Fairfax County Government Center

In 1969, the Fairfax County Government moved its offices into the newly constructed 12-story County Governmental Center on the county's exclave in the City of Fairfax. Designed by the architectural firm of Vosbeck, Vosbeck, Kendrick and Redinger and built by Blake Construction, the building was renamed the Massey Building in March 1971 to honor the county's first county executive, Carlton C. Massey. Within a decade, however, it became apparent that the Massey Building was no longer sufficient as a governmental center, and in 1977 the county appointed a citizens' committee to consider moving the county's centralized activities out of the City of Fairfax. In October 1978, the committee recommended a site west of Fairfax, and in 1979, the county purchased 183 acres of the site, called the Smith-Carney site, for $4.1 million. Another committee reported on county agency space needs in 1980, and in 1982 a design team and concept were selected. After years of negotiation, the county in 1987 entered into an agreement with a joint partnership of the Charles E. Smith Company and the Artery Organization whereby the county gave Smith/Artery 50 acres of land for residential development, conveyed for 75 years 67 acres of land for commercial development, and paid Smith/Artery $27.3 million. The agreement with Smith/Artery was controversial, with accusations that Smith/Artery had obtained a lucrative deal with the county and that the county was giving away too much in the deal. Before the sprawling complex was completed, it had been dubbed the "Taj Mahal" by its critics and opponents.{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/10/AR2008031002749.html|title=Supervisors Weigh Naming Government Center After Davis ==Uses==