WOODBRIDGE, Va. — Prince William County will bid for the FBI National Headquarters.
The investigative bureau plans to close its J. Edgar Hoover building in Downtown Washington, D.C., and that has places like Prince Georges County, Md., and now Prince William County, Va. trying to convince the agency to relocate to their respective jurisdictions.
At a meeting of local and state officials Tuesday night in Woodbridge, Prince William Board of Supervisors Chariman, At-Large, Corey A. Stewart directed county staff to draft a letter to Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell to declare their interest in bringing the facility to the area near Quantico Marine Corps Base. The FBI’s training academy is already located at Quantico, and the agency has its Northern Virginia Resident Agency in Manassas.
The federal government recently sent out a request for information to interested jurisdictions around Washington that would be interested in bidding for the relocation of the FBI headquarters to their area, and Prince William County was on the list.
“We are the furthest south they are considering at this point,” said county executive Melissa Peacor.
Officials said early requirements for the facility to be located near a Metro subway station have been relaxed, as there are no Metro stops in Prince William County. Transportation improvements would have to be part of the deal, officials said, as FBI employees would most likely need access to a Quantico FBI headquarters from Virginia Railway Express, which already has a station at Quantico. Improvements to on and off ramps on Interstate 95 at Quantico would also have to be completed.
Last year, about 2,000 federal employees were transferred to the new Russel-Knox Building at Quantico as part of BRAC and the region saw little if any in the way of traffic impacts.
The FBI’s relocation process could take up to two years. Prince Georges County is also interested in moving the FBI there, locating it near Metro stops at Greenbelt or Suitland. At least 30 percent of the FBI’s workforce employed at the current headquarters in Washington already lives in Maryland.
