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Old 06-07-2013, 06:24 PM
 
13 posts, read 28,642 times
Reputation: 15

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NSF will be moving its HQ from Ballston Arlington to the Hoffman Town Center on Eisenhower Ave Alexandria in 2017.



The federal government plans to relocate the National Science Foundation from Ballston to the Eisenhower Avenue area of Alexandria in 2017, in what would constitute one of the largest transfers of federal workers in Northern Virginia since the Patent and Trademark Office departed Crystal City for Alexandria in 2005. Headed by acting director Cora B. Marrett, the NSF is an independent agency that funds a wide array of science and engineering research. It is among the largest employers in Arlington with more than 2,100 headquarters employees, contractors and scientists.
After a competitive search, the General Services Administration announced Friday that it had selected developers of Hoffman Town Center, a 56-acre development just inside the Capital Beltway, for a 15-year, 660,848-square-foot headquarters lease for NSF.

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National Science Foundation headquarters to move to Eisenhower Avenue in Alexandria - Capital Business Blog - The Washington Post

Last edited by FindingZen; 06-08-2013 at 04:52 PM.. Reason: posting full article violates copyright
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Old 06-07-2013, 11:51 PM
 
Location: Alexandria, VA
206 posts, read 431,732 times
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I wonder why they went with that space instead of the John Carlyle St one. Closer to the metro station, I guess.
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Old 06-08-2013, 05:37 AM
 
Location: Falls Church, VA
540 posts, read 788,352 times
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The only reason GSA does anything at this point is money. Otherwise NSF wouldn't be moving at all. The transit-focused among us should be unhappy because all this will do is pour more cars on the road. All of the NSF employees that live near Ballston and along the Orange line will probably drive down Glebe or the others out west will take the Beltway rather than transfer twice to get to the Eisenhower stop. And the bicyclists are completely SOL.
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Old 06-08-2013, 06:24 AM
 
Location: New-Dentist Colony
5,759 posts, read 10,695,803 times
Reputation: 3952
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fallout Zone View Post
The only reason GSA does anything at this point is money. Otherwise NSF wouldn't be moving at all. The transit-focused among us should be unhappy because all this will do is pour more cars on the road. All of the NSF employees that live near Ballston and along the Orange line will probably drive down Glebe or the others out west will take the Beltway rather than transfer twice to get to the Eisenhower stop. And the bicyclists are completely SOL.
I agree Eisenhower is not a desirable location. It's not close enough to Old Town for employees to be able to eat lunch there or walk around. The movie theater there used to be (as of 10 years ago) heavily frequented by thugs from DC--not sure if that's still true.

But I'm not sure if where they are in Ballston is a good location, either. That mall is a dive and is surrounded by panhandlers, people selling junk from tables, and general nuisance humans. It is very convenient to bus and rail, but I wonder what portion of their employees drive in. Given all that, I suppose I'd still put it ahead of Eisenhower.

If I were driving to Eisenhower, I'd probably go George Mason to Route 7 and then cut over via John Carlyle, if one can still do that.
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Old 06-08-2013, 10:07 AM
 
28 posts, read 40,459 times
Reputation: 20
Awesome! Go Mayor Euille!
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Old 06-08-2013, 10:11 AM
 
28 posts, read 40,459 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carlingtonian View Post
I agree Eisenhower is not a desirable location. It's not close enough to Old Town for employees to be able to eat lunch there or walk around. The movie theater there used to be (as of 10 years ago) heavily frequented by thugs from DC--not sure if that's still true.

But I'm not sure if where they are in Ballston is a good location, either. That mall is a dive and is surrounded by panhandlers, people selling junk from tables, and general nuisance humans. It is very convenient to bus and rail, but I wonder what portion of their employees drive in. Given all that, I suppose I'd still put it ahead of Eisenhower.

If I were driving to Eisenhower, I'd probably go George Mason to Route 7 and then cut over via John Carlyle, if one can still do that.
They have the option of Transferring at King street or walking from there (the walk to hoffman is about five blocks).

The movie theater is still frequented by some undesirables from Maryland/DC, which is why it has a heavy police presence. However, since I've moved here in 2007, it has gotten dramatically better. I suspect the opening of more retail in PG/DC has given people other options than they used to have. Once the silver line opens, I think it will decrease even more (especially for Pentagon City Mall), as the allure of a once unreachable Tyson's Corner will be enough to draw a percentage of the current patrons.

The goal with Eisenhower Avenue is to have the southern side match the northern side with development. An additional federal agency (on top of the USPTO), will be great to ensuring its development future.

Arlington will not hurt that much, they have Rosslyn which is beginning to resemble the Financial District of Manhattan (miniaturized of course), and will continue to attract big development bucks. The Carlyle area of Alexandria is just a miniature Rosslyn, with aspirations to become a second beacon across the Potomac.
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Old 06-08-2013, 10:20 AM
 
28 posts, read 40,459 times
Reputation: 20
Meant to add: Does anyone know the timeframe for building construction?
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Old 06-08-2013, 10:31 AM
 
3,307 posts, read 9,361,490 times
Reputation: 2428
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fallout Zone View Post
The transit-focused among us should be unhappy because all this will do is pour more cars on the road.
I don't agree with this. What you're basically saying is that transit-focused people should oppose any business or agency moving between Metro lines.

Transit-focused people should be happy with this move, or at the very least indifferent to it, especially compared to other recent government moves, like the Mark Center debacle. NSF is moving from someplace with easy access to one Metro line (Orange) to a place with easy access to two Metro lines (Yellow and Blue) and two VRE lines (Manassas and Fredericksburg). The move is happening in 4 years, so any employees looking for a place to buy between now and then will take the new location into account. You'll also have a bit of turnover between now and then, and of course whoever comes into the agency will be aware of the new location.

Quote:
And the bicyclists are completely SOL.
How so?
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Old 06-08-2013, 04:56 PM
 
8,983 posts, read 21,116,894 times
Reputation: 3797
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carlingtonian View Post
I agree Eisenhower is not a desirable location. It's not close enough to Old Town for employees to be able to eat lunch there or walk around. The movie theater there used to be (as of 10 years ago) heavily frequented by thugs from DC--not sure if that's still true.
There are a few places to eat at Hoffman Town Center and more options a healthy walk away over in the Carlyle area. However, I'd predict longer lines at said establishments with the arrival of the NSF folks.

RE: the AMC movieplex, perhaps it's because I rarely see movies on a weekend night but I've never noticed any issues there in the seven years or so that I've patronized it.
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Old 06-09-2013, 09:53 PM
 
810 posts, read 1,023,355 times
Reputation: 1010
Oh great. More possible traffic to Van Dorn Street?
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