Springfield Tower

Here follows an excerpt about the deli from the "Springfield Things" blog written by Wesley Clark:

Sunday, October 5, 2014
Springfield Tower

If you've ever driven through Springfield on I-95 (the daily average, according to VDOT, is 430,000 cars), you've seen this place. You can't miss it! It's a fourteen story skyscraper. Well, okay, as much as a skyscraper as downtown Springfield can boast, anyway. It's called, perhaps inevitably, the Springfield Tower. It was built in 1972.

As recently as April 2014 Bob the Barber had his business here on the seventh floor - weird place for a barbershop, no? And I see that there was once a Hard Times Cafe on the eighth floor. But in October 2014, when I took these photos, I saw no evidence of that. Doing a google search on the address, I see that various other businesses were also located here. Once.

Let's start with the description on a web site:

Highlights: Excellent location - 495/95 interchange; Entire floor available; Prominent building in Fairfax County; Floor to ceiling windows; Full service leases; Less than a mile from Springfield Metro

Subject property is a tall, glass structure located prominently at the interchange of I-495 and I-95 in Spingfield, Virginia. Standing 14 stories tall, the Springfield Tower is one of the most visable (sp) landmarks in Fairfax County. Property has floor to ceiling windows, and a two-level parking deck. Leases are full service.

The Springfield Tower is located at the intersection of the Capital Beltway (495) and 95/395, one of the most accessible submarkets in metro DC. The Springfield Metro stop is less than a mile away and the property is surrounded by retail, office, and hotels.

...and blight, police tape, parked trucks and crumbling concrete. Take a look:

An Exxon station occupied the area with the overhang. But the location was so out of the way they must have closed for lack of business. Now some unknown entity parks industrial trucks there

Those steel stanchions look like they are partially holding up the deck! And the front entrance. That makes an unforgettably impressive look for corporate customers and clients, huh? My guess is that the owner primarily makes money from this real estate by renting space to cell phone company and other entities needing a high platform. Are there any tenants in this eyesore? I'm guessing not.

Note that the "d" in "dr." is lower case here but upper case in the view at the top. Nice touch. At least they spelled "Augusta" correctly. Plan to drive up that ramp? I don't think so. With the stanchions in front in mind, you and your car might just end up in a pile of concrete.

There's a Bob Evans restaurant next to this building, and this is definitely the Tower's most presentable face. Once again, more cell relay and antenna equipment. Those are the real tenants. Sheesh. What a wreck! Didn't I last see a building like this in Detroit - or an episode of The Simpsons?

Stay classy, downtown Springfield...

An anonymous citizen wrote "I worked there a couple years and asked the owner about the property. The 12 story building is owned by a man and the one story former Exxon station connected to it is owned by a bank that foreclosed on that part of the property years ago. Fairfax County Fire has their antennas on the roof and would not let the owner demolish the building. Also when is a good time to close the highway? More income was made from the antennas than renting the office space. The deck was crumbling for years and the county finally made them make it safe or remove it. For years the concrete ramp was held up by 6X6 wood posts. Wood holding up concrete! The man shot in the neck sitting at his desk was in was in 6225 Brandon Ave. Before the sound walls went up along the highway some moron on Bowie Dr. shot a .22 at a bird in his back yard. Hitting the unfortunate man in his office. 5 years ago a supposed school for retraining veterans was there and overcharging the government for nothing. Was caught closed and had to pay back the Govt."


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Here follows an excerpt from a Washington Post newspaper article:

Springfield Fire Snarls I-95 Traffic
Damage to Tower Office Building Estimated at $ 1 Million

By Barbara Carton
November 14, 1986

Flames lapping at a 15-story office tower in Springfield yesterday morning caused about $ 1 million in smoke and fire damage and snarled traffic as commuters slowed to stare.

Fairfax County fire officials said the fire erupted in the Springfield Tower building at 6320 Augusta Dr. near I-95 and the Capital Beltway at 6:50 a.m. The building has the call letters of WMAL radio on its side.

Three persons in the building escaped without injury and it took 50 firefighters 30 minutes to control the blaze, said Pam Weiger, a fire department spokeswoman.

The cause of the blaze is under investigation. Weiger said it may have started on the eighth floor, which is occupied by the National Society of Accountants and the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation's group sales office.

The building is not equipped with smoke detectors or sprinklers, because the structure was erected in 1971, before Virginia's current fire safety code took effect, Weiger said. She added that the fire was reported by numerous passers-by, who noticed flames shooting through glass windows. A manual pull-alarm also was sounded.

The building is equipped with heat sensors, but they were improperly wired and failed to trigger an alarm, Weiger said. Sensors are not required by law, but the state fire code requires that any fire safety equipment installed in a building must be maintained in operating condition. Failure to do so can be punishable by a fine, she said, adding that Fairfax officials have not decided whether to issue a citation.

The building, Springfield's oldest office tower, is owned by a partnership and managed by Gates Hudson & Associates of Springfield. A spokesman for that group, Stephen Melko, said temporary space was being sought for affected tenants.

The heaviest damage was reported to the seventh, eighth and ninth floors, but the upper floors also were affected by smoke, Weiger said. Al Louer, a spokesman for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, reported smoke damage to office furniture, and said it could be a week before the three employees there are back at work.