NGIC construction begins

Developer Wendell Wood has begun construction on one of two office buildings that would serve the expanding National Ground Intelligence Center.

The buildings, planned to be used in part by the expanding federal intelligence center in northern Albemarle County, are expected to be completed by the time most of the new employees arrive in the next few years.

Wood said the initial 120,000-square-foot office building should be built by about January 2009 and the bigger building, which may be around 150,000 square feet, would be constructed around September 2009. The steel is up on about two-thirds of the first building off U.S. 29 north. He said that a “barracks” or residential facility could come along later, but he isn’t yet sure when.

“If [NGIC needs] it, I have it,” Wood said of the residential portion. The first building will likely cost an estimated $30 million and the second an estimated $50 million. The buildings will be built to federal anti-terrorism standards.

When county supervisors approved the project last year, they wanted assurances from Wood that the offices would be used by NGIC, in order to skirt the county’s development guidelines. He said that was necessary to build them to federal anti-terrorism standards. Part of the buildings, Wood said, will be open for public lease.

That doesn’t bother Supervisor David L. Slutzky.

“As long as NGIC is a significant tenant in the building, then I think our board is probably going to be satisfied,” Slutzky said. “We weren’t going to bend any rules for Wendell unless there was a darn good reason. He has delivered on his promise.”

The offices will sit near the expanding NGIC facility, which will hold the more than 800 employees expected to move to Albemarle by 2011. That new facility will be built by Archer Western Contractors of Chicago, which will take on the task of building a facility to house analytical functions of the Defense Intelligence Agency and the National Ground Intelligence Center.

NGIC’s facility is being designed to accommodate 1,000 people, with parking for 625 vehicles.

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of additional consulting jobs and service industry jobs are expected to be generated as a result of the expansion, which is a part of the federal government’s effort to relocate and maximize resources. DIA has just finished selecting what positions they want to come to Albemarle, and those employees will have to decide whether or not they want to make the move, seek early retirement or apply to another agency, said Susan Stimart, Albemarle’s business development coordinator.

Stimart said an orientation meeting with school representatives has been scheduled for mid-July for those who may relocate here. Employees will also have to consider that the job in Albemarle comes with a 3 percent pay cut because of the cost of living difference between Albemarle and the Washington, D.C., area, Stimart said.

Michael Harvey, executive director of the Thomas Jefferson Partnership for Economic Development, said the high-paying jobs with wages of around $80,000 would create a significant impact in the local economy, from restaurants to new cars.

Some, though, would rather not see more cars on roads and children added to the schools.

Wood said people should focus on the positives of the project: it’s bringing well-paid jobs to Albemarle.

“We’re real fortunate to be where we are,” Wood said.