Former Metro Transit Police substation getting knocked down next week

The former Metro Transit Police building will soon be no more.

A 1940s-era house next to the Huntington Metro that used to serve as a transit police substation is slated to get knocked down next week.

The building will be demolished Feb. 14-15, according to Neel Teague, president of Stout and Teague, which owns the property. 

Teague had originally hoped to have the building down late last summer, but problems securing a demolition permit from the county delayed the project. Part of the issue was an environmental survey of the property that Fairfax County required be done. That survey turned up some asbestos, which needed to be removed before any demolition could begin. 

“It was a lengthy process to get a demolition permit due to unanticipated site and building conditions but we now have the permit in hand and are all set to go,” Teague said. 

Commuters who use the Metro station, including users who take a shuttle bus from the Montebello complex behind the old substation, should not expect to be inconvenienced by the work, Teague said. A chain link fence will be erected around the property during the demo, which will be done by a team of workers using a backhoe and loader.

One the demo is complete, the land will remain open space for the time being. 

“The plan is to level the site of the former house and seed and straw for turf,” Teague said. “This will make the site much more open and visible for both Montebello shuttle bus and pedestrians.”

Past and future

The nearly 70-year-old brick colonial-revival style house was originally a residence that sat a short distance from the old Mount Eagle estate, which was demolished in 1968. The house was also the original location of the Crossroads drug and alcohol rehabilitation center from the 1970s until 1994. From 2001-2015 it was used by the Metro Transit Police, and has been vacant since they moved out.

Eventually a new development will be built on the site. It will actually be the third phase of a project that began last decade when Stout & Teague purchased roughly 60 acres of land adjacent to the Metro station. The first two phases saw the completion of 50 townhouses and the Courts at Huntington Station apartments, as well as Mount Eagle Park.

The third phase was originally supposed to see the construction of a high-rise apartment and office building, but Teague said in July that idea is on hold for the moment. His company is studying other possibilities, and also keeping an eye on the progress of Embark Richmond Highway, which envisions a major overhaul for transportation options and density in the Richmond Highway corridor.

“We’ve been waiting to review what really makes sense for that spot,” Teague said in July.

Note: Teague said that the Huntington Farmers Market, which set up shop in the building’s parking lot last summer, will be returning in the spring.