Fairfax County staff are in talks with multiple developers about converting two office buildings in the Fair Oaks Business Park, including the NRA headquarters, into residential units, a county official has revealed.
In addition to the National Rifle Association’s building at 11250 Waples Mill Road, the neighboring office building at 3920 Pender Drive is being eyed for redevelopment.
According to county staff, developers haven’t submitted formal applications for either site. However, Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity shared with FFXnow that he has been approached by separate developers for both sites.
The proposals could include mixed-use developments or assisted living facilities.
“They’re going back and forth, so they’re not 100% sure,” he said. “It could be elder care assisted living; it could be straight-up residential. They’re still working that out.”
Talk of the NRA relocating its headquarters to Texas have circulated since it filed for bankruptcy in 2021, though a judge dismissed the case as an attempt to get out of a New York lawsuit over alleged misuse of funds. As recently as last August, the gun lobbying group was reportedly eyeing two office buildings in the Dallas area.
However, the NRA now says it has no intention of leaving Fairfax County.
“The NRA has no plans to move from the headquarters in Fairfax,” a spokesperson said in a statement to FFXnow. “We have been long-time owners of the property on Waples Mill Road and plan on being here for the foreseeable future.”
The two potential proposals are part of a larger multi-phase plan to transform the Fairfax Center area from mainly offices into a mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly community.
In May, a Chantilly-based property management company submitted a proposal to turn 11 low-rise office buildings at the intersection of Waples Mill Road and Pender Drive into 706 residential units, accompanied by 20,000 square feet of retail space and a 1.6-acre park.
Meanwhile, Time Equities, a New York-based real estate company, has requested that the county amend its comprehensive plan to allow the redevelopment of 3877 Fairfax Ridge Road and 11225 Waples Mill Road into 400 multi-family units.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a comprehensive plan amendment in 2013 to “promote diverse and mixed-use developments” across 5,500 acres along the I-66 corridor between Route 50 and 29.
The following year, supervisors launched a three-phase planning study for Fairfax Center, directing county staff to first review guidelines for suburban neighborhoods and low-density residential areas.
The second phase, adopted in 2016, focused on the busier suburban center, looking at ways to better manage and support more densely populated and mixed-use areas.
The study has now reached its third phase. County staff are collecting community feedback via an online survey to help them refine recommendations for the core area, which includes the government center and retail hubs like Fairfax Corner, Fair Oaks Mall, Fairfax Promenade and Fairfax Town Center. The Fair Oaks Business Park is on the periphery of the core study area just east of Route 50.
The survey is open through July 26. County staff will eventually present recommendations to the Board of Supervisors that include an analysis of the area’s infrastructure needs, including transportation.
At the board’s June 25 meeting, Herrity requested that staff examine the business park’s sewer capacity in light of the two new tentative residential development proposals. He noted that the current pump station may need to be expanded to support potential future growth.
“We’ve got a sewer capacity issue,” he said. “So, rather than just addressing the two [proposals] that we have in front of us and doing improvements for that, and then having to do improvements for the next two, we’re kind of lumping them together and looking at what is going to be the residential capacity in that area and kind of properly planning the sewer for that.”
Herrity acknowledged that any residential development in the Fair Oaks Business Park area is still years from being realized, but he’s excited about the prospect of introducing more housing, retail, and amenities.
“We’re going to take kind of a dead commercial zone and bring a bunch of amenities and a bunch of new residential units to it,” he said.
