9/11 Brought McLean New Secret Neighbors

Two new government agencies were born after 9/11 when it became painfully clear that the myriad of U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies simply didn't talk to each other and share information.

Three years after four airplanes changed our lives forever, the new baby agencies would become two of McLean's most secret neighbors encased in two of the most secure buildings ever constructed.

Now, 10 years later McLean is bookended by the CIA on the east side of town which took up residence in the early 1960's and the new kids on the block, the National Counterterrorism Center and the Director of National Intelligence  which formally came to town between 2004-2007 on the west side of town.

Today we'll explain what we've pierced together about how they became the neighbors. Tomorrow we'll explain what they say they do.

As the World Trade Center lay in ashes and families were still burying their loved ones, "In late 2001, the U.S. government was seeking to accommodate the growing post 9/11 workforce and a search was begun for a yet-to-be-found new space to serve as a counter-terrorism fusion center," said a statement from the spokesman of NCTC, Carl Kropf.

John Brennan, now the Obama administration's top counterterrorism adviser, then was a senior adviser to CIA Director George Tenet and working at the CIA.

After the attacks, Brennan starting pulling together what would become a group of about 100 staffers from intelligence and law enforcement agencies including the FBI, the Department of Defense, Homeland Security and, of course, the CIA, that would later would emerge as the  Terrorist Threat Integration Center.

Brennan would become the first director and they needed office space: a large, isolated location but close to major highways.They could locate anywhere,with their technology and the ability to talk to anyone at any time.

But proximity to the CIA would be a huge help. Then, it was envisioned that the CIA director would appoint the head of this agency. They wanted to keep their new offspring in the neighborhood.

Enter the Peterson Companies, one of the largest privately held real estate development companies in the Washington region. Milton Peterson and his former partner John "Til" Hazel are sometimes thought of as the godfathers of Tysons Corner.

The Peterson Companies, whose developments range from Fair Oaks Mall to  downtown Silver Spring and the new National Harbor, own a large tract just off Lewinsville Road near Dolley Madison Boulevard.

The buildings there were occupied by another small U.S. agency and two private firms. Dranesville Supervisor John Foust recalled that Peterson had gotten the land zoned commercial at some point.

The Peterson Companies have done a lot of business with McLean's secret neighbors, who have their own leasing authority — no help needed from the General Services Administration, which oversees most U.S. government real estate.

President George Bush spoke publicly about TTIC in his January 2003 State of the Union Address.

"As you know, in his State of the Union address, the President instructed the Director of Central Intelligence (DCI), the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation working with the Attorney General, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Homeland Security to develop the Nation's first unified Terrorist Threat Integration Center (TTIC)," Winston P. Wiley, chair of the Terrorist Threat Integration Center Senior Steering Group told the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee a month later.

"In connection with his recent visit to FBI headquarters, the President announced that the TTIC would stand up by May 1 and would, as soon as possible, be housed — co-located — with the FBI's Counterterrorism Division and the DCI Counterterrorist Center at a yet-to-be determined site," Wiley said told the committee in February 2003.

U.S. News and World Report visited the fledgling agency in September 2003 when they were housed on fourth floor of the CIA's Original Headquarters Building.

"... [T]he government's new Terrorist Threat Integration Center is bringing together disparate, often isolated elements of the nation's counterterrorism effort. A direct response to the intelligence failures exposed by 9/11, TTIC (pronounced "tee-tick") connects the worlds of law enforcement and intelligence. U.S. News got an exclusive look inside the four-month-old, top-secret nerve center in its temporary home at the CIA," the story said.

"We're supposed to be the one-stop shopping in the U.S. government for the terrorism threat," says TTIC's director, John Brennan, a veteran CIA official who reports directly to CIA Director George Tenet. "We're also supposed to know where the gaps are," said the story.

The NCTC statement Kropf gave to McLean Patch recounted that "The land that eventually came to house TTIC and NCTC at the building called Liberty Crossing 1 was identified through a market survey."

Brennan talked of the planned new offices when he testified before the 9/11 commission in April 2004.

"As envisioned by the President, this physical integration of expertise and sharing of information enables and empowers the key organizations involved in the fight against terrorism. Collectively, they are fulfilling their shared responsibilities in a fused environment, 'doing business' jointly as TTIC.

"This fusion and synergy will be further enhanced when TTIC and most of CIA’s Counterterrorist Center and FBI’s Counterterrorism Division collocate at a state-of-the-art facility this summer," Brennan said.

In May 2004, NCTC setup shop in a 10-story, 1970's office building in a development called Liberty Crossing on Lewinsville Road that was owned and operated by Peterson Companies. The building was the former headquarters of Nextel, which would be purchased by Sprint in December 2004.

In August 2004, shortly after publication of the 9/11 Commission Report, President George Bush by Executive Order 13354 created the National Counterterrorism Center.

In December 2004 Congress passed a law calling for a major reorganization of the intelligence community: Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.

The law did two major things: created the Director of National Intelligence. It also created the NCTC by what's called "statutory authority." The director of NCTC would be appointed by the President and report to the President, and be confirmed by the Senate, taking it out from under the CIA.

The Washington Post reported in July 2005 that Fairfax County had received a site plan from the Tysons McLean Joint Venture, Fairfax for a 335,235-square-foot office building on 22.61 acres zoned I-1 (industrial, institutional) on Farm Credit Drive at Tysons McLean Drive.

Members of the Lewinsville Coalition, the union of the home owners association located in the Lewinsville area started meeting with representatives of the Peterson company about the traffic their new tenants would bring.

The Maplewood Homeowners Association took a leading role because that community is located across the street from NCTC.

One neighbor recalled that the community organizations knew the building would house the National Counterterrorism Center, but they were never told how many people would work there. The Peterson folks were very nice but not forthcoming with information.

The neighbors noticed the construction. We talked about it in Greenberrys. Some of us even drove up to the site during construction. Those who ventured in saw Federal Police cars parked there even on weekends. They didn't bother you, but you really didn't want to come back.

Everyone noticed the increase in traffic in the morning and the afternoon. The time to get through the intersection of Lewinsville Road and Dolley Madison Boulevard just about doubled because of the increased traffic.

The Nextel building was demolished in 2007.

Then in July 2007 the Post reported Tysons McLean Joint Venture had filed a site plan for a 334,404-square-foot office building on 51.03 acres zoned I-1 (industrial institutional) at 1501 Farm Credit Drive.

This would become the home of the Director of National Intelligence.

Kropf of the NCTC refused to answer any questions about how much the buildings cost to build, how much rent is paid. He even refused to acknowledge that the agency had a landlord.

The Peterson Companies say on its website that they own and manage both buildings.

Kropf said they like being in McLean. "We want to be good neighbors and we hope we always are good neighbors."

Foust's office is located in the McLean Governmental Center, across the street from NCTC.

"It's not a problem," he said. "The issue we have is the traffic." He said they are working with VDOT and the Peterson Companies to try and resolve that by allowing NCTC employes to exit from the rear of its building directly onto the ramp going to the Beltway and the Dulles Toll Road.

"It's as if they are not there," Foust said. "It's just another office building."