Developer proposes ‘missing middle’ housing for Redwood Plaza in Oakton

Network Realty Partners is seeking to redevelop a trio of office buildings in Oakton into a residential development.

In an April 3 application, the Arlington-based company is seeking Fairfax County’s permission to demolish three mostly vacant office buildings in Redwood Plaza (10600 Arrowhead Drive) and turn the property into a 268-unit residential development.

“The project is focused on bringing true ‘missing middle’ housing to Fairfax County through a unique mix of appropriately sized townhouse units, along with multifamily above ground-floor amenities and potential neighborhood retail in the community’s center,” said the application, which was first reported by the Washington Business Journal.

Missing middle housing refers to duplexes, townhouses and other housing scaled in between single-family detached homes and apartment buildings. Northern Virginia has been familiarized with the term, thanks to Arlington’s recently approved effort to allow more of that kind of residential development.

The site currently houses three office buildings between two and five stories, totaling nearly 220,000 square feet of office space. According to the developer, roughly 30% of the existing office buildings will be occupied by the end of the year.

The housing mix, if approved, would include 242 rear-loaded townhouses, 12 back-to-back townhouses, and 12 multifamily units over ground-floor amenity or retail space.

The mix of houses is intended to bring “missing middle” in the area, land use lawyer David Gill said in a statement of justification on the developer’s behalf.

The project is focused on bringing true ‘missing middle’ housing to Fairfax County through a unique mix of appropriately sized townhouse units, along giant multifamily above ground floor amenities and potential neighborhood retail in the community’s center. By blending efficient family style unit designs, pedestrian first principles and a distribute and activated open space approach, the project is designed to create a desirable alternative aims at bridging the gap between multifamily/condo and traditional larger townhome development throughout the county.

As part of the application, Network Realty is requesting a roughly 9% reduction in parking, offering to provide 644 total spaces compared to the 708 spaces currently required by the county’s zoning code.

The proposal is in the early stages of the planning process and has not yet been accepted for review by the county.