Planned Office Tower Called Hazard for Planes
Planned Office Tower Called Hazard for Planes:
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) - A 390-foot-tall office tower planned across the Potomac River from Washington could be a hazard to airplanes, the Federal Aviation Administration has determined.
The preliminary ruling on the glass-and-steel tower has delayed Arlington County's hopes to build a "signature skyline" with views of the monuments and memorials of the nation's capital. Some business owners had already started marketing the Rosslyn area as "Manhattan on the Potomac."
The FAA is concerned the tower would be a "presumed hazard" for planes approaching the nearby Reagan National Airport. But the agency's Nov. 24 decision seems strange to some officials because the FAA had also ruled this year that the structure's twin residential tower next door would not be a danger.
The residential tower is also planned for 390 feet and is "only a few feet away" from the office tower, said Kathleen L. Webb, a principal at JBG Companies, the Washington-based developer building the towers.
"On the residential tower, the FAA did a study and determined it not to be a hazard," said Diane Spitaliere, an FAA spokeswoman. She said the second tower is still being evaluated.
"They sent out a 'notice of presumed hazard' because there are some issues with the location of building in relation to the approach to the runway, but we're still studying it," Spitaliere said.
Currently, the tallest building in Rosslyn is 312 feet. Pilots and aviation experts had long worried the existing buildings were too tall.