Loudoun Seeks New Proposals for Metro Parking Garages

Those interested in building parking garages for Loudoun’s future Metro stations along the Silver Line were asked on Wednesday to go back to the drawing board.

The Loudoun Board of Supervisors rejected three initial proposals and expressed hope that even more ideas would come forward if a more specific set of parameters were outlined.

Not all board members were in agreement. Supervisor Ken Reid (R-Leesburg) said he believed a proposal by Comstock to construct the station at Route 606 should be accepted. Comstock also owns property under development near Route 772, so other board members said they believed the company, or another entity, might offer a proposal for all three garages.

“I don’t know what better we’re going to get on 606,” Reid said.

Supervisor Shawn Williams (R-Broad Run) responded that, “those  bidders are encouraged to move forward with the process.”

The initial request was issued in the form of a request for information (RFI), which left the parameters of the proposals wide open. The new request for proposals (RFP) will lay out more specifically the county’s needs for the garages.

Supervisor Suzanne Volpe (R-Algonkian) said her employer bids on government contracts and that it’s not unusual for some contractors to wait for more specifics before submitting proposals.

“Some of the folks that might want to play in this pond don’t event respond to an RFI,” she said. “The RFP is what’s going to get folks to actually look at it.”

The board voted 2-7 to reject Reid’s motion to accept Comstock’s proposal for the Rt. 606 garage, with Supervisor Eugene Delgaudio (R-Sterling) voting with Reid. The board then voted 8-1 to reject the existing proposals and issue the RFP, with Reid voting against the motion.

The board agreed to try to find a way to get three parking decks planned in Loudoun constructed outside of the Metro Silver Line project in an attempt to lower costs. If the board does not choose a contractor, the garages could still be tossed back into the project.