The County completed the acquisition of the Buck Property on November 20, 2017. Located across the street from Washington-Lee High School, the 6.1 acre site, zoned for light industrial and commercial uses, contains two warehouses and two buildings used as offices. The County approved an option agreement with owner Bill Buck and his family’s three limited liability corporations in May 2015, to pay $30 million for the property in installments.
Timeline
November 2016: Formation of County and School Board-appointed Joint Facilities Advisory Commission. This was a recommendation within the 2015 Community Facilities Study. Learn more about the public process.
June 27, 2017: Use considerations for Buck Option C (northern part of property) was presented to County Board.
November 20, 2017: County acquires the Buck Property.
March 2018: Initiation of Phase 3 Use Determination Process, analyzing use considerations developed by JFAC. Anticipated to take 9-12 months.
Latest News
Buck Phase 3 Study Snapshot
- Evaluate the feasibility of repurposing the Buck site to house the Fire Reserve Vehicles and Logistics, the Police Impound Lot and Forensics function, and the Department of Public Safety and Emergency Management.
- Arlington Public Schools will assess the feasibility of using the building adjacent to Hayes Park for swing space.
- Traffic, neighborhood and environmental impacts, including exploring mitigation efforts and screening options.
- A timeline and the amount of funding needed to repurpose Buck for the relocation of these facilities.
Relocation of Police Impound Lot and Reserve Vehicles
Facing increasing challenges over operational space, the County will expedite the planning and relocation of the Police Impound Lot and Reserve Vehicles to the Buck Property.
- Relocation poised to commence following the Phase 3 Analysis – but will be timed to still take into account any findings of the Phase 3 Analysis that bear on the Police Impound Lot and Reserve Vehicles.
- Funding is requested in the FY 2019-2028 Capital Improvement Plan, however, relocation will not occur prior to spring 2019.
Near-Term Uses at Buck
The acquisition of the Buck property allows the County to address some of our temporary and immediate facility’s needs. The County is now using Buck for the following:
- Spare and reserve equipment and furniture inventory that was originally housed at the APS warehouse. The relocation will allow Schools to repurpose their warehouse to provide additional space for their operations.
- Traffic signal equipment and bus shelter parts.
- Potential site for snow haulage and melting operations during major snow events of greater than 8-12 inches.