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Flight Plans
Businesses pursue $9 billion development around Andrews
By
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| Corridor Inc. Staff Writer
Originally published April 2008  Photo by John Keith.
There’s an ambitious plan on the table to transform the desolate and underutilized land surrounding the base into the vibrant Andrews National Defense and Technology Corridor with growth and redevelopment opportunities for defense contractors, federal agencies and the private sector.
“For Prince George’s County, I think our time has come,” said M.H. Jim Estepp, president of the Andrews Business and Community Alliance and the Prince George’s County Business Roundtable. “We’ve waited patiently and the county’s time is ripe. The irony is that the base has always been the county’s largest employer but often overlooked.”
Plans call for a $9 billion overhaul of residential, commercial and office space, as well as transportation improvements complementing the development inside the base’s gates as a result of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) and non-BRAC related activity.
 An aerial view of Andrews Air Force Base and the surrounding areas with potential commercial, retail and office space indicated.
Future redevelopment also includes $2 billion in infrastructure improvements around Andrews and the expansion of the Metro Green Line to Westphalia.
 Lt. Col. Brian Duffy talks about the changes on the base including the construction of a $42 million, 265-room visitors quarters that is being built on this site. Photo by John Keith.
community. It’s the first time civic leaders have stood up and cheered; usually they throw rocks.”
For Estepp, there is no better time to focus on the underutilized land and debilitating buildings around the base than now, as Andrews, located just 10 miles from the Pentagon off Interstate 95, undergoes its own transformation inside the gates.
 Col. Jon A. Roop, vice commander of the Air Force District of Washington, outside his headquarters at Andrews. The building is slated to be torn down and turned into a parking lot. Photo by John Keith.
And the move has already begun. The Air Force District of Washington, the umbrella organization for Andrews and Bolling Air Force Base, started moving its headquarters — and 350 personnel — from Bolling in May.
Staying ahead of growth is critical, said Col. Jon A. Roop, vice commander of the Air Force District of Washington, who has spent about six months at Andrews.
 “When I walk out of here I expect to see it better than when I came in,” he said. “If everyone does that it keeps Andrews alive.”
To prepare for the expansion, Andrews is gearing up with multi-million dollar renovations and construction of new buildings around the 4,300-acre base.
For instance, a $42 million, 265-room visitors quarters is currently being built, as well as the expansion of the Headquarters Air National Guard Readiness Center — a $51 million project that will provide space for an additional 600 personnel.
Another $163 million in facility and infrastructure improvements is also underway.
 This aging shopping center is just outside the gates of Andrews Air Force Base. Photo by John Keith.
“This is a period of high investment,” said Lt. Col. Brian Duffy, 316th Civil Engineer Squadron commander.
“It would have happened over a 50-year period but now it’s having a rolling effect.”
The base plays a critical role in Prince George’s County. It contributes $1 billion to the county’s economy each year. It is Prince George’s largest employer with 13,000 employees and 750 military families living on base.
The redevelopment boom is a real opportunity for Prince George’s County, said Lt. Gov. Anthony G. Brown.
“It’s going to increase opportunities for contracting because new direct jobs on base create indirect jobs,” he said. “Prince George’s County has a very vibrant, small and dynamic business community that will compete very well. This will also serve the tax base of the county to increase the overall quality of life.”
 M.H. Jim Estepp, president of the Andrews Business and Community Alliance and the Prince George’s County Business Roundtable, hopes to fill these two vacant building in Westphalia with a homeland security or defense contractor. Photo by John Keith.
surrounding area will create synergy, said Jeff Ludwig, senior vice president of NAI Michael Cos., a commercial real estate firm that is brokering land outside the base.
“Andrews was one of the only bases in the region that didn’t have a relationship outside of the base and to a certain degree they were kind of like an island,” he said. “Our focus is to be a good civic partner, meet their needs and get out in front of this … We can’t expect the Air Force to do it all.”
Officials are actively seeking a new tenant for Washington Plaza I and II, two Class A office buildings totaling 200,000 square feet in Westphalia that was the home of the Census Bureau until last summer. The buildings are retrofitted for homeland security operations, said Estepp.
 Phoenix International’s Juan Sevillano (front) and Jesse Doren are building a submersible at the company’s current headquarters in Largo. Phoenix is considering a move to Westphalia. Photo by John Keith.
The plan has also piqued the
interest of developers like Toll Brothers and L.M. Sandler & Sons, according
to Estepp.
Potential tenants are also considering the Westphalia development, despite being only in the design phase.
 Phoenix International Holdings Inc., for example, is looking into the possibility of relocating its offices across from the base.
The Largo-based company, which performs underwater recovery missions, wants to feel more connected to the military community.
“We are actively looking,” said Chris Klentzman, general manager. “The proximity to Andrews Air Force Base and the Navy Yard is the appeal.”
Estepp is confident that the new development plan — with its emphasis on homeland security and defense — will revitalize the entire area.
“It’s very important that this vision follows a theme rather than it be a hodge podge of redevelopment like in the past,” he said. “This county offers a lot and there’s no excuse not to service Andrews, which protects the nation’s capital.” |
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