Demolition Moves $189M Mixed-Use Project Forward in Virginia

The Aquia Towne Center in Stafford County, Va., is about to be reduced to rubble in order to pave the way for the continued redevelopment of the shopping center into a 725,000-square-foot mixed-use destination. Ramco-Gershenson Properties Trust will spend $189 million on the redevelopment effort.Located about 25 miles from Washington, D.C., and five miles from the Marine Corps Base at Quantico, Aquia will feature 350,000 square feet of premier office space, 250,000 square feet of retail space, 125,000 square feet of entertainment offerings and 287 residential units. The architectural firm of Brown/Craig/Turner is overseeing the design of the new live-work-play site that will replace the 240,000-square-foot, 19-year-old strip mall that Ramco-Gershenson acquired for $22 million 10 years ago. Ramco-Gershenson has already completed one facet of the project, having delivered in January a 100,000-square-foot office and retail structure that is predominantly occupied by Northrop-Grumman. Aquia, in its entirety, is on schedule to emerge from its massive makeover in 2011. The completion date is quite apropos, as Stafford County and surrounding Northern Virginia communities will grow by leaps and bounds due in great part to the 3,000 workers that will relocate to the Quantico area by 2011 as a result of the U.S. Department of Defense’s 2005 Base Realignment and Closure process. Ramco-Gershenson has already completed one facet of the project, having delivered in January an office structure that is 66 percent occupied by Northrop-Grumman.Headquartered in Farmington Hills, Mich., Ramco-Gershenson is a fully integrated public REIT that owns, develops and manages community shopping centers, regional malls and single-tenant retail properties across the country.