Despite the signs that popped up near the Tysons Metro station a few years ago, it doesn’t look like construction on “Tysons III” is going to start any time soon.
Tysons II property owner and developer Lerner Enterprises submitted a special permit application to Fairfax County last week seeking to extend its use of the parking lot adjacent to the Metro station for Cirque du Soleil performances through 2030.
Dated July 26, the application requests a five-year extension of the existing special permit, which was first approved in 2016 and expires this October.
Cirque du Soleil has regularly visited Lerner Town Square (8025 Galleria Drive) near Tysons Galleria since 2016, though it was absent in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the international circus went to George Mason University’s Eagle Bank Arena instead for its D.C.-area stop.
According to an earlier staff report, the circus also performed in Tysons “for several years in the 1990s and 2000s.”
Future visits will generally follow the same conditions as in recent years, according to the special permit application. Performances would occur annually during a roughly six-week period between July and October, drawing an estimated 2,600 patrons per show
There will be 120 performers and employees on site at any given time, along with security personnel or police officers to manage traffic and parking. The application says 1,366 parking spaces will be provided, including 50 VIP spots, in the lots at 1775, 1800, 1600 and 1650 Tysons Blvd — office towers owned by Lerner.
“The majority of the performances in 2025 and future years are currently anticipated to occur during the summer months and, although the proposed schedules extend past labor day this is not expected to negatively impact traffic,” the application’s statement of justification said. “There were no reported traffic concerns during rush hour in 2019 through 2023.”
Per the statement, Cirque du Soleil will work with Metro to encourage patrons to take the Silver Line to and from shows by offering “exclusive promotions,” wrapping a train, and mentioning Metro in advertisements and messages to ticket holders.
The 2016 special permit application for Cirque du Soleil saw it as a “temporary use” for “the future site of the Lerner Town Square,” which is described as a “one-of-a-kind outdoor venue” on Lerner Enterprises’ website for Tysons II.
The parking lot is part of an 11-acre parcel ultimately planned for nearly 2 million square feet of mixed-use development, including office and hotel buildings with retail, but it’s unclear when that will be built.
“The Comprehensive Plan for Tysons encourages the provision of art and cultural facilities in Tysons in order to create a 24-hour active environment in Tysons Corner,” Reed Smith LP real estate lawyer Meredith Hartley wrote in the application for Lerner. “This theatrical entertainment use will fill a need for theatre/cultural/entertainment space in Tysons and help demonstrate the interest and enthusiasm for such a use on a more permanent basis in the future.”
Fairfax County first approved a master development plan for Tysons II in 1985 that called for 4.65 million square feet of retail, office and hotel space on 106 acres along International Drive and Tysons Blvd. Completed portions include Tysons Galleria, which opened in 1988, as well as the Ritz-Carlton hotel, several office buildings, and the Lillian Court condominiums.
In anticipation of Metro’s Silver Line, Lerner proposed an additional 1.9 million square feet of development, including three office or hotel high-rises around a plaza on what’s currently the Lerner Town Square site. The rezoning application was approved in 2003 despite a recommendation of denial by county staff, who took issue with the “extremely minimal commitment to any non-office use,” among other concerns.
The only part of the additonal development that has been constructed is the office building at 1775 Tysons Blvd.
Lerner announced plans on Feb. 2, 2022 for a 21-story, 490,000-square-foot office building with an outdoor amphitheater and other amenities at 1725 Tysons Blvd, but the developer didn’t mention any construction timeline, and no updates have been shared publicly since then.
Other planned Tysons II projects include an office tower at 8000 Galleria Drive and 31-story high-rise residential towers called Tysons II The Residences on the currently undeveloped parcel bounded by Tysons Blvd, Galleria Drive and Westpark Drive.
Lerner Enterprises didn’t immediately return a request for comment from FFXnow.
