Developer Claims Plan Would Create 580 Jobs, Millions in Taxes

Hundreds of jobs for Fauquier residents.

Millions in tax revenue for the county.

Development that makes more cost-effective use of public services.

Don Tharpe believes his mixed-use proposal at Bealeton can deliver on all three counts.

Specifically, White Marsh would create 580 permanent jobs, that would pay an average $35,000 annually, according to Tharpe's consultant.

I would almost guarantee that most of the 580 jobs would go to Fauquier residents, said Tharpe, owner and developer of the 97-acre site at U.S. 17 and Independence Avenue.

Market Transects of Decatur, Ga., also projects the 312-home project, which would include 278,000 square feet of commercial space, would create dozens of construction jobs.

Over the the course of the build-out, the number of workers on site will ebb and flow, the six-page fiscal and economic impact study states. However, we estimate that an average of 50 workers will be employed at White Marsh at any given time.

Market Transects founder and principal Geoff Koski, who prepared the report, believes construction workers would make an average of $39,000 apiece.

They, like permanent workers employed at Marsh Run, would plow money into the the Fauquier economy.

For the full story, read the June 10 Fauquier Times-Democrat