Posted on: November 21, 2024, 03:14h.
Last updated on: November 21, 2024, 03:24h.
Local officials in Northern Virginia’s Fairfax County continue to speak out against efforts to bring a Las Vegas-style casino, resort, and convention center to Tysons.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors met Tuesday night and welcomed public input on the casino matter. Much of the feedback from area residents and township leaders expressed strong hostility to slot machines and table games.
Join us in saying no. There are too many negatives [associated with a casino],” Vienna Mayor Linda Colbert said.
Vienna borders Tysons, where state Sen. David Marsden (D-Fairfax) wants to put a casino resort and convention complex.
“We do not want a casino,” added William Comerfield, a 46-year resident of Vienna, as reported by FFXNow, the definitive local news source for Fairfax County.
We already have enough problems in Tyson. We don’t need a casino,” said William Doolittle, president of The Rotonda Homeowners’ Association in McClean, another border town to Tysons.
Even if Marsden’s casino bill passes next year and is signed by Gov. Ralph Northam (R), a casino would only be allowed after voters approve the project through a local referendum.
Casino Bill Expected
Marsden is expected to file another casino bill, as he did this year before the statute died in committee, seeking to amend Virginia’s casino law to include Fairfax County — specifically, Tysons — as a qualified host for a casino establishment. Currently, only Norfolk, Bristol, Danville, Portsmouth, and Petersburg are allowed to host slot machines, table games, and sportsbooks.
Marsden says Fairfax residents will see their property taxes further increase in the coming years as the many corporations that call the county home rework their office building leases. Though several of the Fortune 500 companies that are based in, or have a large presence in Fairfax’s McClean, Tysons, Reston, and Vienna — including Capital One, Hilton Worldwide, Freddie Mac, and Booz Allen Hamilton — have forced employees to return to the office, many continue to allow for flex workweeks and some work-from-home opportunities.
Companies are leasing less space than they did before the pandemic, and that will likely lead to office buildings fielding lower assessed valuations, which in turn lessen their property tax liability.
Commercial real estate advisory Newmark wrote in its third quarter report for Northern Virginia that net absorption for the region totaled negative 714K square feet during the three months. The negative absorption was spread out across the region’s cities.
Fewer landlords have capital for concessions, which have been a major driver in attracting tenants over the past several years,” the Newmark note on Northern Virginia’s Q3 read. “The pool of landlords that can pay for tenant improvements is shrinking. There are fewer owners offering trophy office space, fostering an unusual landlord-favorable environment for the highest quality space. Meanwhile, conditions continue to soften in Class B and C assets.”
Marsden says a casino resort and convention center is an option Fairfax residents should consider as a solution to help offset presumptive tax increases in the future.
Some in Support
Though most residents have opposed Marsden’s casino push, many unions in the region have come out in support of the undertaking. Union leaders and members say a resort casino and convention hall would create thousands of construction and permanent jobs, providing opportunities for blue-collar workers to earn a sustainable living wage in the affluent area.
“Union jobs give higher pay, pensions, and dignity,” said Epaminondas Mouhanis, a board member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local Union 26. “Please stand with the working class.”
Source link
