New Tysons senior living community nears opening of first high-rise

Older residents will have a new housing option in Tysons next month.

After almost two years of construction, The Mather Tysons will start opening the first of its two high-rise apartment buildings at 7929 Westpark Drive during the first week of March, according to Mather Senior Vice President of Connections and Sales Gale Morgan.

About 90% of the 179 units in the 27-story “north” building are already reserved, Morgan told FFXnow. Opening in phases, they’ll be joined in the fall by the first of 114 apartments in The Mather’s 18-story “south” building, giving the complex a total of 293 residences.

“It is truly going to be a unique community when it comes to life plan communities, and so, we are super excited,” Morgan said.

First, though, The Mather has to train its robots.

Expected to arrive in early February, the robots will be tasked with vacuuming, bringing food and other deliveries to residents’ homes and assisting servers in the community’s restaurants by bussing plates between the kitchen and tables.

“It saves staff, but also, it allows the staff to really focus on the dining experience,” Morgan said of the server robot.

The inclusion of robots exemplifies the combination of technology, “luxury and…hospitality services” that Morgan says will distinguish The Mather from other senior living communities.

The homes range in size from 850 to 3,300 square feet and in price from around $650,000 to $4.2 million, though Morgan notes that residents get 90% of those entrance fees back when they move out. There are also 16 assisted living apartments, 20 memory care suites, and 42 private skilled nursing suites in a Life Centre on the fourth and fifth floors.

Concentrated on the third floor, amenities for residents include a fitness center, an indoor pool, an art studio, a spa called Marzenia and four dining options: Maku, an all-day dining area; Saam, a casual cafe that’s open for lunch and dinner; Tashi, a fine-dining restaurant; and Copas, a bar.

Saam and Tashi will both have outdoor terraces, with the latter’s serving as a patio and event space. All of the eateries will have different menus concocted by The Mather’s in-house dining team, according to Morgan.

Slated to open in March with the first residences, those amenities are all reserved for residents and their guests, but the 14,000 square feet of retail space on The Mather’s ground floor will be open to the general public.

During talks with Fairfax County to obtain approval for its development plan, which was granted in 2019, Mather agreed to give the county some retail space for a community center that will serve adults 55 and older.

“As Tysons grows and develops and as Fairfax County grows and develops, we want to be a part of their efforts to provide services for everyone in the community, you know, the parks and the soccer fields for the youth, the bike trails, but also for those adults over 55,” Morgan said. “And so, this partnership seems like a great way to allow us to do that with our expertise.”

The senior living developer has contracted with a broker to identify tenants for the remaining retail space, though none of it will be available until the south building is completed in 2025.

The latest addition to the 19.5-acre Arbor Row development behind Tysons Galleria, The Mather continues a shift toward housing in central Tysons, an area once dominated by offices. It was preceded by the Nouvelle apartments and Monarch, a 20-story condominium building that opened last summer.

Another residential high-rise could be on the way to Arbor Row, if Fairfax County approves a proposal to replace a planned office building. The application is currently scheduled for a public hearing before the county’s planning commission on Feb. 28.

Originally approved in 2012, the master plan for Arbor Row from developer Cityline Partners envisions close to 2.6 million square feet of residential, retail, hotel and office construction across eight blocks along Westpark Drive.