After months of changes to structural plans of Courthouse Square, Bob White and his team at Landmark Commercial Real Estate successfully passed their proposal through the Leesburg Board of Architectural Review by a 4-1-1-1 vote Sept. 5.

The vote was approved with conditions due to concerns voiced by members of the BAR.

Courthouse Square is a development encompassing the current 1.7 acre Loudoun Times-Mirror building and parking area.

Conditions mentioned in the motion included the siding on the second floor of the addition to the Loudoun Times-Mirror is approved to be the proposed color, but the type of siding proposed is not approved.

“The applicant will submit alternative proposed siding materials and sizes to the BAR as a condition of the certificate of approval for the issue as a result of this motion,” the motion says. “In addition, details shall be submitted to the preservation planner for approval on the painted metal doors, raised window trim on the second floor of the addition to the Loudoun Times-Mirror and the cornices on the new construction within 15 days of approval of the certificate of appropriateness.”

Members of the BAR did not agree with some of the materials being used for siding on the Loudoun Times-Mirror building. The applicants assured the BAR there are other materials that can be used, which they will present at a later time.

The building, which will contain approximately 113,600 square feet of by-right office, commercial and retail space, will keep the red-brick facade of the current building, while severing the backside of the building to make way for an elevator lobby.

One of the anticipated benefits of the project is the potential foot traffic the development would provide for other downtown businesses.

According to town staff, foot traffic in downtown Leesburg will see an increase of as many as 450 to 500 people once the project is completed.

Landmark Commercial Real Estate’s application was pushed through the Town Council in March and since then the group has been working with the BAR to fix any problems that have been addressed in their multiple sessions.

“I think our first meeting with the BAR was in June if I recall correctly and I believe this meeting is our sixth meeting,” White said. “This process has been about as smooth and collaborative experience as I could have hoped for and that is not to say they have given us the approval stamp and let us apply it liberally wherever we wanted to because that is not the case.

“To be quite honest it is much finer and much more aesthetically pleasing architectural product today than the one we submitted because we have the benefit of an awful lot of quality input from trained professionals,” White said.

With the approval through the BAR, the development will next begin the construction documentation phase as well continue raising equity from partners and shareholders.

“We raised a lot of money over the last three years and have been at this now for approximately 35 months. Believe it or not that is exactly what we predicted it to be,” White said. “I think we knew what we were in for and we had some huge obstacles to overcome especially the height amendment. Site planning and full architectural drawings will be our next step following the construction document phase.

White predicted that they would not begin construction before the Summer 2013 and that construction would take somewhere between 15 to 18 months for just the shell construction. White noted that it would probably take longer to fill tenant space as well.

Editor’s Note: The Arundel family, the owners of Arcom Publishing and the Loudoun Times-Mirror, are currently the majority owners of the property.