Washington, DC – In mid-November, as part of a series of meetings with local economic development organizations, the WBC Regional Development Committee met with Edythe Frankel Kelleher, Executive Director of the Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation (SFDC).  Established in 1981, SFDC focuses on promoting the redevelopment and revitalization of the Richmond Highway corridor of U.S. Route 1 between Ft. Belvoir and the Beltway in Fairfax County.  Over the last thirty-plus years, SFDC has helped direct nearly $2 billion in private investment toward development of the Richmond Highway Corridor.  As a part of our meeting, Kelleher reviewed recent and future developments along the Corridor.

Since implementation of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) recommendations, Fort Belvoir has seen its ranks increase to more than 26,000 employees on post over the past few years.  To accompany that expansion, the Army upgraded its on-base lodging facilities, building a Staybridge Suites on post.

Outside of Fort Belvoir, SFDC saw the completion and opening of number of retail projects like Fordson Place, a new retail center on Richmond Highway between Fordson Road and Boswell Avenue, and Kings Crossing, a retail center just south of the Beltway.   The past two years also saw the opening of mixed-use developments like The Beacon at Groveton, containing 290 upscale apartments and 10,000 of ground-level retail, and new residential developments like the Shelby, a 240-unit luxury apartment building.

Development along the Corridor is far from done, according to Kelleher.  The Hersha Group, a Pennsylvania-based hotel developer, plans on constructing a new Fairfield Inn & Suites at 6417 Richmond Highway.  WBC members should also be on the look-out for development of the following projects in the near future:

• A new Baywood Hotels Town Suites in the Woodlawn Area
• Two new Landmark Atlantic projects – Skyview Phase II, a residential townhome project at the intersection of Richmond Highway and Frye Road, and Mt. Vernon Gateway, a residential project near Buckman Road.
• One Kings: a planned mixed-used replacement for the current Penn Daw Plaza.  The current plan is for 490 apartments and townhomes, plus ground-level retail.
• Emergency Room addition to Inova Mount Vernon Hospital, which is expected to commence sometime in 2015.

As part of the BRAC expansion, the Department of Defense included money to widen Highway 1 around Fort Belvoir.  Unfortunately, the federal appropriation did not cover widening the remaining 2.4 miles between Fort Belvoir and the Beltway.  Although funding has not been finalized, Fairfax County has placed widening the remaining distance high on its wish list of future projects.  Kelleher hoped that funding will be secured and that the Project will be ready to move forward within the next few years.

Kelleher also discussed Fairfax County's efforts to expedite its permitting and development review process – an effort that SFDC (and, no doubt, WBC's members) fully support.  As Kelleher stated, a timely review process helps (not hurts) Fairfax County as the faster development can begin, the faster the County begins receiving tax revenue.  Kelleher stated permit and development applications have increased substantially despite reduced Country resources to conduct review. 

To keep permit and development review moving quickly, Fairfax County anticipates adding several new staff positions.  To help fund those positions, Kelleher stated that the County will likely raise fees on building permits and other related applications.

As a bonus, the Committee learned that Kelleher is the Vice Mayor of the Town of Vienna, Virginia and is currently serving her seventh term on the Town Council.  Kelleher discussed the changing demographics of Vienna and the fact that Vienna just revised its regulations to allow for taller buildings and mixed-use developments in the future.

Kelleher said the Vienna Town Council just approved plans for a new Community Center and expects the RFP will be issued in January/February and welcomes the participation of WBC members.

More information about the Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation can be found at its website, www.sfdc.org, or by calling (703) 360-5008.  Edythe Frankel Kelleher can be reached at SFDC.

Download the Presentation

Washington, DC – Tamara McNulty has been elected Chairman of the Board for the Washington Building Congress.

Representing over 1,050 members, the Washington Building Congress (WBC) is the largest commercial building industry association in the greater Washington and Mid-Atlantic regions. Members include leading commercial developers, building owners, general contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, architects, engineers, attorneys, government officials, service providers and allied organizations.

Ms. McNulty is a Division Senior Counsel, Special Projects with Black & Veatch, an employee-owned, global leader in building Critical Human Infrastructure in Energy, Water, Telecommunications and Government Services.

Other FY’2015 WBC officers elected were:

Chairman-Elect John Barron – Tishman Construction, An AECOM Company
Vice Chairman Dan Buckley – Flippo Construction Company
Vice Chairman Carl Hirrlinger – James G. Davis Construction Corp.
Vice Chairman Joe Schall – PEPCO
Treasurer Mike Baruccheri – Tishman Construction, An AECOM Company
Secretary Katie Garrett – David M. Schwarz Architects
and Immediate Past Chairman Joel Zingeser – Grunley Construction Company

FY’2015 WBC directors include:

Chuck Claar – Hubert Construction
Lynne Coville – Boston Properties
Paul Elias – The JBG Companies
Pat Mercer – Siemens Industry
Ross Rebracca – HITT Contracting Inc.
Allen Slaughter – Dynalectric Company
Brett Snyder – JBGR Retail
Emerson Teer – Clark Construction Group, LLC
Anne Marie Tombros – Vango Construction Consulting

###

The WBC Nominating Committee has met and the slate of candidates listed below has been recommended for a vote of the membership at the annual business meeting on September 30, 2014.  The election will be held during the Fall Kickoff Bull & Oyster Roast celebration.

Chairman of the Board
Tamara McNulty
Black & Veatch

Chairman-Elect
John Barron
Tishman Construction Corporation

Vice Chairman
Dan Buckley
Flippo Construction Company

Vice Chairman
Carl Hirrlinger
DAVIS Construction

Vice Chairman
Joe Schall
PEPCO

Treasurer
Mike Baruccheri
Tishman Construction Corporation

Secretary
Katie Garrett
David M. Schwarz Architects

Immediate Past Chairman
Joel Zingeser
Grunley Construction Company

Directors (Term expires 2017)
Chuck Claar – Hubert Construction
Pat Mercer – Siemens Industry
Ross Rebracca – HITT Contracting, Inc.

The following directors will continue to serve on the board and complete their terms as listed below:

Directors  (Term expires 2015)  
  Paul Elias – The JBG Companies
  Brett Snyder – JBGR Retail
  Lynne Coville – Boston Properties

Directors  (Term expires 2016)  
  Jim Coleman – Varela, Lee, Metz & Guarino
  Emerson Teer – Clark Construction Group
  Anne Marie Tombros – Vango Construction Consulting

Respectfully submitted by the WBC Nominating Committee
    Jim Klein, Chairman

###

WBC Board Approves First Dues Increase in Ten Years.

The WBC Board of Directors has approved a dues increase for Company members to help offset the cost of moving to the new WBC office and Hall of Fame home.  The association’s fiscal and membership years run from October 1 to September 30.

As of October 1, 2014, Company member dues will increase from $845 to $945.  The Additional Representative classification, for Company members only, will stay at $100 per five additional employees.  Dues for Small Business ($485), Government/Institution ($100) and Emeritus ($50) members will remain the same.

Please contact WBC President Steve Kenton at (202) 293-5922 if you have any questions or concerns regarding the dues increase.

Thank you for your ongoing support of the Washington Building Congress and our industry!

TO:  Washington Building Congress Members

From:  Jim Klein, FY’15 Nominating Committee Chairman

The WBC Nominating Committee is seeking the recommendation of qualified members who would like to make a contribution to the overall goals and objectives of our association.  Nominees have typically served several years in WBC volunteer roles as committee members, vice-chairs and chairs. The committee has developed the following brief nomination form to encourage membership participation in the process.

Please submit your nominations on this forms by Friday, August 22, 2014.  The election of FY’15 WBC officers and directors will take place on Tuesday, September 30, at the WBC Fall Kickoff and Annual Meeting at Columbia Country Club.  The new Board of Directors term commences on October 1, 2014.

OFFICER & DIRECTOR POSITIONS AVAILABLE

CHAIRMAN-ELECT … (1 year term) …One Position

VICE-CHAIRMAN … (1 year term) … Three Positions

TREASURER … (1 year term) … One Position

SECRETARY … (1 year term) … One Position

DIRECTOR 2014-2017 … (3 year term) … Three Positions

There is no limit to the number of nominations a WBC member can submit.

Please use one of the links below to submit your nomination:

a) Online Form  
b) Download the WBC Officer & Director Nomination PDF Form

###

Last year at National Harbor, Prince George’s County Executive Rushern Baker told WBC members that Prince George’s County is going to dispel its reputation that it is has one of the most complicated, time-consuming and costly processes for issuing permits and approvals.  Mr Baker’s goal was to change the process and become an economic develop engine for the state of Maryland.  A major part of that shift has been the creation, in July 2013, of the Department of Permitting, Inspections and Enforcement (DPIE).  On June 12, the WBC Regional Development Committee traveled to Largo, Maryland to learn details, successes and challenges regarding this transformation.

Don Dornan, Special Assistant to the Director of DPIE, along with staff members from supporting agencies, provided a first year progress report of how the County goals of providing efficient and effective permitting, inspections and enforcement is being executed.  Critical elements involve the creation of a one-stop, high-quality, customer-friendly organization.  At 9400 Peppercorn Place, Largo, DPIE merged elements of three PG departments: the Department of Environmental Resources, the Department of Public Works and Transportation, and the Department of Health. Plus, co-location of staff from six agencies (The Park and Planning Commission, Fire & Emergency Medical Services, the Office of Law, the Soil Conservation District, the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission and the State Highway Administration).  Here is a summary of Mr. Dornan’s presentation:

Permitting and licensing in Prince George’s County faced challenges that included authority split among multiple agencies and geographic locations, process duplication, and inconsistent reviews.  So within a year of conception, DPIE was establish to “promote economic development and redevelopment…through highly integrated and efficient permitting, inspection and licensing….”  Such change requires change, not the least of which is moving beyond prevailing cultures of component agencies, technology starved processes, the redoing of policies and procedures, the development of new budgets and performance criteria.  Add to these process challenges, the logistics of physical moves, critical staff shortage and a lack of adequate technology.   With these realities, DPIE can boast.

By the time of the WBC visit, DPIE had integrated staffs, relocated key customer services to the 1st floor building level, installed customer amenities, extended service hours, and instituted multiple feedbacks to assess service delivery.  The culture shift is critical, with the focus shifting to customers.  By policy, all customers are to receive a response within 24 hours.  Several new programs assist in this shift.  They are the “Peer Review” enabling a 50% faster review for mega commercial projects, third-party reviews of large commercial projects such as National Harbor, and “Plans on File” and “Express Plan Review” which expedited residential building permit and sprinkler systems reviews.

DPIE claims impressive results from pre-DPIE and DPIE process:

DPIE innovations include technological improvements such as the ePermit System which will provide customer on-line access for permits and allow on-line submission of architectural/engineering plans, on-line review by staff, and permit customer tracking of review progress.  In fact it is even possible obtain a permit without having to physically visit DPIE.  Other technological changes include the Q-Nomy system to automate customer queue management and the processing of CADD and GIS data.

Prince George’s County sits on the cusp of major change.  Within the Washington region, it offers the most close-in developable and transit assessable land.  Concurrent with this development potential, the county is most in need of a greater employment base to provide jobs to its nearly 900,000 population.  The list of Prince George’s County current and mid-term projects is staggering, some $12 billion.   They include the buildout of National Harbor, Tanger Outlets, Konterra, MGM Entertainment, potentially the FBI Headquarters, the Purple Line with its associated development, just to site a few.  Thus, DPIE is setting much of the governmental institutional structure essential to support this development transformation.  Mr. Dornan’s presentation and associated charts specifying Plan and Permit Review responsibilities are available to download.

###

About the Author

Rob Klein
With over 30 years experience in project management, Klein Consulting facilitates redevelopment and entitlements through analysis and outreach. 240-848-4951
 

On May 28, the WBC Regional Development Committee sponsored the ‘Suburbs Fight Back” forum at the just opened Marriott Marquis Washington.  The forum moderated by Forrester’s Erin Meitzler featured five prominent officials from the jurisdictions adjacent to Washington:

• Val Hawkins, President & CEO, Economic Development Partnership, City of Alexandria;
• Marc McCauley, Director Real Estate Development Group, Arlington Economic Development;
• Greg Ossont, Deputy Director, Montgomery County Department of General Services;
• Robert Stalzer, Deputy County Administrator, Fairfax County; and
• Howard Ways, Executive Director, Prince Georges County Re-Development Authority.

While the forum title carried an element of “tongue-in-cheek”, judging from the tower cranes populating the DC skyline, the District sports the “cool” factor more than the adjacent jurisdictions.  This forum addressed construction projects and processes of these five adjacent jurisdictions.   Last February, the WBC held a similar forum on Public Private Partnerships (P-3s).  At that forum we heard how Virginia and Maryland are initiating P-3s to finance infrastructure projects, open the door to greater innovation, and to more effectively bring public projects to fruition.  The “Suburbs Fight Back” extended that discussion.  From the presentations and subsequent discussion, it is clear that the Washington area jurisdictions have long been aware of the trend to mixed-use, smart growth environments, and they continue to plan for and execute mixed-use, P-3 projects as never before.

The WBC is concerned about construction activity.  The recession that started in 2007 destroyed 1.8 million construction jobs nationally.   Even today, unemployment in construction stands at 9.4% versus 6.3% in general.   Thus the health of Washington suburb jurisdictions directly relates to our members.  And by extension, the health of the construction industry in our region relates to the vision, plans, regulatory processes, ability to stay in tune with markets, and leveraging among partners.

The first speaker, Val Hawkins, started his presentation (links to all slides found below) by clarifying that Alexandria is an integral part of the Washington Metro urban landscape and not a suburbs to the District.   It proudly sports titles ranking it among the “Most Livable”, “Walk Friendly”, and “Most Romantic”, which are backed by solid statistics: a $101,000 average family income for its 144,000 residents and 22 million square feet of office – 55% of which is Class A or B. The City currently tracks (attach list) nearly a hundred development projects that are proceeding through the entitlement process.  Much of the pipeline development lies in one of four development hotspots: Landmark/Van Dorn; Carlyle/Eisenhower Valley; Waterfront; and the next urban-lifestyle center, Potomac Yards.

Marc McCauley followed with an overview of Arlington County development and strategies to assure its future prosperity.  Three decades ago, Arlington County made the hard choice to locate the Rosslyn – Ballston corridor Orange Line Metro separate from I-66, thus setting the stage for compact, urban development.  Among its 221,000 residents, it boasts of the highest concentration of highly educated 25-24 year olds in the region. Talk about a cool place to live, work and play!  Ninety percent of all new commercial and residential development is located along its RB (Roslyn-Ballston) corridor.  Despite an array of robust statistics, Mr. McCauley cited commercial development headwinds related to BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) and the consolidation and the continuing reduction of office space needs per worker (shrinking from 227 sf 10 years ago to what is anticipated to level off at 135 sf per office worker).  Strategic development planning continues to serve as a means to enable to County to meet its future needs.  The next generation of fiber optics, known locally under the program “ConnectArlington 2.0” is bringing Arlington secure high-speed fiber opts not just regionally, but nationally.   On the transportation, the Smart Growth streetcar development along Columbia Pike and Route 1 will permit a robust mix of infrastructure with mixed use development.  Arlington has 56 development projects in the pipeline, across the full range of product classes.  While 18 are under construction, 9 are near-term construction starts, 17 mid-or-long term and 12 are under zoning review.

Next up, Greg Ossont began by setting the context for the Montgomery County Capital Budget.  The current County capital budget (FY15-20) is $5.5 B of which $2.1 B is for general government, $1.5 B for school and the remainder for other agencies such as Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission.   Since 2007 when County Executive Leggett took office, the Department of General Services undertook $1.2 B in 40 capital projects ranging from $1 M to $200 M.  The largest included the Rockville Courthouse annex and the Equipment Maintenance and Transit Operations Center.  Under the current capital budget, some 50 active County projects are in the pipeline.   These include many P-3 projects.  Due to bonding capacity limitations and the benefits of leveraging private participation, the County is aggressively looking toward P-3s.  P-3 projects in the Bethesda District Police Station, Wheaton Redevelopment, White Flint Fire Station, and the Silver Spring Fire Station.

Rob Stalzer followed explaining that Fairfax County, which has the largest population in the Washington region, has recently undertook major refinements to their 2011 Strategic Plan.  This effort related to office vacancy headwinds and developer feedback regarding regulatory review period and coordination among County Departments.  The County heard from developer stakeholders including the county’s 16 Chambers-of-Commerce that changes to speed up review and increase departmental coordination are needed.   Thus, the Strategic Plan to Facilitate Economic Success received a booster shot regarding specific metrics and cross Departmental coordination.  No longer would suburban base development adequately serve the County, economic development is now considered every County employee’s responsibility involving partnerships with both the private sector and outside agencies.  Mr. Stalzer stated that essential economic development skills have changed.  Critical are enhanced technical, financial and leadership skills.  The application of such principals are positively affecting such projects as the Silver Line development, express lanes on highways, Tysons’ public facilities, and the redevelopment of Reston Down Center North and Bailey’s Crossing.

Rounding out the panel, Howard Ways explained that Prince George’s Redevelopment Authority develops, redevelops, revitalizes and preserves targeted communities with an emphasis on promoting workforce housing and economic development in support of the County Executive’s priorities in community development, transit-oriented development, and affordable housing.  The agency’s primary objective is to decrease the number of blighted commercial and residential structures within 1/2 mile radius of existing transit centers and improve the quality of life for residents.  The County can boast of some impressive development successes: National Harbor, the MGM Casino, Tanga Outlets, robust housing assistance and neighborhood stabilization programs, along with a dozen infill development solicitations within the past 2 years.  Key to building on these will be the pursuit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation headquarters, development around Metro stations, and the Purple Line Corridor development.  Underlying the future success of these projects is the County’s vision of smart growth development and restructuring of the entitlement process such as instituting by-right development authority.

Following these rapid-fire presentations, the panelists fielded interesting questions posed by panel moderator Meitzler.  Responding to “What are you doing to streamline development processes across jurisdictions?” answers Messrs. Ways and Stalzer emphasized how they continue to learn from progressive strategies used by other jurisdictions and developers.  Times continue to change and to meet the changing demands of citizens, jurisdictions are keenly aware that governmental processes require a fresh look that better aligns processes with long term citizen needs and development market realities.  In addressing how jurisdictions need to prepare for change, Mr. Stalzer stated the quality development rests on good planning that establishes the framework for required infrastructure and that guides development patterns.  No easy task when you consider the Washington region is divided into effectively three state governments, dozens of incorporated jurisdictions and has a history of cultural and legal differences?

DOWNLOAD THE PROGRAM PRESENTATION 

###

About the Author

Rob Klein
With over 30 years experience in project management, Klein Consulting facilitates redevelopment and entitlements through analysis and outreach. 240-848-4951
 

Another Spectacular Summer Golf Outing!

On Monday, June 9, over 400 players came together at three courses for the 77th Annual Golf Outing. Following the tournaments, players and guests celebrated the start of the summer season during an afternoon awards reception at Lansdowne Resort.

THE 2014 WINNERS ARE…
Golf outing photos on Flickr

BELMONT COURSE

1st Place:  Infrastructure Service Solutions
2nd Place: J.E. Richards, Inc. – Team 3
3rd Place: Mona Electric Group
Closest to Pin Contest: Brandon Cole
Men’s Longest Drive Contest: Zach Spees
Women’s Longest Drive: Blaire Hamilton
Putting Green Contest:  Rick Russell

RTJ II (Jones) COURSE

1st. Place: Goldin & Stafford
2nd Place:  Contemporary Electrical Services
3rd Place: Dominon Mechanical
Closest to Pin Contest: Web Collout
Men’s Longest Drive Contest: Trevor Coffey
Putting Green Contest:  Chip Fry, Tim Hannaway and Nick Good

NORMAN COURSE

1st Place: Siemens Industry – Team 1
2nd Place: Manhattan Construction
3rd Place: Hensel Phelps
Closes to Pin Contest: Benjy Bullard
Men’s Longest Drive Contest:  Garrett Sefrin
Women’s Longest Drive: Tamara McNulty
Putting Green Contest: Chuck Asmar, Ron Blum, Bill McCloud, Joe McManus

50/50 Raffle: Donnell Kelley

A SPECIAL THANKS TO OUR 2014 SPONSORS

Tournament Sponsor
Siemens Industry, Inc.

Course Sponsor
Belmont
Clark Construction Group
Jones
Rosendin Electric
Norman
Hensel Phelps

Golfer Gift Sponsors
DAVIS Construciton – Green JobWorks
Telligent Masonry

Reception Food/Bars Sponsors
HITT Contracting – J.E. Richards, Inc.

Golf Cart Sponsors
Capital Tristate Electrical Distributor – Dynalectric Company
Freestate Electrical Construction Company – Tishman Construction Corp.

Hole-in-One Sponsor
Golding & Stafford

Lunch Food Station Sponsors
Balfour Beatty Construction – PEPCO – Weidlinger Associates

Closest to Pin Sponsors
Boland Trane – Engineering Design Group (EDG2) 
Freestate Electrical Construction Company

Longest Drive Sponsor
Washington Gas

Putting Green Contest Sponsors
Faithful+Gould – Graybar Electric – The JBG Companies

Driving Range Sponsor
Asmar, Schor & McKenna – U.S. Engineering Co.

Hole Sponsors
Boatman and Magnani – Clune Construction
Contemporary Electrical Services – Dominion Mechanical Contractors
ECS Mid-Atlantic – Grunley Construction Co. 
Harvey-Cleary Builders – John H. Hampshire, Inc.
KBR Building Group – KCCT Architects 
Kelly & Sons Electrical Construction – Kiewit Building Group
McManus Darden & Felsen – Mid-Atlantic Utility Locating
Peckar & Abramson – PerLectric, Inc.
Power Design – Power Services – Precision Wall Tech
RM Thornton Mechanical – Specified Electrical Systems
Tishman Construction Corp. – WCS Construction

Many Thanks to the Volunteers

Trinh Alden – Laura Alloway – Corinn Bovi – Brandan Cole
Julie Forsht – Carrie Lieberman – Amber Mella – Sarah Mizrack – Elizabeth Tuico
 

Washington, DC – Washington Building Congress members and colleagues proudly participated in the 8th annual Rebuilding Together Workday on Saturday, April 26.   Special thanks go to House Captain Kent Fee (Lehman Smith McLeish), Co-Captain Ken Ellis (Langan Engineering & Environmental Services), Safety Coordinator Cheryl Moy (Perkins+Will), and the Community Services Committee and Chair Jane Cherney (McCoy Associates).

The Community Services group once again went well beyond the typical scope of work to accomplish this rewarding mission.  Thank you to all of the outstanding volunteers and supporters of this annual WBC community service project. 
Due to the amount of work involved with the project, many tasks were started prior to and will be finished following the project workday.  Work on the house included drywall repair, carpentry, painting, new dishwasher, dryer and garage door installation, electrical work, extensive yard cleanup/landscaping, and more!

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE VOLUNTEER LIST AND PICTURES

###