EXCERPT FROM: Washington Business Journal
By Sarah Krouse
Arlington County wants to attract more child care centers to its commercial corridors and is considering a change to its zoning ordinance that will offer lower rents to centers and give developers additional project density in exchange for providing such space.
Child care providers in the county have long advocated for more space, especially given the limited amount of developable land in the county and the cost of renting retail space along major corridors, the alternative to constructing a new facility.
The change is also based on feedback from relocating and expanding companies about the availability of child care centers and the Arlington County Board’s 2007 request that the county manager consider adding space for child care and community centers in new site plan projects.
A June 2009 paper by Arlington Economic Development recommended development incentives for bonus density to draw child care centers to commercial corridors. The paper identified partnership opportunities to support child care work force development and called for added specificity in the county’s current retail policy to help child care centers fill retail space in commercial corridors such as the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.
Given the relatively low return of a day care center compared to what a normal retailer might bring in, the county must offer enough additional density to make the addition of such space cost-neutral for developers.
Incentivizing community facilities is nothing new for Arlington. The county granted Monday Properties bonus density for its 1812 North Moore St. office project in exchange for very low rent at the former Newseum space, which the county will use for a cultural center. The JBG Cos. earned bonus density at The Fairmont for promised improvements to the western Metro station entrance at Ballston.
Bonus density awarded for child care centers will be based on variables that include the cost of construction, the anticipated rental rate for the retail space in a mixed-use project, the proposed rental rate of the child care center and the size of the center.
The total square footage of bonus density would be proportionate to the size and rental rates of the space but will likely not exceed a .5 floor-to-area ratio for child care centers. FAR measures how much square footage can be built on a site.