Base realignment seen as boon, though not clear how much
By William C. Flook
Examiner Staff Writer 11/20/08
Montgomery County is preparing Bethesda National Naval Medical Center to absorb most of D.C.’s Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Examiner File The Defense Department’s realignment of military bases is expected to buttress the region’s battered economy and fuel new construction as thousands of new workers find a home in Fairfax and Montgomery counties.
Local officials, while grousing about new traffic, have looked to the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure orders as a way to spur development and commerce at a time when vacant office space is an increasingly common sight across the Washington suburbs.
In Virginia, Fort Belvoir has begun construction on facilities that will accommodate some 12,000 new jobs, and supervisors are mulling allowing large-scale development around the base that could bring thousands of additional contractors.
Montgomery County is preparing Bethesda National Naval Medical Center to absorb most of D.C.’s Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which is scheduled to close in 2011.
Underscoring just how coveted the thousands of new military jobs can be, Fairfax County and Alexandria officials recently quarreled over which jurisdiction would gain an additional 6,200 workers from the Washington Headquarters Services. Alexandria eventually won out.
Despite the added jobs, Anirban Basu, an economist who heads the Baltimore economic consulting firm Sage Policy Group, predicts overall office vacancies in the region to rise.
“Base Realignment and Closure isn’t the end-all be-all,” said Basu.
Other areas within the Washington region are expected to suffer because of BRAC, notably Arlington, which will lose 17,000 jobs, mostly in Crystal City.
Overall, the realignment will cause 14,000 civilian and 4,900 military departures from the region, while bringing an influx of 20,000 civilian and 7,300 military personnel, according to Army spokesman Dave Foster.
4 Comments
Reader Comments:
POSTED Nov 20, 2008
examiner reader: "WHy weren't these jobs sent to the states you promised jobs, Ohio , Pennsylvania, Michigan Duh ?"POSTED Nov 21, 2008
Juan Valdez: "With 17,ooo jobs lost in Arlington you will have to have deep cuts in the budgets. Having the largest population of diversity and multiculutralism, maybe those immigrants can now stop the remittances to their country and invest in Arlington? This would be called investment assimilation."POSTED Nov 24, 2008
Reader: "I am continuosly amazed at the lack of editorial analysis or attention within the media. Contrary to the statement, "In Virginia, Fort Belvoir has begun construction on facilities that will accommodate some 12,000 new jobs," these are NOT NEW jobs. These are positions located throughout the metro Washington area that are relocating to either Springfield or Alexandria. New to these locations? Yes. New jobs? No."POSTED Nov 24, 2008
Reader: "I am continuosly amazed at the lack of editorial analysis or attention within the media. Contrary to the statement, "In Virginia, Fort Belvoir has begun construction on facilities that will accommodate some 12,000 new jobs," these are NOT NEW jobs. These are positions located throughout the metro Washington area that are relocating to either Springfield or Alexandria. New to these locations? Yes. New jobs? No."