Spotlight on Stafford, VA
Stafford County, with a population of 139,992 residents, lies among the northern counties of Virginia approximately 40 miles south of metropolitan Washington, D.C. and about 60 miles north of Richmond, the state capital. Rich in history as the locale of George Washington’s boyhood home, Stafford remained a primarily rural area until the construction of Interstate 95 in the late 1960’s. Since that time, the County has experienced a growth rate that has ranked it at times among the fastest growing jurisdictions in the nation. With direct north-south access from Interstate 95 and its alternate U.S. Route 1, Stafford lies within commuting distance of major employment centers and primary industrial and commercial markets in the area. This proximity along with a high percentage of vacant land continues to attract new residential and commercial development to meet the demand for services in Stafford. The county boasts a low unemployment rate of 4.3% and a median household income of $97,606.
Stafford was named as the number one job creator in Virginia last year with an addition of 96 net new businesses and almost 1,000 new jobs, bringing the total number of jobs in Stafford to over 40,000. Employment growth for 2016 is expected to remain healthy. The county is home to a variety of nationally known companies attracted by the highly educated workforce, more than 30% of whom hold bachelor’s degrees or higher. The largest private sector employer GEICO employs more than 4,000 people at its regional headquarters. Other major employers include Intuit, SAIC, General Dynamics, ManTech, Hilldrup, and Greencore.
Marine Corps Base Quantico, a 100-square-mile installation that straddles Stafford and Prince William County encompasses a community of approximately 8,900 civilian and military personnel which generates a $5.9 billion annual economic impact. The base houses the Marine Corps Officer Candidate School and Marine Corps Research Center, as well as the FBI Academy and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency training and research facilities. Adjacent to the Base is Quantico Corporate Center, developed by Silver Companies, which at full build-out will contain more than one million square feet of Class A office, retail, and hotel space. The center is also home to the Stafford Technology & Research Center, designed in partnership with local universities to attract technology companies and enhance the local workforce.
Aquia Town Center is one of the new projects recently approved as a 25-acre mixed-use development site east of I-95 at Garrisonville Road, where plans are in place for a town center anchored by a 70,000 square foot grocery store slated for completion in 2017. The Franklin Johnson Group of Virginia Beach has already broken ground on an apartment complex of seven buildings planned for the town center, containing 256 units along with a clubhouse, with completion expected at the end of 2016. To the west on Garrisonville Road, the Pence Group has obtained rezoning on a 45-acre property to allow construction of up to 500,000 square feet of retail and office space and 453 multifamily residential units.
This report features six shopping centers in Stafford County. Stafford County ranks in the top fourth in annualized retail sales growth among the state’s 134 counties and independent counties over the last five years. Asking rents for in-line spaces ranged from a high of $46.00 per square foot to a low of $17.00 per square foot. In the Stafford County submarket, asking rents for the first quarter of 2016 averaged $17.86, a 6% increase over the previous year. The vacancy rate stands at 4.8%, down from 5.2% in the same period in 2015.