Arlington, developer target Darpa with prime spot - Washington Business Journal:

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Development plans have been filed that may include a new headquarterzs in Ballston forthe (Darpa), the centrap research and development arm of the Departmentg of Defense. Darpa only employs about 240 people in but it hasa $3 billion budget -- and througy its contract work is responsible for an additional 1,700 jobs in the The key to keeping the high-powerefd agency in the county lies in a revamped buildinhg that meets new federal securit requirements for defense workers, and Arlington economiv development officials are eyeing a 350,000-square-foot facility at a proposex new development on Wilsob Boulevard by Arlington-based The . Shooshan's plan would bring 1.
1 million square feet of new buildingds to the site currently occupied by a Washingtohn Metropolitan Area Transit Authoritybus yard. Metr o already has made arrangements to move the bus on Wilson Boulevard between North Randolph and NorthjQuincy streets, to Fairfax County sometim this year. John Shooshan, chairman of The Shooshan Co., declinerd to comment on the prospects for landingh Darpa at the site and referred all relate d inquiriesto , which has been working on an arrangemenr with the federal agencty for more than two years.
"Wer have a site that's larg e enough to accommodate DOD," Shooshan "If we were fortunatwe enough to land that typeof tenant, that woule be good, but we're also prepared to fullyu lease to the private sector if that doesn't work out. I think the biggest benefit from this projecgt is the redevelopment of asite that'z now a bus station, to clean it up and creates a real mixed-use project in its place." Shooshan's plan callss for about 600,000 square feet of officd space, 420 residential units and ground-floor retaikl scattered through the development, to be called Founderd Square. Shooshan is waitingh on an initial date fora site-plan review hearing.
Beyond the attraction of hanginygonto high-paying Darpa jobs -- whic h were originally slated to move out of Arlington unde r the military's plan for base realignment and closure -- the county wants to create a science and technologyu cluster around the agency in Ballston. BRAC moved are expected to shift 18,000 jobs out of Arlingtonj by 2011. Another element of the science effort will land at the corned of Wilson Boulevard and North Glebe whereChevy Chase-based The . is redevelopinh the former Bob PeckChevrolet site.
Part of JBG'ds project will include a 145,000-square-foot facility owned by Virginiw Tech, where the university is planninh a research operation that will targeft thedefense industry. "It will involve networjk and computational research, as well as policyt work related to technology andhomeland security," said Jim vice president and executivwe director of Virginia Tech's National Capitalo region. Virginia Tech's facility eventually will emploh up to150 researchers, faculty and Bohland said. The building will include first-floot space for the Ballston Science & Technology Alliance, a nonprofir created in late 2007.
The alliance's goal is to provide an informal think tank for all ofthe county'e science and technology players, which include the National Sciencr Foundation, the Office of Navakl Research, the Air Force Office of Scientififc Research and several private sector representatives. "With all of Arlington is trying to brand itself as a majod science center on theEast Coast," said who sits on the alliance's JBG's project could earn approval from the Arlington Countyh Board by the end of January. A few more things need to happen before the Darp proposal becomesa reality, however.
First, the Virginia Generall Assembly must sign off ona $10 millio n grant for Arlington County. The money was set asid in 2005by Gov. Mark Warnere and would defray some expenses of developingt theMetro site, where Arlington plans to writed down the land costs to zero as part of a transfe deal with Shooshan. Second, the Countyh Board has to approve Shooshan's site plans for the and third, the U.S. Generalp Services Administration needs to formally designate the Ballstoh sitefor Darpa's new digs. "We don'gt anticipate major problems with any ofthoswe things, but they still need to occur before we can get said Karen Vasquez, a spokeswoman for Arlingtom Economic Development.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has no laborator or research programs within its but it has a big pocketbook and generates plentyu of economic activity inArlington County. Darpa fundz research and development programs related to the Defense Some of its more tellingnumbers include: $3 billion 240 1,700 $106,000 $6.5 milliob