The Washington Post has a
jaw dropping article
this morning related to jumbo transportation proffers being offered by developers in Northern Virginia.
How does this compare to local residential projects near major road intersections? Having recently
reviewed the Albemarle Place project
, I came up with the following:
Albemarle Place–Developer of 750 residential units (2003 rezoning states 700-800 units) proffering $5.46 million,
or
$7,280 per home
.
I used documented cash proffers plus developer’s estimate of $3 million in off-site transportation improvements. Albemarle Place is a mixed use development with hotels, restaurants, movie theater, and retail. In August 2003, it was projected to have a positive fiscal impact contributing $2.6 to $3.6 million annually to Albemarle County. Pure residential projects are always a negative cash drain on the locality, primarily because of school costs with
annual
per-child costs far exceeding the per houshold
one-time
cash proffers of a typical development.
I am not familiar with mix of uses in the residential developments cited in the article. However, the point is that in Charlottesville/Albemarle proffers to build something like a
grade-separated interchange at Hydraulic and US 29
have been unheard of. Maybe the times are changing. The article outlines some of the pros and cons of accepting these large proffers.
Brian Wheeler
