BRAC ARLINGTON OVERVIEW

Welcome to the Arlington BRAC Web site, a central location for information related to the impact of BRAC on Arlington, and the potential opportunities it holds for the business community.

BRAC INFORMATION

• BRAC History
• BRAC Impact & Response
• BRAC Transition Task Force Recommendations
• BRAC Transition Center
• Workforce and Business Assistance
• Press Room

In May 2005, the Department of Defense issued recommendations to the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission to close and/or realign DoD agencies and installations throughout the country. Approved in November 2005, the BRAC law requires that over 4 million square feet of leased office space in Arlington be vacated. As a result, Arlington stands to lose approximately 17,000 jobs, making the County’s loss the largest in the United States.

Following a series of hearings in July and August, Arlington successfully retained the DoD’s Extramural Research Agencies in Arlington, including the Office of Naval Research (ONR), the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), the Army Research Office (ARO) and the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA).

Now, Arlington has begun addressing the impacts of BRAC including changes to the leased office space market and jobs in Arlington. The County Board appointed a BRAC Transition Task Force to map a way ahead in managing the effects of BRAC 2005.

In July 2006, the Arlington BRAC Transition Task Force completed its work and produced 34 strategic recommendations covering areas of impact such as infrastructure, planning and development, business and workforce, and business and tenant incentives. With the Board’s endorsement of the Task Force’s report, Arlington Economic Development (AED) took immediate action to implement the strategic recommendations by preparing a grant request to the Department of Defense, Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) for monitoring and planning assistance. Arlington has since received an OEA grant for $876,000.

The County Board appointed the Crystal City Planning Task Force which is creating a visioning plan for the future of Crystal City; the plan should be complete in Winter, 2007. To assist the County, Torti Gallas and Partners were placed under contract for general urban planning consulting and a contract with Kimley-Horn and Associates was let for transportation planning. These consultants were paid for by the OEA grant.

In addition to consultant services for Crystal City planning activities, OEA grant monies also fund the BRAC Coordinator, who is developing work plans for the Task Force recommendations. Critical components of these plans include solidifying recommendation goals and creating outcome measures to track benefits to the community.

For additional information about the Arlington BRAC Task Force or strategic planning, contact us.