Developer Hears City Council, Public Comments On Proposed Hotel Along Broad Street

The development group seeking to construct a Hilton Garden Inn along the 700 block of West Broad Street faced criticism from Falls Church City Council members and local residents, namely parents of the St. James School which stands opposite of the site they are seeking approval of.

Jefferson Park, LLC and Gosnell Palmer Holdings, LLC, the applicant, presented a 3-D rendering of what their proposed hotel would look like if approved.

However, parents and council members, including Mayor Nader Barukh, voiced their concerns on the traffic problems that already exist along Broad Street that would be further exacerbated by the construction of a 65-foot tall hotel.

Also echoed by many parents in attendance was the possible attraction of sexual predators to a hotel that would be located across from one of the city’s longest standing Catholic schools.

“I really haven’t heard anything about security measures being imposed on the builder with reference to the children who go to school across the street,” said Tim Blanco, a lawyer who resides in Falls Church.  “What really struck me also was some of the concessions that they don’t want to make. What that told me was they perhaps are not interested in building a quality hotel.  I’m concerned about that, there are a lot of things that happen in hotels, particularly when you’re talking about a hotel that is directly across the street from children.”

In 2008 the applicant proposed a 4-year timeframe to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver certification, the internationally recognized standard for constructing the greenest and most energy efficient high performance buildings.  They are still seeking that timeframe, and also seek a new voluntary concession that would allow them to maintain the hotel as an upscale upper priced service hotel with at least 100 rooms.

“We executed a written agreement with St. James that includes substantial funds for St. James to address safety issues like crosswalks, fencing and so on,” said Robert Allen, speaking on behalf of the applicant. “I want the council to understand that we have extended considerable effort to meet with St. James and understand the leadership’s concerns and addressing those concerns in a very direct way.”

Parents and nearby residents of the proposed site also voiced concerns over the safety of pedestrians that walk, run and bike along Broad Street and other nearby streets to the proposed site.

The mayor also expressed great concern directly over the quality of the hotel and his wanting to implement a hotel that is upscale and not just a “cookie cutter” Hilton Garden Inn.

“I’m still not satisfied about the architectural detail that’s going into this project,” Baroukh said. “Our city deserves more, I’m looking for something more from the developer on architectural design issues, it needs to fit within the character of the city. It’s not acceptable to me at this point.”

The council voted unanimously to move forward with the review process, the application will now be extensively reviewed by the necessary city boards and commissions prior to coming before the council again.