Thursday, October 02, 2008

Army decision places final piece of BRAC puzzle

By Travis Edwards
Fort Belvoir BRAC Outreach Chief

The Department of the Army announced Monday that the future home of the 6,400 personnel associated with the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure, Recommendation 133, will be the Mark Center in Alexandria.

“The Mark Center has been deemed the best value for the Army after considering the cost, the schedule, the security requirements, transportation and other critical factors,” said Fort Belvoir Installation Commander Col. Jerry Blixt. “Now, we, Fort Belvoir, must continue to move forward to complete the BRAC mission given to us by Congress and the President.”

The decision puts in place the last piece of the post’s BRAC mission that realigns a total of more than 19,300 workers to the installation after a year-long evaluation and selection process that studied alternative sites such as the federally-owned General Services Administration warehouse site in Fairfax, and the Victory Center and Mark Center commercial sites in Alexandria.

“The Army undertook this additional analysis of BRAC 133 following an agreement to cap (the Engineer Proving Ground) at 8,500 personnel, a decision based mainly on local concern for traffic in and around EPG,” said Col. Mark Moffatt, Belvoir’s deputy garrison commander for transformation and BRAC.

With the decision made, the Army must now purchase the Mark Center property for Belvoir to meet BRAC law, which states all personnel will be “realigned to Fort Belvoir.”

The BRAC 133 recommendation consists of several DoD-level agencies and personnel whose move is being managed by the Washington Headquarters Service.
Although he expressed disappointment that the GSA site was not chosen, Congressman Jim Moran, D-Va., whose 8th Virginia District includes part of Fort Belvoir, Springfield and the Mark Center, said the decision was good for commuters.

“Preventing the Washington Headquarters Service from moving to the Engineer Proving Ground benefits the region’s commuters,” Moran said. “Transportation studies showed that locating the headquarters there as dictated in the Army’s original plan would increase commuting times along I-395 and Route 1 by two to three hours per day. In that respect, this decision is a victory for Northern Virginia commuters.”

“I appreciate all the hard work Army officials and civilians put into coming to this decision,” Moran said. “It was a monumental effort and they did an excellent job keeping all the stakeholders informed throughout the process.

“While I’m disappointed the GSA Warehouse in Springfield was not chosen, the push to redevelop the site will continue,” Moran said. “A location so close to Metro should be housing workers, not documents and equipment. I plan to continue working with the Fairfax County Board and other leaders in Southeast Fairfax to redevelop this grossly underutilized facility.”

Other parts of Fort Belvoir and the EPG are in the 11th District of U.S. Congressman Tom Davis, R-Va.

“The Base Realignment and Closure Commission dealt us a tough hand in Northern Virginia in terms of traffic,” Davis said in a release Monday. “And, the worst part of it was the initial decision to send 18,000 workers to the Engineer Proving Ground in Springfield, which would’ve been a commuting disaster for that entire part of the county. I’m happy to say we’ve worked with the Army to reduce that number substantially. I wish Mark Center was served directly by Metro, but this still represents a huge victory for Northern Virginia commuters.”

James Turkel, who led the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers evaluation team, pointed to the decision as a choice that meets the requirements and has the least impact on workers. “The Mark Center site minimizes to the greatest extent practicable disruption of current commuting needs and mission coordination requirements of the workers,” he said. “It will also require little to no change in contractor support relationships, as well as changes to residency or schools requirements for the workers.”

Construction is scheduled to begin at the Mark Center in January, according to USACE.

Duke Realty Corporation, owner of the Mark Center and the16-acre land parcel for BRAC 133, already has supporting infrastructure in place for the BRAC move,
according to Duke Realty officials.

“We are dedicated to the on-time delivery of the new home for the 6,400 Department of Defense associates who will be relocating in 2011,” said Denny Oklak, Duke’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. “Mark Center provides the optimal solution for the Department of the Army, in meeting the space, transportation,
security and timeline needs for the relocation.”

According to Duke Realty, the site already has the needed zoning approvals from the City of Alexandria.

“The Department of Defense’s decision to purchase this site and construct a major office building, within close proximity to Washington, D.C., and the Pentagon, affirms Alexandria as one of the top locations in the region,” said Alexandria Mayor William Euille. “We look forward to welcoming WHS’s employees in 2011, when the new facility is completed.”

With all the puzzle pieces now on the table, and with the half-way point of the implementation timeline just days behind them, Belvoir’s master planners can now address the whole Fort Belvoir BRAC mission and continue to work toward meeting their deadline.

“We’re glad to finally have this decision, which means all the pieces are in place,” said Don Carr, the installation’s director of public affairs. “Now, we can concentrate on building the office space for the servicemembers and federal employees who are part of BRAC 133 and get it up and running by the Congress-mandated Sept. 15, 2011, deadline.

“Reducing the total number of jobs coming to this area certainly helps offset traffic and other concerns with having all 19,300 jobs in Fairfax,” Carr said. “Putting these jobs in Alexandria means 6,400 fewer jobs coming into Fairfax County’s part of Fort Belvoir.”

Carr said the number of jobs being moved into the Fairfax part of Fort Belvoir is now 12,900: 8,500 to EPG and 4,400 to main post.

“We will continue to strengthen existing relationships within the local counties and government entities, such as the Virginia Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration, and build new relationships with Alexandria and around the region,” Carr said.

(Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of articles about BRAC Recommendation 133. For more information on the Fort Belvoir 2005 BRAC, contact Travis Edwards, Installation Public Affairs Office, BRAC Outreach Branch Chief, 703-805-2019, or visit http://www.belvoirnewvision.com.)