A proposal that would bring 131 independent-living, assisted-living and memory-care units to a parcel along Route 7 in the Reston/Great Falls area is advancing to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended approval on Dec. 11 of the facility planned by Silverstone Senior Living at 10819 Leesburg Pike, across from Riva Ridge Road and west of Baron Cameron Avenue.
A date hasn’t been set for final action by the county’s supervisors, but so far, the project hasn’t run into community or staff opposition.
“It has had extensive review. It’s a pretty straightforward application,” Hunter Mill District Planning Commissioner John Carter said during a discussion before the unanimous vote.
The 22.5-acre site currently is vacant and is zoned residential. County officials approved a plan in 2016 for up to 135 assisted-living and memory-care units, but they were never built.
The original developer ultimately sold the site to Silverstone for $12.1 million in July 2021, according to county records.
Silverstone is now requesting the addition of independent living units to the approved assisted-living and memory-care units. That would provide continuum-of-care services so residents don’t need to move as their medical needs evolve, the applicant told the commission.
The facility also will include dining facilities, a beauty salon and a shuttle service.
That shuttle component won the backing of Braddock District Commissioner Mary Cortina, who noted that the site is “sort of isolated.”
About 200 residents will be accommodated in the three-story complex, with about 30 staff serving them at any given time. Much of the heavily wooded portion of the site will remain in its natural state.
During its public hearing last week, planning commissioners questioned why Silverstone wasn’t offering to provide committed-affordable units on site. A representative for the developer said county guidelines suggested a contribution of $3 per square foot of the project be paid into the county’s housing trust fund.
The public hearing drew one speaker from the community: a neighbor seeking assurances that a trail along Leesburg Pike would remain open during construction.
A representative of the developer said that’s the intention, but the commission didn’t add a requirement that the trail remain available in its recommendation to the Board of Supervisors.
Texas-based Silverstone operates a number of local senior living facilities, including The Trillium in Tysons, The Landing and The Riviera in Alexandria, and The Providence in Oakton.
