Reston Performing Arts Center Virtual Town Hall Set For Nov. 29

RESTON, VA — Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn and county staff are hosting a Reston Arts Center Virtual Town Hall meeting, at 7 p.m., on Tuesday, Nov. 29.

Members of the Reston community will have an opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback about the center that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will be voting on in the next few months.

Follow this link to take part in the virtual town hall meeting. Participants may also call in and listen to the meeting by dialing 571-429-5982 and using conference ID: 982 587 410#.

As part of the next phase of development at Reston Town Center (Block J), developer Boston Properties has a proffer agreement with the county to provide a space on Sunset Hills Road for the performing arts center.

The county has two choices for how Block J can be used, according to a Alcorn's office:

• One athletic field that could be located elsewhere – either on Park Authority property (Option 1), on top of the “Freedom Garage” also owned by Boston Properties (Option 2), or to give the Park Authority funding to build a field somewhere else in the Reston area (Option 3). All of these sub-options are detailed in proffer 34. Or,
• A community-based performing arts facility to serve Reston and Fairfax County of up to 60,000 gross square feet in “Block J” of the approved development on Sunset Hills Road, as detailed in proffer 36.

In 2019, the Reston Community Center conducted a community survey conducted by the University of Virginia’s Center for Survey Research to solicit input from the community about the potential arts venue. Fairfax County also conducted its own feasibility study, which it released in July.

Originally, the Board of Supervisors had a July 31 deadline to make a decision about the proffer, but Alcorn requested a six-month delay from Boston Properties to allow for more public engagement.

Initially, some in the community objected to the project, saying that the county was hiding the true cost and potential tax burden for residents of Reston who lived in Special Tax District #5.

However, Joseph Lahait, a debt coordinator with the Fairfax County Department of Management and Budget, told a group of about 50 people at an Oct. 5 town hall meeting that STD#5 was not going to be solely responsible for the costs of the arts center.

If Alcorn came to the board and said the Reston community wanted the 60,000-square-foot arts center being proffered by Boston Properties, the project would move forward as a general obligation bond for all county voters to consider, according to Lahait.

"General obligation bonds are paid back by the entire county, the entire full-facing credit of the county's $4 billion-plus general fund," he said.

The performing arts center was the same as any other public facility in the county, such as library or recreation center. Reston residents were being asked to provide feedback on which proffer they preferred, either an arts center or athletic fields, because whichever one they chose would be located in Reston.

The county would not go after a small tax district to pay for a project the size of the arts center, because it would not be something that could be feasibly sold to investors, according to Lahait. Putting forward the best possible financial plan translates to the lowest potential interest rate on the bond for the county.

"The lowest debt service, so that, ultimately, everyone in the county is paying much lower, taking advantage of the best possible bond rate agreement to put forward to the county voters," he said.

Related:

• Small Tax District #5 Not Solely Responsible For Funding Arts Center
• Reston Performing Arts Center Town Hall A Chance To Provide Feedback
• Reston Performing Arts Center Decision Delayed 6 Months: Alcorn
• How Much Will Arts Center Cost Reston Taxpayers?: Letter To The Editor