The National Science Foundation announced its plan to relocate to Alexandria in 2017.
The NSF is a federal agency that supports fundamental research and education for science and engineering which received around $7 billion worth of funds from the government last year. It currently employs about 1,200 regular employees, 150 provisional scientists, 200 contract employees, and the executive staff members. The relocation plan will be the one of the largest relocation made by a federal agency in Northern Virginia's history.
The relocation plan was announced last Friday on the The Washington Post disclosing the new site as well. NSF will be moving to a 660,848-square-foot land area near the AMC Hoffman Center 22 movie theater, a short walk from the Eisenhower Avenue Metro station. The place is currently being used as a parking lot. The developer of the building is the same developer of the Hoffman Town Center located in Alexandria, VA near Washington DC. NSF General Services Administration confirmed that they have signed up a 15-year lease contract with the developer which is $65 million cheaper than its current headquarter rent.
The neighboring establishments in Alexandria are excited now because of the income that they may have once NSF arrives in the area. The agency has high-level staffs and brings in over 60,000 guests each year for their conferences.
So what made NSF choose Alexandria? In an interview with The Washington Post, city mayor William D. Euille guessed "access to Metro, and multiple stations, walk-ability to Old Town and the old historic district, and the quality of life in Alexandria."
While the Alexandria mayor is happy about the news, the Arlington county officials appealed to NSF and wrote a letter to the agency to continue negotiations. Here is an excerpt from the letter of Arlington County Manager Barbara Donnellan,
"We are confident, given the massive direct and indirect costs of relocation, as well as the significant federal real estate investments already made over the last decade in the vibrant science and technology research cluster that has been created around NSF, that the stay-in-place option provides the lowest cost and highest value option for the federal government."
