By Brian Trompeter
The Fairfax County Planning Commission voted 7-0 May 1 – with the unusual abstention of four members – to recommend that county supervisors approve a proposal by Cityline Partners LLC to build a hotel instead of an office building in eastern Tysons.
Cityline is seeking to amend proffers for its Scotts Run Station South development, approved in 2013, which permitted an interim park at the site until an 18-story office building could be constructed.
Given that such an office building would not be viable in today’s market, the developer now wants to construct a 12-story, 232,975-square-foot Hilton hotel on 0.75 acres on its “Westgate” block of the site.
The building would be rest atop a five-story parking podium and include about 4,750 square feet of ground-floor retail space. The structure’s overall height would be 225 feet, including the penthouse area.
Starting above the parking structure, floors 6 through 9 would consist of “Home2 Suites,” an extended-stay product by Hilton, and floors 11 through 17 would consist of the company’s “Canopy” boutique-hotel brand and include a restaurant and rooftop bar, said Lynne Strobel, an attorney for the applicant.
The hotel building also will have meeting rooms and courtyards.
The applicant hopes to provide office or residential uses on the remainder of the parcel and plans to build the previously approved temporary park on part of the site in the meantime.
The overall nearly 1.8-acre site, which also includes a “Van Buren” block, is located at the southeast corner of Dolley Madison Boulevard and Anderson Road, east of the McLean Metrorail station. The property now is vacant, following removal of a former building.
A new private street, Platform Avenue, would be constructed along with the hotel. County planning staff expressed concerns about proposed new service entrances for trash and loading along Platform Avenue, which originally had been proposed as a “main street” leading to the Metrorail station, with pedestrian amenities prioritized and vehicular access discouraged.
Adding the trash and the loading entrances on Platform Avenue negatively affects pedestrian access and safety, visual appeal and the provision of activated ground-floor space and marks a significant change to the character from the original rezoning approval, a county staff member told the commission.
“It does take away from the vibrancy of what that corridor could be,” agreed Planning Commissioner Mary Cortina (Braddock District).
The applicant instead could redesign the site’s access to accept trash and loading services from Anderson Road or providing an additional temporary access point until the site is fully developed and services can be consolidated, county staff said.
Because the developer has not acceded to those possible changes, staff said they could not support the addition of new vehicular-service access on Platform Avenue and recommended denial of the applications, officials said.
Strobel countered that providing a loading area off of Anderson Road would not be practical, as this would mix such traffic with that of the hotel and create confusion and safety issues.
The planned hotel would complement other uses at Scotts Run South, create a catalyst for development and preserve a commercial use on that block, at a time when many office building are being converted to residential uses, Strobel said.
The proposed Platform Avenue access points are the “safest and most appropriate” to serve the hotel, Strobel said.
The applicant would disguise those doors so as not to detract from the pedestrian experience along the street and prohibit deliveries between 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. The doors would closed except when in use and their operation would be employee-supervised, she said.
The door-screening plans jibe with proffers made in the original 2013 rezoning and the doors would be a total of 36 feet wide, or about one-tenth the length of that block of Platform Avenue, she added.
The proposed service arrangement is a modification of the site’s original conceptual-development plan that’s designed to “ensure that Tysons remains a vibrant place,” Strobel said.
Cortina and Planning Commission members Candice Bennett (At-Large), John Carter (Hunter Mill District) and John Ulfelder (Dranesville District) abstained from the vote, saying they wished the site had more open space.
Planning Commission Chairman Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner (At-Large) said the applicant had mitigated staff’s concerns by improving the service doors’ aesthetic impression and restricting delivery hours so as to minimize the risk factor for pedestrians.
“If you look at the whole development in its totality, I have confidence that Cityline will deliver quality with regard to this particular issue,” he said.
Planning Commissioner Jeremy Hancock (Providence District) said he recognized some of the balances the developer was trying to achieve.
“There are clear commitments across all these sites to really have a cohesive vision and that’s ultimately what we need on this site,” he said.
