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Upscale hotel and conference center
for Prince William
by
Rob Walker
Virginia Business
March
2005
THE
DEAL:
Development of the first full-service luxury hotel and
conference center in fast-growing Prince William County
on a prime piece of Potomac River waterfront. The $50
million, 272,000-square-foot Harbor Station would be
the centerpiece of a high-end, mixed-use development
that will take shape over several years on 2,000 acres
of the pristine Cherry Hill peninsula. The hotel will
include 234 guest rooms, 62,000 square feet of banquet
and support service space, and a 13,500 square-foot
spa featuring expansive water views. Architectural designs,
site plans, building permits and hotel franchising should
be complete by mid-2005. The center will adjoin an 18-hole
Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course. The surrounding
development will include a mixed-use waterfront community
of 2,500 residences, a marina, and a commercial town
center served by Virginia Railway Express.
KEY
PLAYERS:
Vienna-based KSI Services Inc. is the project’s
developer and owner. KSI’s president is Richard
W. Hausler. Working on development and management of
the hotel and conference center is Thayer Lodging Group
of Annapolis, Md., where Frederic V. Malec is co-chairman.
The project architect is Hellmuth, Obata + Kassebaum
Inc. (HOK), a global provider of architectural services,
William Hellmuth, principal. ForrestPerkins of Washington,
D.C., Stephen Perkins, principal, is designing the interior
and public spaces. BE&K Construction, with offices
in Northern Virginia and around the country, is general
contractor. The project is being funded by private sources
and will be designed in the tradition of 19th century
railroad hotels.
HOW THE DEAL UNFOLDED:
Recent census and job numbers show that Prince William
is growing dramatically, and the Cherry Hill peninsula,
with its riverfront bluffs and miles of vistas, is arguably
its most desirable landmass. “It outshines anything
else in Washington,” says Richard W. Hausler,
KSI president. The area already has begun attracting
high-end commercial and residential development. KSI
took over the project after another developer endured
a divisive approval process. KSI expanded the plans
to include the 2,000 acres while adjusting development
on them to alleviate concerns about environmental impact.
“We worked with the best in the business to create
an environmentally friendly, low impact plan,”
Hausler says. Forty-five percent of the land, not including
the golf course, will be open space. “It looks
like a series of green valleys surrounded by water with
pockets of development.”
MAJOR HURDLE:
Harbor Station’s location is both its blessing
and its curse. The river frontage, and proximity to
Washington, D.C., excited developers. However, environmental
and slow-growth groups raised fears of damage to waterways
and worried that the project would put more demand on
the region’s burdened highways. “There was
a great deal of reluctance about going into this property
on the part of a lot of people,” says Sean T.
Connaughton, chairman of the Prince William County Board
of Supervisors. “KSI has been very up front in
dealing with those issues.”
ECONOMIC
SIGNIFICANCE:
With the project, Prince William has reached a turning
point. “We now have high-quality commercial development
leading upscale residential development. We are being
looked at as a good place for commercial and business
investment, which will broaden our economy and create
jobs here at home,” says Connaughton.
The luxury hotel, conference center and golf course
are being planned as a destination for tourists, conferences
and business travelers. Prince William officials believe
it will also attract the national defense and homeland
security contractors pouring into the region.
“We anticipate the entire project will generate
thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars
of investment” that will provide a stable tax
base, says Connaughton.
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