With a unanimous vote to fund the first of a three-phase process for marketing the economic development component of the George Mason High School campus project, the Falls Church City Council Monday retained the Washington, D.C.-based firm of Alvarez and Marcal.

The firm scored highest on a competitive bidding process and its principals held a lengthy discussion with members of the Campus Process Working Group’s Economic Development Committee Friday morning. Its representatives stressed that no conditions should be placed on where on the 36-acre site a developer might want to build and that the City avoid placing proscriptions on its proposal requests that might deter some potential major developers.

“This is a very strong market,” they said. “The request for proposal has to be something that the market can readily see the value of.” The commercial and school development processes need to be decoupled, they also said. A preliminary written prospectus is due from them next week.