| Why a New White Flint Makes “Cents” |
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An opportunity to create jobs and deliver over $1 billion for Montgomery County The new White Flint is a much needed economic engine for Montgomery County. In a time of severe economic uncertainty, redevelopment would add thousands of new jobs, over $1 billion in new County tax revenue, improved mobility and traffic flow, and most significantly, a new sense of community for the residents of White Flint.The vast commercial property surrounding the White Flint Metro station has been underutilized for decades. Already Maryland’s premier retail sales market, White Flint can be redeveloped to effectively compete against the shopping districts of Northern Virginia and the District of Columbia, helping to keep those shopping dollars here at home instead of seeing the estimated two billion dollars of retail sales lost to Virginia and the District. As a result of the improved retail opportunities, new jobs, residents and homes, our analysis found the potential for $1.4 billion (PDF) in new gross tax revenue to Montgomery County over the next 20 years. With the land owners contributing almost 80% of the cost of the infrastructure improvements, there will be an impressive sum of new revenues that can be invested in schools, public safety, parks and numerous other projects countywide. Success requires a plan that has economic incentives to warrant new development throughout the sector plan area, so that local landowners can commit to providing the additional tax revenue to finance $500 million in targeted infrastructure. It is this investment in our future that will increase and enhance mobility throughout the area, and enable us to transform the Pike into a world class 21st Century Boulevard that instills community pride. Significantly, approximately 80 percent of the infrastructure investment will be funded solely by the private commercial land owners and 20 percent by the public sector, using new tax revenues generated specifically by the commercial development in White Flint. Significantly, this transformation can occur without any increases in residential taxes. This isn’t the first time Montgomery County has attempted to solve the problems on Rockville Pike. The County last addressed the White Flint Sector Plan in 1992. Unfortunately, it was a missed opportunity where densities were not aggressive enough along Rockville Pike to spur the type of development that the community envisions for White Flint. Let’s not make that mistake again. Join us in helping to make White Flint a welcoming hometown with a new sense of community. |