The North Tract, a project that was to build a park on formerly industrial land just south of the 14th Street Bridge in Arlington, appears to have run into some trouble. One piece of land, the seven acre former Twin Bridges Marriott site owned by Monument Realty, was to be swapped with Arlington. Monument would give the land and $25 million in exchange for a five-acre county tract a few blocks south, where it would build a 600-unit condominium building. But...
The company decided to pull out of the deal last week after several months of negotiation. "The market has changed substantially in the last year and a half since we cut this deal," Hines said. Monument Realty of Northwest Washington, is asking for about $45 million, more than twice its assessed value.
So they're backing out because, due to the cooling housing market, the new tract of land isn't worth as much as it used to be. Or as they put it
Monument has concluded that the changed condominium market in the region has made their private development proposal no longer economically viable for them. This conclusion was reached during a “feasibility study” period that enabled both the County and Monument time to fully assess whether to proceed with the exchange in accordance with the terms of the agreement.
This matters to cycling because the North Tract project is going to eventually provide two much needed connections to the 14th Street Bridge. One under the humpback bridge and one over the GW Parkway. The County doesn't need this piece of land to provide the connections, or any of the other bike facilities this project will provide, but any hiccup in the process puts the start and completion dates farther out.
The county continues to negotiate and is committed to getting the land, even if they have to seize it through eminent domain. The end of the Post article talks about how politicians are make much hay about this.
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