A sprawling collection of offices and warehouses in northern Merrifield could someday look more like the newer development around the nearby Dunn Loring Metro station.
Property owner Link Logistics and an affiliate of EYA Development hope to replace the 41-acre Prosperity Business Campus at 2750 Prosperity Avenue with a resident-focused “walkable urban neighborhood,” according to a development plan submitted to Fairfax County on Friday (Jan. 3).
The new development, which will require the site to be rezoned from an industrial district to residential mixed-use, would include multi-family buildings, townhouses and urban parks, creating a “logical transition” between commercial buildings to the east and the existing Dunn Loring Village townhomes to the west, the application says.
“The Applicant’s proposal presents an exciting opportunity to transform an aging, suburban-style industrial office park into a thriving residential community,” Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh land use attorney Robert Brant said in a statement of justification for the application.
Built in 1985, per county property records, the Prosperity Business Campus lines both sides of Prosperity Avenue with Hilltop Road to the south and I-66 to the north. It’s about half a mile away from the Metro station and within a half-mile of the Mosaic District, a position that makes it “an ideal candidate for redevelopment,” Brant argues in the statement.
Link Logistics began pursuing a potential overhaul of its property by nominating it for a comprehensive plan amendment in 2022, requesting that the county add an option for mixed-use housing that could allow up to 2.7 million square feet of development.
With a plan amendment now in the works, as authorized by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in April 2023, the property owner partnered with EYA that year and has since been working to refine its initial development concept based on feedback from staff and the community, according to Brant.
Under their newly submitted plan, the applicants are seeking two possible development options that would be delivered in phases:
- Option 1: A maximum of 1,500 residential units, including 419 single-family, attached townhomes and three multi-family buildings with 1,081 units
- Option 2: Up to 1,868 total units, including 324 townhomes and four multi-family buildings with 1,544 units
In both cases, the multi-family buildings will include one to two floors with up to 5,000 square feet of non-residential uses, and they would top out at 85 feet in height or six to seven stories. The proposed townhouses would have four stories with a maximum height of 24 feet.
The application doesn’t specify whether the multi-family units will be rental apartments or owned condominiums. It states that the developers will meet the county’s requirements for affordable and workforce housing.
According to the application, the multi-family buildings will be concentrated on the north side of the property near I-66 and be supported by parking garages with approximately 1,200 or 1,700 spaces, depending on which option is ultimately chosen. Adding in surface spaces and garages for the townhouses, at least 2,287 parking spots are proposed for the overall development.
The development could bring 5.07 to 5.49 acres of publicly accessible park space. Both plans call for a 3.27-acre Central Park on the west side of Prosperity Avenue with an open lawn, playground, outdoor gaming area, walking paths and other amenities, but the size and location of an additional “gateway park” would vary based on the chosen option.
According to the application, when complete, the central park would be the biggest park in the Merrifield Suburban Center, where developers have struggled to find increase the area’s limited green space.
“This new open space represents a significant improvement over the existing condition and … fulfills an existing and growing demand for such space in the Merrifield Suburban Center,” Brant wrote.
In addition, townhouse residents will have access to a series of interior courtyards and plazas intended to “further break up the blocks into smaller, walkable urban spaces.”
Link Logistics and EYA are also committing to preserving Long Branch stream valley, which runs along the west side of the business park, and to making improvements along Prosperity Avenue, including upgraded sidewalks, bicycle lanes and on-street parking.
A proposed landscaped median on a portion of the road would further enhance “the focus on the pedestrian experience,” the application says.
Fairfax County got some funding in 2023 to design a reconfiguration of Prosperity Avenue with a road diet and bicycle lanes to address safety concerns.
