Comstock proposes turning future Reston Row building from low-rise to high-rise

The next new neighborhood at the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station is in for some big changes.

Comstock Companies, the Reston-based developer behind Reston Station, is seeking the county’s permission to change the mix of previously approved uses at Reston Row, which includes 1.4 million square feet of development west of Wiehle Avenue.

No density increase is proposed, but in a June 30 application submitted to the county, Comstock says it wants to shuffle some pieces of the development.

For example, the company hopes to drop a hotel planned in Reston Station’s Founding Farmers building, because it would interfere with the restaurant’s outdoor seating and pedestrians’ experience of the plaza. It also says “it no longer makes sense” to build a 28-foot tall residential building next to a 140-feet office building on Metro Center Drive because it’s further from the station.

Instead, Comstock hopes to shift the density to Reston Row’s Building D, a 320,000-square-foot building with a mix of hotel, office, residential and retail space.

Previously envisioned as a low-rise, 320,000-square-foot building, Building D will now be the tallest building in Reston Row at 350 feet. Comstock says that height is “necessary to support the increased density,” according to the application.

Under the new proposal, the building will have 500,000 square feet of development, with 425 residential units and retail.

Comstock is “concentrating its density to which it is already entitled closer to the Metro Station,” according to the application.

Comstock has reserved roughly 10,000 square feet for a roof deck on top of Building Five for Founding Farmers and 86,670 square feet for building seven, which is a mix of office, residential and retail.

Reston Row is currently under construction and is expected to wrap up in 2024. It will consist of four buildings with a mix of housing, offices, and a hotel as well as two urban parks.