices or models that can be considered for other organizations or in other areas of the county. So with that, I'll first introduce Evan Kaufman. Evan is the executive director of the Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation.

[00:34:30] He comes to Fairfax with experience in downtown development and other Virginia communities, where he facilitated the redevelopment of historic properties, fostered local entrepreneurship, and also organized community events. Evan, please.

[00:34:46] Thank you, Rebecca. Thank you. Thank you for having me today, and I'm excited to share about the Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation, what we do to help further placemaking, economic development in that part of the county.

[00:35:04] So SFDC is the shorthand, so I'll be using that. It's a long name, but it was started in the early 80s, and I think it was really started by some local residents, community members, as well as people on the board that wanted to make sure that the disinvestment that was happening and the changes in economics weren't going to severely impact the corridor and wanted to make sure that it could stay kind of revitalized and modernized as economic changes were happening.

[00:35:40] And a lot of credit goes to Chairman McKay for his time working with the organization over the years, as well as Supervisor Stork and Supervisor Lusk, who have been working on the Richmond Highway Corridor for decades. And I've been there for about four years, and I've seen the fruits of a lot of that labor are starting to come out right now, especially with the Embark plan that's happening.

[00:36:06] and a lot of the development that we're seeing with the EIP incentives and other things. And the corridor is really ripe right now for a lot of development. And so we focus more on that local placemaking, kind of Main Street-type organization.

[00:36:24] And we have a three-point plan that I developed when I started, really focusing on placemaking, site development, and business development. And I'll kind of use some examples to show how we integrate these within the organization.

[00:36:41] But as you might be aware, the corridor has a lot of hardscape. You know, it's not too much greenery. It's a little tough to look at. And it's, you know, a reason why a lot of people will drive through. And so working with some of the larger developers and shopping centers down there, we're trying to soften up that hardscape a little bit.

[00:37:02] And so one example is that we worked with Federal Realty at the Mount Vernon Plaza Shopping Center, and we utilized some of the people on our committee to develop this parklet project. And we came up with the design and kind of talked Federal Realty into the benefits of having this within their center and creating more of a community feel within this sea of parking that was really there.

[00:37:27] And luckily, they bought into this plan, and they invested $400,000 into creating this kind of community-centered space in the center of their plaza. And so we've kind of taken that and worked to activate it with numerous events.

[00:37:43] We do a lot of art-type events, incorporating the arts, teaching arts, also literary arts. And these events, and not only at that site, but we've also done some in front of the original Mount Vernon High School on the lawn and held a summer picnic there.

[00:37:59] But it really starts creating this sense of community where people can gather and meet with their neighbors. And that kind of activity is vital towards not only economic development, but towards community development. So people take pride and have a sense of place and purpose and where they live.

[00:38:18] And I just want to point out that the area that we cover is from Fort Belvoir to the Capitol Parkway. So it's about a 10-mile stretch of corridor. So it's a pretty large area for a small organization, but we do our best working with partners and other community groups to kind of impact each of the areas.

[00:38:38] And then another kind of placemaking initiative that we've been working on to enhance the aesthetics and soften up the hardscape is large-scale murals. So this was our first mural, and then as we started doing it, other developers started catching on, and they started doing them on their own properties.

[00:38:56] Even some of the new developments have now incorporated murals. This was our second mural, which is in the Pendaw area on the side of Zips Dry Cleaning, and it was really cool. We got a lot of community input on this, did a lot of surveys, and it really shows the culture and diversity of the Richmond Highway corridor with a lot of different themes going on there, and we think it came out really well, and we've gotten a lot of compliments on this piece. And then this was our most recent mural that we finished. This was on the side of Rising Hope Church off of Russell Road, kind of in High

[00:39:31] Blue Valley. And this is a very important area because this church provides a lot of services to the community, and in that area there are a lot of services for lower-income individuals. And so being able to provide access to high-quality arts, especially in lower income and disadvantaged areas, is really impactful in bringing a sense of pride to these people and where they live.

[00:39:56] And so we've been very proud of this mural program, and we plan to continue. And then taking it a step further, we've kind of taken this placemaking, and we partnered with the Urban Land Institute. We got a grant, and they came in and working with the Department of Planning as well, contributed to help make this happen.

[00:40:15] But we did a bunch of community stakeholder meetings, got a bunch of people in a room and got ideas, and they developed a report kind of focused on placemaking in each of the areas along the Richmond Highway Corridor and how we can better enhance the community utilizing placemaking strategies.

[00:40:34] And actually, one of the first projects that we did that came out of that was this uh sculpture piece from a local resident um who lives nearby and he's a welder by trade and kind of does this as a hobby and so we were turned on to him um by this uli session that we had the from the volunteers in the community you know saw what we were doing they're like you have to meet our neighbor who's doing these amazing sculptures and we introduced to him and we were able to facilitate this to have it displayed in front of the south county government center and we plan to do a lot more with public sculptures in the near future. And this is just showing you the impact

[00:41:12] that some small, small placemaking can have on an area. And this is a strategy called crime prevention through environmental design, SEPTED. But by changing, you know, a little bit of color, street furniture, you can actually reduce crime in areas and also enhance shopping and aesthetics because the places start to look a lot more cared for.

[00:41:37] It looks safe, inviting, and you could see the top and the bottom examples of just adding even some small interventions can have a huge difference. And then even further, okay, this slide is a couple on top of each other, so you can't see it all, but we're working to create almost a mural through landscaping at the gateway to the county.

[00:42:03] And so this was an older gateway area with really outdated planters and landscaping. And this is the visualization for the redevelopment of it. And the planning department has helped to develop a new sign that incorporates the new branding of Potomac Banks.

[00:42:23] And we've created this floral design, almost a mural through the landscaping that's going to really pop when you come into the Richmond Highway Corridor from the city of Alexandria through that gateway. So utilizing murals on walls, murals on the ground, public sculptures, pretty much any and all kinds of art to really enhance the look and feel of the area.

[00:42:44] And then the other kind of piece that we focus on is site development. And we do this depending on the situation, but we try to find underutilized properties, blighted properties that are really in need of redevelopment. And so we can kind of act as a facilitator liaison between developers, the county, and the business community.

[00:43:07] And we work to build relationships with all the property owners of the buildings as well so we can know what they're doing, if they want to sell, if they don't want to sell, if they want help revitalizing it, you know, what do they want to do? And if they do want to sell, we can help to market or combine parcels to create opportunities for redevelopment and then come up with ideas that really meet what the community is looking for.

[00:43:32] So this is just an example of something that we came up with that would really create this activated first floor outdoor recreation space, greenery area, the kind of quality development that we want to see is what we try to market to developers on specific sites. And then we follow trends as well into the future of development and how do we take what we have and kind of modernize it even before maybe major redevelopment comes. And these are some things that are happening of adding housing into shopping centers,

[00:44:07] And it actually makes it more walkable, denser, and embraces having more housing in your area. And then with the business community, we do a number of business surveys. This was the results of one of the surveys in the top left that show what kind of services that the businesses could really utilize.

[00:44:27] And luckily, Rebecca and DEI have been great at responding with specific grant programs and technical assistance programs that we can offer to the businesses once we find out what their needs are. And then with a subscription to CoStar, we can also help businesses find places to lease on the corridor.

[00:44:43] We can run demographic info for them. We can run all kinds of other business statistics that they would use in determining where to open their business. And then we take a lot of that data and information and also bring it to our annual economic outlook in which we partner with the Chamber of Commerce.

[00:45:04] And we also work a lot with the Department of Planning, and Joanne Phoebe has been instrumental in working with us from the Community Revitalization Office on a daily basis, pretty much, on working on different projects. And we've had her speak a couple times at the Outlook event, which really provides the community, businesses, and developers with insights into what's happening in the area, what are the real estate trends, what are the business trends, what are the new incentive programs available.

[00:45:33] And it's really been a great opportunity to market the corridor. And so closing up just our future plans, we intend to continue focusing on the placemaking aspect where we have an idea of changing the Richmond Highway into the Richmond Artway so that it's almost a driving museum.

[00:45:52] Every, you know, mile there'll be different pieces, whether it's murals, sculptures, landscaping, really changing that aesthetic and view of how you feel about the corridor when you're on it. And then continuing to work with DEI and the Department of Planning and targeted business recruitment strategies.

[00:46:09] What are the types of businesses that we really want to see on the corridor and going after them? And then just some best practices about the organization is we're really a lean organization. I'm the only staff, and we kind of did that purposefully when I started.

[00:46:25] We had one more staff. She found another job, and we were able to use kind of technology to fill that spot and use that funding that would have went there to do more projects. So we run a really lean organization in order to be able to focus on doing projects and making things happen.

[00:46:43] And we also look to get a lot of grants that are available so we can enhance our small budget with other funding sponsorships and things like that. But all in all, I think it's been a great program for the corridor.

[00:47:01] I think it's important to focus on the right size projects. We can't tackle something huge, but we can do these smaller interventions. And over time, those small interventions, I think, add up to something big. So with that, I'll ask if there's any questions, I'd be happy to answer.

[00:47:19] I think if it's okay, we're going to move into the next presentation, and we'll take questions at the end. So I'll go ahead and introduce – thank you very much, Evan. I'll introduce Katie and Josh. So Katie Crystal is the Chief Executive Officer of the Tyson's Community Alliance.

[00:47:35] She's served in this role for going on one year, I think exactly, and previously served in elected office in Arlington for more than seven years, working on topics including transportation, housing, and development. Katie is joined by Josh White, the TCA Board Chair.

[00:47:52] I can attest that Josh devotes a considerable time to this volunteer role, but in his professional capacity. Josh works on real estate development in the region as a senior vice president for Elcor. So Katie and Josh, please. Great. Thank you. And good afternoon, everyone. Thank you to Supervisor Stork and to Rebecca for the invitation to present the Economic Initiatives Committee this afternoon. As always, it's a pleasure for us to be here and we welcome the opportunity to share with you the updates for the Tyson's Community Alliance. Before we start, from our

[00:48:28] board members, our community partners, and our staff. We would like to thank the entire board of supervisors for your generous support and continued efforts towards the Tyson's Community Alliance. We couldn't do it without you, and we appreciate your partnership. I'll start today with a brief overview of the TCA's strategic planning process, and then Katie will highlight the activities from our inaugural year, discuss lessons learned, and what's next for our organization.

[00:48:55] In the spring of 2023, the TCA commissioned the Tyson's Market Study to assess and benchmark current market conditions, as well as provide insight for our ongoing strategic planning efforts.

[00:49:14] In addition to offering what we hope is relevant, useful, and succinct information, the findings of the market study helped inform the TCA key initiatives over the next several years. We started with a market study to inform our task groups, but it also brought its own ROIs, which it was viewed more than 2,000 times, and that's the number of downloads that it has received.

[00:49:38] We've also generated 23 news stories that drew on the data that we provided in our market study. So we've seen this information used throughout the community as well. As part of the strategic planning process, we established six task groups of nearly 80 stakeholders comprised of residents, public and private sector individuals, which convened throughout the summer and fall of last year.

[00:50:05] In addition to the work product generated, we received enthusiastic feedback from participants, many of whom expressed that this process was their first opportunity to work hand-in-hand with our counterparts from other sectors, again, the public, private, institutional, and civic associations, on a shared vision.

[00:50:29] The community engagement in conjunction with the market study is captured in our December 2023 Connecting Tyson's A Collective Strategic Plan, which I believe you have a copy of as well. This forward-looking plan identified five key themes.

[00:50:48] Cultivate and promote identity, energize place, build connections and enhance mobility, build a livable and inclusive community, and foster a vital economy. Connecting Tyson spells out a mandate for the TCA and its partners to do exactly that, connect and collaborate with residents, workers, and other community members from both the private and public sector, and driven by our belief that Tyson's is made strong by the contributions of everyone with a stake in its future.

[00:51:21] The value of connection has inspired the activities and achievements of the TCA that Katie will discuss next. Thank you. Thank you, Josh. I'd like as well to echo Josh's thanks to Rebecca, to this board, to county staff, certainly for the invitation today, and above all, as Josh mentioned, for the support that you've provided to our organization and the Tysons community. So fiscal 2024 was the TCA's first full year of operations, and above all, this was a year of making connections. You have a copy of our annual report, which I'll reference throughout, and we look forward to following up with anyone who

[00:51:58] may be interested in the activities presented therein. Our communications and branding and engagement team prioritized connecting with the Tysons community this year. We had nearly 31,000 visitors to Tysons digital front door of tysonsva.org and 10,486 monthly deliveries of our newsletter. We produced 27 different events from costume movie nights to bike rides and mobility programs to a policy workshop on affordable housing. We launched our new Tysons teammates Community Engagement Program, and we welcomed 115 new teammates to volunteer, to network,

[00:52:36] to socialize, to give back, and to learn from the Tysons community. We used the Connecting Tysons Collective Strategic Plan that Josh mentioned as a springboard for our placemaking program into both a long-range strategy and tactical community improvements. First, we convened a diverse group of Tysons perspectives, from major private sector marketers to experts in diverse and inclusive engagement from within the county to workshop a vision for coordinated placemaking. And then we took those ideas to the community. 115 people joined us at the placemaking fest at the park to learn through play what placemaking is all about and to provide

[00:53:14] their priorities for what can change or grow or become more beautiful or safer or inviting in Tyson's. And we moved tactically too. We introduced a colorful mural that highlights the asset of the pedestrian bridge over 495, put stakes in the ground for seven new wayfinding signs, Metro Station obelisks that provide maps and information to visitors, and we partnered with SCG Development, VDOT, and the Fairfax County DPD, as well as Supervisor Palchik's office, to launch the beautification at the intersection of 123 and 7. This is a crossroads at the heart of Tyson's, and what is, we hope, the start of a partnership that we will expand with VDOT

[00:53:53] on their acres of under-maintained right-of-way throughout Tysons. Almost nothing is more critical to the goal of connecting Tysons than improving the ways that we move around. And this year, our transportation and mobility program focused on stakeholder engagement and laying the groundwork to support the transportation infrastructure in Tysons.

[00:54:13] We told our mobility story to more than 55 Virginia localities and 10 planning district commissions and 6 metro planning organizations at the VDOT Land Use Forum by invitation this year. And we welcome more than 50 interested stakeholders to our inaugural Tyson's Transportation Open House, which provided an opportunity for VDOT and FCDOT to share information about their capital projects, as well as for us to share more about our own transportation work.

[00:54:39] We successfully sought a nearly $100,000 grant from the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation for this summer's Walk, Bike, Roll Transportation Demand Management Campaign. You've got a copy of our Get Around Guide in your materials. And indeed, supervisors are in fact eligible for the $15 gift card for anyone who completes the routes, again, supported by our partners at Virginia DRPD. And we have been conducting research and building relationships with both FCDOT and VDOT to develop a group of prospective tactical and small capital improvements

[00:55:15] that are going to make active and sustainable transportation modes like walking and biking feel safer and more accessible for the Tysons community in the year ahead. Finally, this is the year in which our research and business support launched the Tysons Data Hub.

[00:55:33] In addition to the extensive market study and strategic planning process that Josh mentioned, Our research and business support team spent the year working on this data hub, which just launched last week. It is a comprehensive and user-friendly data and information resource that empowers all kinds of different users, residents, business owners, property developers, policy makers, to explore a wide range of facts and figures about Tysons through dynamic metrics, graphs, interactive visualizations that draw on more than 10 different data sources and our own proprietary market knowledge.

[00:56:06] The Data Hub also features an interactive development pipeline map, which has been produced in close collaboration with Fairfax County DPD that provides users with project-by-project views of all delivered under construction and improved development since 2010. We've had that pipeline in beta testing for the last six weeks, and I've gotten some fantastic feedback about use cases.

[00:56:27] One of my favorite, because it really highlights an area that's needed in Tysons, as well as I know county-wide, was a broker supporting a child care center about where to locate in Tysons. And that center, with the help of the broker, was able to use the data hub to identify where the population, and particularly the population with families, might be coming in the Tysons area.

[00:56:45] Finally, it has been an incredibly dynamic year for this organization itself. We've grown from two FTE at the start of the year to seven, and we're supported by six incredible collaborators running on our team. We're proud of the work programs that we've developed with the input and guidance of our board that guide all of the accomplishments that I've just mentioned.

[00:57:04] And we're thrilled to be emerging as a trusted thought partner and an expert on Tysons, with a diverse network of regional and local organizations from MoMATA to the Urban Land Institute to Arts Fairfax and BizNow, turning to the TCA for presentations or to participate in work groups about our interconnected future.

[00:57:23] A couple of lessons learned, so far at least, from year one. The first is that place-based organizations like the TCA tap into an underused economic development resource, which is people. We created a lot of opportunities for stakeholder engagement, and the appetite for participation and giving back to Tyson's has exceeded even our most ambitious plans.

[00:57:44] I mentioned our 115 teammates. Josh talked about our engaged task group members. We went out to survey the community as part of that strategic planning process and got more than 800 participants sharing their thoughts about what they want to see happen in Tyson's. This suggests that Tyson's has had a lot of untapped human capital to activate not only in economic development, but in community development. And the second lesson is that short-term wins are important and deep impact takes time. The TCA has had a lot of starting advantages in supportive board of directors members from the public and private sector, a blueprint from a stakeholder group that was convened by the county before the TCA took form,

[00:58:24] and in dedicated financial support. Thank you again. Because of those advantages, in this first year we've been able to, and we're proud to show, some short-term wins with shovels in the dirt, paint on walls. But more meaningful and strategy-furthering projects actually do take time. It takes time to create and then build upon the common vision as with the strategic plan or the placemaking framework that we'll be launching next week, and to work carefully with the stakeholders to ensure, and this is important to us, that our work is additive and never duplicative. That's true with the data hub and its relationship to the Tyson's tracker.

[00:58:59] It's true with the conversations we've been having with FCDOT and VDOT on capital projects. So I'll conclude just a couple of thoughts on what's next. We have an ambitious agenda for fiscal 25 shown here. I would again encourage you to spend a little time with our annual report.

[00:59:15] It provides more details on each of the activities in our work program and how they build upon our inaugural year activities. But just two themes to highlight across these efforts. One is elevating the Tysons brand. That's literally true with a paid media campaign that we've got planned and aimed to attract private sector partnership on.

[00:59:33] and through data, as with our soon-to-come quarterly market intelligence reports. And another major theme across these areas is building a more visible sense of place and a more connected community. And that's true, as I've mentioned, through capital projects or public art, a growing Tyson's Teammates platform, and programming that leans into Tyson's strengths.

[00:59:52] And I'll leave you with a couple of flyers before we go today as examples of those types of programming are Copa Tyson's Summer of Soccer, watch parties for the Copa America and the EuroCup, really leaning into the incredible international community of Tysons, and our Metro Musician Series that is happening now, Thursdays throughout the summer, to activate our incredible asset of four Silver Line stations.

[01:00:14] So that concludes our presentation. We look forward to the opportunity to answer any questions you may have. And again, we are so grateful for the support of this board, your staff team, and other county leadership. Thank you, Katie. Thank you very much for the presentation. Appreciate that.

[01:00:31] And, Josh, thank you very much for coming and spending time to be with us today. And I'm going to turn to the chairman and let him get us started. I just want to thank our presenters. I think what you just saw are two very different areas of the county that remarkably have adopted some of the same philosophies and are seeing some of the same success.

[01:00:52] And I would say that, you know, without that support, many of those things would not be happening. And so I really appreciate the presentation and the importance of the work you're doing both in revitalizing an area and in taking advantage of an area that needs walkability, creativity, and interest.

[01:01:12] And so I think what's been presented has been helpful. I guess the question, ultimate question always for probably all of you is are there any things that are being done within the geographic areas that you represent through your organizations that strike you as why isn't this happening in other parts of the county?

[01:01:36] Because one of the things that, you know, we hope to do as we invest in these organizations is, and it may be too early to do this, but how can we take some of the elements of what you're doing and replicate those in the parts of the county that don't have the apparatus that we've put into the Richmond Highway Corridor and to Tyson's?

[01:01:55] because clearly our sustained support for these two organizations could not, we couldn't sustain that in every corner of the county, but many of the things that you're doing are things that are coveted and wanted in other parts of Fairfax County.

[01:02:10] And so I know that when we made the investment in these organizations, we said we hope to be able to pull out ideas and blueprints and things from the work that you're doing and replicate them elsewhere. And so I just don't want us to lose thought of that, Because clearly, in Richmond Highway and in Tyson's, there's plenty to keep you busy.

[01:02:29] But ultimately, for us, there's a lot of other areas of the county that need this kind of support as well. And so at a certain juncture, we really need to look at that and turn the page on that. But I do think return on investment here is strong.

[01:02:45] You know, I recently spoke to the Tyson's partnership, and, you know, I'm just amazed every time I go into Tyson's to see the amount of people and pedestrians that are out and about. And as someone who, you know, like others, has lived here for a long time, you never saw anyone in Tyson's unless they were in the mall, in their office, or in their car.

[01:03:05] And now you're seeing them out and about everywhere in a really evolving, walkable area. And certainly on the Richmond Highway corridor, the flair and the color that's come into the highway of interest and focus on arts and things has excited that entire community.

[01:03:21] And so we need to keep this momentum going, but it's a reminder for us that these investments pay dividends in creating places where people want to be, which drives economic development. So great presentations. I think the differences between the two locations is remarkable, but they have similar directions that they're going.

[01:03:42] And Richmond Highway is seven miles and is a lot of ground to cover. And you've, I think, Evan, I know from personal experience, you've found a way to spend very little money, stretch that a long way, and start creating the things that will complement the other investments that are being made on Richmond Highway.

[01:04:02] So that alone is a key, and a lot of that has to do with the next five to 10 to 20 years, whereas Tyson's maybe a similar kind of trajectory, but it's more contained, and frankly, you already have a lot of the core infrastructure there that now you're just trying to build on.

[01:04:21] So those are models that I think can hopefully help others to identify ways that they can. And, Dan, before we turn to others, I think the one thing that you just reminded me of is both of these areas are also places where we know major infrastructure improvements are happening.

[01:04:38] And so, you know, we made a huge investment in the Silver Line. We want to see a return on that investment. We're making a $1 billion-plus lifetime investment in the Richmond Highway Corridor and infrastructure improvements. And so when you pair that with what's happening, these organizations, the importance of them has never been higher because we need not only help implementing the infrastructure projects, but we also need tremendous help working through the challenges that come with those, but also delivering the economic development return on the investments the public is making in those areas.

[01:05:14] Yeah, that leverage is critical. Partnerships are critical. So thank you. Did you want to? I'm just jealous. No. Get some paint. I guess I'll go down the row, and Supervisor Waukesha, we'll start with you.

[01:05:33] Thank you, and thank you both. And, Evan, I really appreciate your approach, and I like that, you know, we're looking for pearls, not diamonds. That's good. and I might steal that. That's good. Ms. Crystal, I think the assessment of the private real estate market in particular is really useful, so thank you all for undertaking that work. I do want to just maybe you can enlighten me a little bit on that population growth, the residential population

[01:06:05] growth, and I'm just trying to reconcile the 100,000 resident target in the plan with the trends that you identified in the assessment, the 15,000 additional renting households and 4,400 additional housing units by 2032, which seems would put us below the kind of annual number we would need to to reach the hundred thousand by 2050 uh so i guess this question is

[01:06:43] like do what do you see as the pace of residential growth um obviously slowed down by a recession and and a pandemic um but how do you see that growth moving forward and and what do you see as the delta between the current growth that we're seeing and the 100,000 person projection I'm going to get back to you on the annualized growth relative to the 2050 goal.

[01:07:20] I don't want to cite the incorrect numbers. Our data hub has that, and we can absolutely provide it. Maybe a couple of comments about what we're seeing in the real estate market. We are continuing to see delivery of residential, which is encouraging. We've seen, for example, most recently, about six to eight months ago, the most recent residential project, the Hemming just opened near the McLean Station.

[01:07:42] We also know that we have, importantly, about 537 units of committed affordable housing underway. The Spring Hill Station, in about three weeks, there will be a ribbon cutting for a project that is already shovels in the dirt. the SOMOS project for an additional 100 plus units of committed affordable housing as well.

[01:08:02] So we are continuing to see construction and delivery of the homes, essentially, that will support that growing population. I can also follow up with you and get you information about the lease up rates, which are quite competitive, I think, with what we're seeing, the original comparators about how long between when those new apartments come online and when they're occupied with the households. Josh, would you add anything? I know this is an area you have a lot of vocational experience in. I'll blur lines here between my role as the chairman and my professional role. Look, I think what we've seen in Tyson's is that there was a significant amount of development

[01:08:38] following the adoption of the comprehensive plan in 2010. And because of that, there was a lot of product that was delivered in a relatively short amount of time. Those projects started to compete against one another. And so Katie's right, the absorption was tremendous, but we did see the impacts of, you know, several buildings delivering at one time. That's coupled with, you know, the pandemic and now much higher interest rates and cost of construction. And so we've seen that slow down a little bit. But what I think we're finding in Tyson's right now is that there's this real effort to blur the lines between what we kind of call the neighborhood communities. Each metro

[01:09:16] station has kind of taken on a a community of its own a neighborhood of its own right and i think that's that's intentional for several reasons one as you all appreciate the just the geographic size of tyson's really mandates that you're going to have to kind of break it down and it's kind of these smaller markets i think where our role where we see our role as the tyson's community alliance is starting to help create the connectivity where there's not where there's not those developments that are there to build the infrastructure, we'd like to help support Fairfax County and FCDOT, bridge those communities together, right?

[01:09:54] And I think as you see that, as you bring on more retail and kind of nightlife to the area, we're going to start to see a bigger uptick in some of the residential development as well. But thank you. More anecdotal. Yeah, I'd like to get that. Thank you for that, Josh.

[01:10:09] I'd like to get just kind of your take on the rate because it is an important question, and 100,000, you know, it's not a question of is it 100,000 or 90 or 110, but if you look at the COG housing production goals for the region, there is no area that's, if we don't meet the goals in Tyson's, the region doesn't meet the goals because there isn't really anywhere else to do it. So if we're not on track for that, we kind of need to know that, and the region needs to know that and understand why, and it may or may not be within our control, but I think we need to really have our arms around that as a county and as a region.

[01:10:46] It's an excellent point. And I'll note, perhaps illustrative of the lower baseline, right? But when our market study benchmark Tyson's against not only the regional kind of market comparators, but nationally, and the rate of population growth in Tyson's is extraordinary, right? Relative to anywhere else in the region, and indeed places like Bellevue, Washington, or Buckhead outside of Atlanta and other comparators. But again, you know, sort of the sense of if we're not doing it here we can't do it anywhere. So we will get back to in that sort of annualized rate of population growth and where we think that models us relative to 2050. Okay, thank you. Supervisor Palachuk.

[01:11:21] Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And I want to start by reiterating a line that was said and that place-based organizations are tapping into their untapped capital and the people. And the three people that are right here are just, they're the key. It's not about being jealous. And we saw that with schools as well it's about the leadership right and I am just so impressed by the leadership known Katie and Josh for a while so excited to meet you Evan love what you're doing and I love that it wasn't just pearls and diamonds it was cultivating right and so you're not just chasing

[01:11:58] you're really your work is really to cultivate to create to tap into to help be that like the missing sauce, secret sauce, in such a large county as we tune into those little things. I have to say, I did, we did the green walk and turn it into a loop. It's the only non-loop. It's my first time seeing this map. And this is exactly the kind of map, when I saw the town of Vienna, I was jealous and envious that we didn't have these kinds of maps to help us understand. So I'm hoping we get to do this every year and that we get to help bring this to other parts of the county because it really is the the people level you've got everything here it's like when you go

[01:12:37] visit right somewhere in the summer and and really understand especially as tyson's gets developed there are new trails we were just over at almost the opening of a new pedestrian uh crosswalk that we fought really hard for vdot to approve and it's exciting it takes years uh but as those new little things come along to be able to update these maps so even those of us who are here every day i mean it's four square miles understand what those connections are so I'm very very excited about that and I really do think that especially having all of you here together thinking through how we

[01:13:14] work especially with Rebecca's team on bringing the things that work right to other parts of the county not transplanting the same way you don't want a mosaic everywhere mosaics unique right you don't want the same organization everywhere but what are the things that are really transferable and that made you are making you so successful so that's very exciting when it comes to the the residential I see Tracy sitting back there it's a very important question as you know land use is the biggest piece of that and as we see opportunities in the shift of office forever

[01:13:48] more ability to do mixed use we've already transformed not just planned projects into residential especially for seniors who are feeling more willing that's a big one that i think we want to track as seniors are looking to age in place and that came up i think at the community meeting not wanting to continue to have a huge one bedroom home for one or two people but what are places and we're seeing a lot of that in tyson's where they feel that it is within their realm and they're not just financial but you know physical ability to still be able to be close to the community

[01:14:26] where they lived but maybe have a place that's a little bit more walkable um and so i know there are lots of exciting projects opening up in braddock district um and tyson's district and maybe we can look at that um as to what are the some of the new opportunities um in residential for our seniors looking to age in the county so um just exciting work happy to always see new things and love this challenge and would love to go on if anybody wants to go walk please let us know these are great loops I tried to build them myself so I could not have done as good of a job as you did with this we get credit for past work on that because I've walked all those loops

[01:15:06] start over now but thank you so much very exciting thank you thank you very much I want to start by thanking Evan Kaufman for a number of things. First, his vision, his commitment, his tenacity.

[01:15:27] And when I think about the work that he's done along the corridor, it has been exceptional. The parklet, I knew how much energy it took to get that done. And I also know it did not have a direct path. So finding the funding and really convincing the folks, I think it was convincing the folks at federal ability to to take not take on that project but what you've helped create is something that's going to have lasting impact and to see people engaging in the space and participating in the space is just amazing and then to the folks here um in tyson's having spent

[01:16:05] 24 of my years in service to fairfax county in tyson's um it's amazing to see what's happening there too. And I know you guys have had a pretty significant hand in that. And okay, you're new, but thinking about what has transpired. And anytime I go to the borough, I'm just amazed at not just the mural, it's pretty large, but the idea that there's so many people who are pedestrians and moving through that property. And to think about the opportunity that you have a true mix

[01:16:42] there, including four-cell properties. And if we ever, you know, envision that there'd be the opportunity for that, it's come true at that location. And I'll say thank you for helping us to the chairman's point with the benchmarking, because there's going to be unique opportunities for us to take lessons that are learned in the work that you're doing and apply it in other places. And I think that was one of the things we did talk a lot about as we were making the decision to provide the additional funding and to really get you to the place that you are today.

[01:17:21] So just real excited about all the work that you're collectively doing and really looking forward to seeing what happens in the future. So thank you all. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

[01:17:32] Thank you. So I have a question about the 830 residents, visitors, and employees that you engaged last year. What types of questions were you asking them? What type of feedback were they giving to you? Is there that feedback that the rest of us can get to understand more about what people want in Tyson's? Just can you talk me through that?

[01:18:03] Thank you for asking. Absolutely. So you have inside the annual report is a copy of our Connecting Tyson's Collective Strategic Plan. And on one of the early pages, you'll see some headlines and highlights, I believe, from the community survey. And so just a word about that, that was conducted by our engagement team that were out at our own events, at other events hosted by private property owners and others throughout Fairfax County, really throughout, I'd say, beginning around the start of last summer all the way through about October, November.

[01:18:36] So a nice sample. One of the things that we were so excited about that, about the results of, indicated that the huge majorities of people surveyed who told us they either lived in Tysons or were interested in living in Tysons, which really suggested to us, even when we were interacting with folks who were not current residents, that there was really an appetite for learning more about and considering making a home in this really dynamic community.

[01:19:03] We should be able to share with you the raw data if you're interested to see some of the conclusions that we drew, you know, I think really were endorsements of the kind of basic principles that then inform the strategic plan itself. Connectivity is the biggest need by far. People were able to highlight for us, you know, a greater desire to be able to bike and walk safely or roll as our campaign seeks to be inclusive of all modalities and to be able to do that more safely a real interest in additional parks and recreational amenities which is something that we're trying to seize opportunities to do tactically to activate resources that are already

[01:19:41] there to create some new temporary ones but I think maybe another interesting insight was that the people we engage with that define kind of public gathering spaces pretty broadly one of Tyson's I think greatest successes in public spaces is the indeed public park I believe there's a public access easement on the rooftop at Capital One Center at the Perch, and that emerged as the number one favorite amenity and gathering space in that community survey. I think the last thing I'd pull out just as a highlight that really underscored something that a lot of stakeholders we talk to in Tyson's Elevate, that housing affordability continues to be the greatest challenge in Tyson's. It's part of the reason we're so excited to be welcoming these committed

[01:20:21] affordable homes that I mentioned at Spring Hill and then the SOMOS project. We also, as I mentioned, did a workshop the second annual to try to bring together some innovative ways of thinking about developing affordable housing in a place where development is so expensive and housing is therefore expensive as well. I know that's a top priority for this board and for the county as well. And that was reflected in people's experiences of Tyson's too. Thank you. That's helpful. I want to piggyback off of something that Supervisor Walkinshaw said earlier about how

[01:20:55] if we can't get it right in Tyson's, we can't get it right anywhere in this region. And I am going to make a comment about Tyson's that only I can make. I see it as, well, not only I can make, sorry, the people on that side of the table can't make because the Tyson's Community Alliance, I know does not take certain quote unquote political positions on, on things and does not wade into our land use decisions. I get that. But I look at everything that is here and all the good

[01:21:29] that the Tyson's Community Alliance is doing, and I do not see, for instance, frequently suggested community amenities, a casino. In fact, I see a community center, which would not be great to put next to a casino. Large Central Park, probably not great next to a casino. Museums, not great next to casino. A public pool? Nah, probably not great with a casino either. You know, when I look at the things that you want to focus on, connectivity, where, I'm mixing up my pages there. Ah, here it

[01:22:05] is. Cultivate and promote identity. Well, I don't think it wants to be the casino district. Energize place. Again, don't think that really helps. Build connections and enhance mobility. we talked about the siloing of various neighborhoods in Tyson's. Probably the casino neighborhood would not be one that would want to be connected to other neighborhoods or other neighborhoods wouldn't want to connect to it. So that doesn't really help you. Building a livable and inclusive community, yeah, probably doesn't help you. And fostering a vital economy, again, I think if we're trying to get good businesses to come in to Tyson's and to do things like what

[01:22:43] Capital One did and invest all that money in that area building something like the perch or the Wegmans underneath that allows you them to recruit and retain and bring people back into the office because by the way that's my Wegmans that's where I go shop all the time if I worked at Capital One be a lot easier to get me into the office if I knew that afterwards I could do my grocery shopping maybe meet up for a beer with my colleagues or go to the really really nice restaurants right there

[01:23:12] But that type of investment, I think, gets put in question if people have to ask themselves, what are we going to do with what, frankly, would be a multi-year knockdown drag out fight over a casino that might not even happen.

[01:23:30] So I urge the board to make the Tyson's Community Alliance's job easier by getting this off the table. Anyway, thank you. I think we know Jimmy's position on a casino. I have a simple request for information because when we were talking about, you know, taking things that have been done here and trying to transfer them to other parts of the county, it was a lot of work that Evan did in Route 1 getting the mural project going.

[01:24:00] And we had a presentation on establishing a mural program countywide, and it's been cricket since. So if we can get a NIP updating us on that and where we are, I think that would be helpful because that was one of the pieces of low-hanging fruit that we now have established a tremendous amount of experience in.

[01:24:20] Not that costly. Doesn't require a lot of infrastructure. May even be able to be supported with county funds. But most importantly, setting standard, maintenance standards, legal standards, process, the things that have been gone through with some of those property owners, absolutely is a transferable thing to other parts of the county.

[01:24:39] And I would just like us to get a NIP update on where that stands. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. And, yes, Supervisor. Okay. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Well, first of all, with Supervisor Bierman, my bumper sticker that says no casino agrees with him, as do I.

[01:24:55] But that's not my question. Back to Supervisor Walkinshaw's question about residential absorption, you know, the 2050 number, when the board adopted the comprehensive plan in 2010, 2050 was kind of the default because for comprehensive plan time horizons, it's generally never more than 40 years.

[01:25:18] But that really came from the Tyson's task force chaired by Clark Tyler, which laid out a longer-term vision than really would even fit within a comprehensive plan timeframe. So I think the fact that we may not be hitting 100,000 in 2050, maybe it's 2060, 2070, I don't think it's that big of a deal, to be honest. The other thing that I would note is we also had another goal, and that is 100,000 people and 200,000 jobs. And it looks like, according to

[01:25:56] your fast facts, that we're up to 116,000. And by the way, I'll just point out, we started at under 20,000 people in 2010 and about 100,000 jobs. So we've added, it looks like, over 10,000 residents and about 15,000 jobs in the 14 years since the comprehensive plan was updated.

[01:26:19] So I think it actually would be useful as you look at these numbers in some of the absorption rates, helpful to keep in mind that, yes, we are pointing in that direction.

[01:26:35] But in part, the 2050 number was put in almost as a number for our comprehensive plan time horizon. I've always said it's a three-generation transformation, which would be a little longer. uh than that 40 years um and then the only other thing i would note is um uh i agree if we can't get it right in tyson's we can't get it right anywhere but i would remind uh this board that in reston and this is a friendly competition uh we're uh in our comprehensive plan we're looking

[01:27:09] at 50 to 60 000 additional residents uh over the coming years and um and i think we're seeing what What this really underscores is the whole Dulles Corridor. You know, the Silver Line is really developing, coming into its own, developing, you know, the core population, you know.

[01:27:33] Well, it really is coming into its own as a corridor. And it's a very exciting time. And I think there are a lot of things that we're going to learn as we go. and I'm very optimistic about the future of Tyson's and Reston and really the whole corridor.

[01:27:53] So thank you for your support in that effort. Thanks, Chief Friars Alcorn, and I'm going to elevate it just for a moment to say it all ties together with, I think, the vision of the boards for the last few boards at least. You spoke about this earlier today when you talked about how Richmond Highway, the vision of the bus driver of the transit, and now in Vision 7,

[01:28:16] And really, obviously, the silver lining, you look at all those transportation initiatives, all those planning, a higher level planning, and ultimately the consequences of that is that we have the infrastructure and we're going to, obviously, the people will be joining that infrastructure because it's there and they can take full advantage of it.

[01:28:34] And we can keep growing as a county region because we've been incredibly successful at that. And I don't imagine anything you heard today should defer you or deter you from believing that that will be the case going forward. And my last comment would be the key part of Richmond Highway is changing it from Richmond Highway or Route 1 to changing it to Main Street, Franconia, and Mount Vernon.

[01:29:01] The Main Street part of that is what truly will automatically make a key difference. And that's what we're creating in Tyson's and Ruston and many, many other areas. It's an evolution. It doesn't happen in one day. It happens over decades and generations. But I think we have the vision to make sure that that infrastructure is being built to prepare us for that.

[01:29:21] So thank you all very much for your presentations today. I think it was very helpful and enlightening for all of us. So I appreciate it. And I just have one item, and I just wanted to just check in with the board. We had a board matter, the chairman and I, on the Council for Economic Opportunity, and just wanted to see if anybody had any other questions.

[01:29:40] We talked about it in the previous meeting, but also at the board table. But just we had a moment or two if anybody has any particular questions about how we're moving forward with the Council for Economic Opportunity. It's a great chance to ask those questions. And if not, we're adjourned.

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