Vote on redevelopment plan for area near Herndon Metro station expected next year

A plan that will guide the redevelopment of 94 acres of 25 privately owned properties near the Herndon Metrorail Station is expected to go before the Herndon Planning Commission early next year. 

The final draft of the Transit-related Growth (TRG) plan will head to the commission by Feb. 1, but one of three property owners that collectively pitched $500,000 to complete the study pulled out from the plan, staff told the Herndon Town Council at a work session yesterday (Tuesday).

Herndon Hotel Ownership LLC has asked to remove itself from the planning effort. The town will still receive the full $500,000 to complete the study, according to Elizabeth Gilleran, Herndon’s director of community development.

Gilleran told the council that the owner changed his future plans for the property, which appears to be Hyatt House at 467 Herndon Parkway, per Fairfax County property records.

“Since his plan changed, he wasn’t ready,” Gilleran said, adding that the trio of property owners had committed to moving forward with redevelopment.

At the work session, the council considered a proposal that would extend the review period for the TRG plan and add a brief reference to it in the town’s 2030 Comprehensive Plan. 

The town hired Skidmore, Owings and Merrill to complete the plan. So far, after public input, the town is settling on one of three preferred alternatives for the future of the TRG.

The area is bounded to the south by Herndon Transit-oriented Core (HTOC) redevelopment area, to the east by Fairfax County Parkway, to the north by Spring Street and to the west by the Downs and Van Buren Estates residential subdivisions.

Work on the TRG plan kicked off in early 2022. Once approved, the document will establish a long-term vision for the future redevelopment of the hodgepodge of parcels into a “well-designed and viable mixed-use district,” according to the town.

From a Dec. 5 staff memo:

The plan is expected to encourage redevelopment, recognize the probability of disparate development timelines, provide redevelopment, provide appropriate buffers to abutting neighborhoods, formulate a unique sense of place as well as an identity integral to the Town of Herndon, contribute to a multi-modal transportation network, and establish a pattern and expectation for innovative, sustainable, and excellence in architectural and urban design.

Lauri Sigler, the town’s deputy attorney, said that while work on the plan has taken time, all parties have worked diligently to move forward.

“Things have taken a little longer than expected even though staff and SOM have been working diligently to get the plan over the finish line,” Sigler said.