IN AN UNUSUAL MOVE FOR A home builder, the Washington division of Brookfield Homes has told Prince William County, Va., officials that it will finance in excess of $100 million in road and railroad repairs in exchange for project approval of a mixed-use development near the Nissan Pavilion in Northern Virginia.
Vice president and COO for land development Rick Dengler says that the company wants to build 6,800 homes and 3.7 million square feet of commercial, retail, and office space on 1,500 acres.
Brookfield proposes spending $50 million to extend the local commuter rail and build a railroad station with a parking deck; $80 million for three new roads and the widening of one existing road throughout the 1,500-acre property; and up to $100 million to rebuild the I-66/Route 29 interchange, which includes building overpasses over an active rail line and a major local road.
Dengler says that the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), which has been planning to rebuild the I-66/Route 29 interchange since 1994, promises to fund another $150 million to finance the repairs. VDOThas indicated that it is willing to partner with the developer, assuming that the county approves the project.
“The local press characterized the proposal as a simple swap of road improvements for residential housing, but this is much more than that,” Dengler says, adding that the proposal could have a $65 million economic impact on the county, including 12,000 new jobs.
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