A striking announcement made Oct. 1 means the much-ballyhooed Loudoun Hounds have a new home, as officials from the team and the One Loudoun community announced a deal to move the long-awaited franchise away from the upcoming Kincora development.

The Hounds and its stadium had been a critical piece of the plans for Kincora, which falls less than one mile east of One Loudoun.

Bob Farren, president of VIP Sports and Entertainment, the Loudoun Hounds’ parent company, noted the relocation was nothing more than a business move based on timing.

“It was strictly a business decision to go from one community to the other. 2014 is the main reason we left Kincora and went to One Loudoun,” Farren said. “I am not going to deny that there are some amenities in One Loudoun, the biggest one is they have buildings coming out of the ground right now. One Loudoun affords us the opportunity to help them as much as they are helping us.”

The new stadium will be tucked into the interchange of Route 7 and Loudoun County Parkway with frontage on Route 7.

One Loudoun and the Hounds’ plans include construction of a new ballpark with capacity for up to 10,000 fans including 5,500 fixed seats, according to officials with both parties.

The stadium is being treated as the centerpiece of the new community. It will host at least 72 baseball games per year as well as community events, concerts, festivals and additional sporting events. Scheduled to open in 2014, the ballpark is being privately financed, according to One Loudoun officials.

Bill May, vice president of Miller and Smith, a joint owner of One Loudoun, said he believes the partnership will flourish.

“We are delighted that the Hounds are going to be at One Loudoun. We think it is going to be a terrific addition to our already terrific environment we are creating there to live, work and play in the same spot,” May said. “They complement our environment where you can eat, go to the movies, go to the ballpark, go to your office, your house all in one place and leave your car in one parking space.

“That is the type of environment people are seeking out and it is a very sustainable environment,” May said.

In June, the Hounds announced a delay in the debut of the team – the second in two years – due to various transportation and infrastructure issues.

Farren noted that time lines became paramount in his decision to move locations.

“We have always maintained a position of looking forward and not backward and whenever I started looking for the assurances from Kincora that would allow 2014 to occur, they would try and do their best they could to get them to us, but some they could and some they couldn’t,” Farren said. “It became apparent that not enough could happen to fit the time line we wanted and we had to make the business decision to look across the street. It literally was who could be ready fast enough.

“We started to look at our situation more late last spring or early summer,” Farren said.

Given VIP Baseball’s strong support for the Kincora development project during its approval process with the county, some observers questioned whether Kincora pulled a so-called “bait and switch” with county leaders.

Farren didn’t believe that was the case.

“At some point you just have to make a business decision. As much as I was supportive of Kincora, that support now is 100 percent focused on One Loudoun,” Farren said. “All we are trying to do is have a home for sports and entertainment in the county. Kincora was the first choice and the time lines just couldn’t work. I waited three and a half years before finding out it just wasn’t going to work, it’s not like I went there and went away six months later.”

Michael Scott, lead developer for Kincora, noted that it is difficult to lose a tenant, but they will continue to push on.

“Well, as a developer it is never fun to lose a tenant,” Scott said. “In this case, I still think the presence of the stadium in the vicinity of Route 28 and Route 7 is good for anchoring an important corridor. It doesn’t diminish the need for the completion of Gloucester Parkway and Pacific Boulevard, which we are working on.”

Scott felt the location of Kincora will allow for a quick adjustment and move the project forward.

“I think the location will continue to provide lots of other opportunities given its centrality to the Route 28 corridor,” Scott said. “We have some irons in the fire and interest in the vacancy and we all have a positive vision for Loudoun and we will be here for it.”

According to One Loudoun spokesperson Julie Dillon, no commercial or office space will be lost from the new placement of the stadium. The office and retail space already planned for the part of the property the stadium will be located on will be spread out over other buildings within One Loudoun.

Both Kincora, the 400-acre mixed use project between Routes 7 and 28, and One Loudoun,  a 358-acre omni-use community that will feature 1,040 homes and 702,000 square feet of retail space, are a ways off from full-scale completion.

One Loudoun officially broke ground on Phase One of its downtown sector July 24.

Loudoun Board of Supervisors Chairman Scott York (R-At Large) made clear new design plans will need to come before the board for approval. The chairman and Supervisor Shawn Williams (R-Broad Run), whose district includes both the Kincora and One Loudoun property, took part in talks to essentially “keep the Hounds in Loudoun.”

Farren said there were numerous parties outside of Loudoun County interested in landing the Hounds.

“It was important for us to get this going and do what we can to be able to keep the stadium here in the county,” York said.

The location switch will not have any immediate impact in the county’s transportation planning, according to the chairman.

An $80 million loan from the Virginia Transportation Infrastructure Bank to Kincora for the extension of Gloucester Parkway and Pacific Boulevard is still proceeding as planned; the necessary paperwork and application are being pushed through and submitted to the Commonwealth Transportation Board, York and Williams confirmed.

Looking at the big picture, York said the Hounds will add a “very significant piece of sports entertainment for this county that is probably long desired by many.”

This story has been updated from its original version. The update also corrects a misquote from Michael Scott, the lead developer for Kincora.