Magnolia’s in Purcellville on a quiet evening…yum.

~ Heather

Want more information on any of these communities? Just ask!

Cheers,
Heather

In other new construction news, Van Metre is down to their final homesite at Dobson Hill in Broadlands; they have the single family home on a half acre priced at $755,440.  They are still actively marketing their Linden Row garage townhome/condos at Lansdowne, priced in the mid-$200′s, although there do not appear to be any immediate delivery available.  Van Metre has a ton of options in Brambleton, though, with garage townhomes in The Overlook (from the mid $300s), two car garage townhomes in Emerald Ridge (upper $300s), and two collections of single family homes in Emerald Ridge (upper $400s or mid-$500s).  They are also planning a condo community at Stone Ridge, although we don’t have a release date yet. Van Metre is advertising up to $25,000 off on options, closing costs or both (using their lender and title company) on contracts written through August 15th.

Over at Martin’s Chase in Ashburn, Lennar and KB Home are still constructing single family homes, priced in the $400s, with a variety of floorplans. Lennar is also preparing to open a new community in Ashburn, The Preserve at Goose Creek, of single family homes near Belmont Ridge Road.  They haven’t released any information about the models they will build there, but the community is slated for swimming pool, clubhouse, tot lots, fitness center..the usual community amenities.

If you’d like more information on any of these communities, or have questions about using a buyer’s agent while doing new construction, please reach out to me, I’m happy to help.

Cheers,

Heather

I was at Lansdowne Town Center for an early morning chiropractic appointment, and was struck by how peaceful it was there at a very early hour. Too pretty to pass up taking a photo…enjoy.

Cheers,

Heather

…at least, the development around the ballfield did. The ballfield was already approved. Obviously this is a huge project, so I’ve had a few people ask me what I thought of it. Here’s the recap of the project, as best I can determine:

Kincora is a $2 billion, 336 acre multi-use development, located in Sterling across from the Dulles Town Center Mall, where Route 7 and Route 28 intersect. The plan for a 5,500 seat, 75,000 square foot baseball stadium was approved by the Loudoun Board of Supervisors last year, and also included just over 900,000 square feet of office space in 8 buildings, and 74,000 square feet of other uses, to include restaurants, banks, and other services. The mixed use portion that the Board of Supervisors approved this month totaled 2.7 million square feet of office space (not sure if that is in addition to what was already approved?), nearly 400,000 square feet of commercial, 575,000 square feet of hotel space, 277,000 square feet of ‘civic uses’ (including a fire/rescue station and a performing arts center), and 1,400 multi-family residential units.  The residential component allows for 228 Affordable Dwelling Units and workplace housing units.  The development is owned by a partnership of Tritec and Norton Scott called NA Dulles Real Estate Investor LLC (according to an article in the Washington Post.)

The plans also include road improvements: extending Gloucester Parkway over Broad Run, and providing shuttle service from the community to the Metro station planned at Route 606/ Old Ox Road.  The baseball stadium will be used by a new franchise of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. Kincora’s website also details plans for a 150 acre park and nature preserve including a wetlands trail and linking to the W&OD trail.

All of the information I’m listing here is from past Washington Post and Leesburg Today articles, and from the Kincora website. After reading the comments left on the prior articles, it appears that locals are divided on this; some are ardent supporters of either baseball or the growth coming to Loudoun, while others complain that a Board of Supervisors elected as ‘slow growth’ proponents are not fulfilling their promises.  Either way, with a timeline of completion of over 15 to 20 years, it may be a moot point.

As I was researching this post, the Loudoun Times Mirror wrote an article that echos my own thoughts…many of the mixed-use developments approved in Loudoun have not come anywhere close to breaking ground yet.  While it looks like the plans for the baseball stadium will be completed (the VIP Baseball group is planning to announce a timeline and a team name soon) there is no guarantee that the entire project will be finished as proposed.  The first phase is to include the completion of Pacific Boulevard and the construction of the fire station, followed by construction of an affordable housing development. The Times Mirror article quotes the developer as saying the retail, commercial, and office units will be built as soon as they have lease commitments in place.

Personally, I’d much rather see a well thought out approach to development, with a smart combination of mixed use. I like the way that the Village at Leesburg and the Lansdowne Town Center have added to our community; that kind of combined use is appealing in the use of space, the proximity of housing to restaurants/retail/office.  Loudoun needs more ‘walkable’ communities…or at least multi-use where you can accomplish multiple activities at the same place.  If Kincora allows live/work/play to happen in the same place (eventually, anyway) I think that’s smart growth.  Whether it gets accomplished without causing huge traffic issues remains to be seen. I’m optimistic for the positive impact  a minor league baseball team will have on Loudoun and the youth here;  I will certainly take my kiddos out to watch a game.

What do you think? Please comment and share your thoughts, I’d love to hear them!

Cheers,

Heather

(photo courtesy of B Tal)