The Pohanka National Operations Center is a 26-acre site developed to serve the operational needs of the Pohanka Auto Dealerships throughout Virginia and Maryland. The 53,270-square foot, two-story building includes parking for up to 1,900 vehicles. It was developed to process and prepare vehicles for distribution to dealerships and provide office space for administration and accounting functions.
B&N provided surveying, environmental, geotechnical, and civil design. This included processing the plans through various review agencies for approval and permitting. Specific design elements included layout, grading, drainage, SWM/BMP, widening of the Virginia Department of Transportation roadway, utility design, and erosion and sedimentation control design. B&N also provided testing and inspection services during construction.
Property Jurisdiction
The Pohanka property is located in two different jurisdictions, Loudoun and Fairfax Counties, which created some project challenges. B&N successfully established an understanding that Loudoun County would serve as the lead review jurisdiction with courtesy submissions to Fairfax County. This allowed the plans/permits to be prepared using a single set of standards.
Environmental Impacts
The site contained a large FEMA floodplain and several wetlands. B&N established a constraints map very early in the project to identify the floodplain and wetlands. Then, we prepared an overall site layout incorporating design features to minimize environmental impacts and limit the need for additional permitting.
Over the past 20 years, portions of the site were used as a storage yard and were filled with unknown materials. This raised concerns about potential unconsolidated fill and/or buried trash. B&N performed geotechnical borings to determine the bearing and used backhoe test pits to search for buried trash. Once areas of concern were identified, we developed a design that minimized the cost of remediation.
Expedited Project Schedule
Due to contract commitments, the owner needed to obtain plan approval to start construction within a six-month period. B&N met with County staff to discuss how to shorten the review time. Together, we determined the project could be processed through the County’s expedited review process, reducing the review time by several months. With a shared commitment by both County and B&N design staff to meet the accelerated review/design times, the project was conditionally approved within three months of the initial submission.