Land swap deal could kick off the development of Downtown Stafford

A land swap deal between Stafford County and Jarrell Properties could mean the beginning of the development of Downtown Stafford.

The Stafford County Board of Supervisors has authorized a public hearing to take place on July 7 regarding a land swap of under 8,000 square feet between the county and Fredericksburg-based developer Jarrell Properties Inc. Should the land swap go forward, it could affect two projects that the county has in its plans for economic development.

The more immediate project is the Courthouse Road Improvement Project which requires land located at the southwest corner of Route 1 and Courthouse Road. Attaining this property will allow the county to keep the road improvement project on schedule. The project is scheduled to be completed later in July this year.

The long-term project has to do with the county’s goal of developing a Downtown Stafford which has been discussed since 2006. Those talks have been shifting into a higher gear over the last three years, and this deal may move that talk even closer to action.

Jarrell was already in the process of developing the land into a 10 acre combined professional office and medical complex called Fountain Park.

In the process of their exploration, the county found a potential economic development opportunity that could benefit both parties by increasing the real estate property revenue by a factor of three as well as bring the county a step closer to their aspirations of developing a downtown area near the courthouse.

The county and Jarell made two different appraisals of the land. Both appraisals came up with different prices due to different metrics being used to come up with the numbers. The county came with $490,000 due to appraising the buildings together and factoring in the land value while Jarrell came to $1.3 million from appraising the buildings separately.

The price the county negotiated for the land transfer is a combined $435,000, $300,000 of which will be for the purchase of the property needed for the Courthouse Road project. The remaining amount, $135,000, will be used for rent protection for the vacated buildings rather than have new tenants move into those buildings.

The agreement would also include $1.4 million provided by Jarrell to be used for the construction of a new parking lot to be used for the future courthouse that will be constructed in that area. The amount would be paid back to Jarrell over time by Stafford County, details on what the payment plan would be have yet to be decided.

Another hurdle comes from the property’s zoning designation. The land is designated for urban development but will need to be rezoned for highway construction. Should this not happen, the price would rise from the agreed-upon $435,000 to $750,000.

Not everyone is convinced of this deal, however. Hartwood District Supervisor Gary Snellings remains skeptical of the swap and announced that although he approved the public hearing he was still on the fence for approval and would make his decision after the July 7 meeting.

This comes soon after the announcement that the Downtown Stafford area would become a smart city testing area for the Commonwealth of Virginia making it a hotbed to test new broadband technologies. The goal is to bring new businesses and residents to promote the growth of the county.