Fairfax County’s plan to transform a shuttered hotel in the Fair Oaks area into an emergency family shelter has cleared a major hurdle, but the county’s planning commission will have the final say later this month.
The Board of Supervisors voted 9-1 on Tuesday (Jan. 14) to allow the former Extended Stay America at 3997 Fair Ridge Drive to be repurposed as a public facility. Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity was the lone dissenting vote.
The property, purchased last year for $14.5 million in federal funds, is set to replace family shelter beds currently housed at the Embry Rucker Community Shelter in Reston.
Due to be replaced as part of the county’s long-planned Reston Town Center North development, the Embry Rucker facility will be reconfigured to serve single adults experiencing homelessness.
Last month, the board approved the hotel property’s transfer from the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA) to the county, allowing the conversion process to begin.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on Jan. 29 to decide if the project aligns with the county’s comprehensive plan. If given the green light, the Fair Ridge Shelter could open by April 1, 2025, just as the county’s seasonal hypothermia prevention program wraps up.
The project aims to provide temporary housing and support services for homeless families, a need that has surged across the D.C. region during and after the pandemic. With existing shelters stretched to capacity, county staff have often turned to expensive hotel stays as an alternative.
The Fair Ridge Shelter is expected to ease this burden by adding up to 85 dedicated units for families.
“Any steps we can take to mitigate the use of hotels being paid for on a retail basis is a positive step forward for our shelter system from a financial standpoint,” Tom Fleetwood, director of the Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development, told the board during Tuesday’s meeting.
County officials said repurposing the Extended Stay America hotel will save time and money compared to constructing a new facility from the ground up. In addition to housing, the shelter will assist families with finding permanent housing, accessing medical care and applying for federal benefits, among other services.
In the future, the facility could expand with a domestic violence shelter component, which will allow staff to centralize resources and better serve the community’s most vulnerable populations, according to county officials.
Supervisors clash over approval process
Herrity, the county’s only Republican supervisor, argued that the project was getting approved without adequate community outreach, noting that the lone virtual public meeting was held just before the winter holidays.
Resident questions about the facility, such as its exact capacity, potential impact on nearby neighborhoods and plans for long-term management, have yet to be answered, he said.
“This went through largely without a public process, with the exception of a meeting that was held six days before Christmas on [December] 19th,” Herrity said. “I’ve got a couple of communities that want to support this project, but they don’t have answers to their questions. I want to support this project, but I want a public process.”
Sully District Supervisor Kathy Smith, whose district includes the hotel site, defended the process, stating that there had been meetings and a fact sheet was provided to address community questions. She expressed frustration with a “narrative” playing out in the community that’s “not factual.”
The 2232 review application required for the project was filed in October 2024, and notices alerting area “stakeholders” to the December community meeting and the upcoming planning commission hearing were mailed out on Nov. 21 and Dec. 30, respectively, according to a presentation delivered at the meeting by county staff.
“This is really something that we need to do because people are in need in our community,” she said. “Staff did their due diligence. The board was involved with this. There have been meetings.”
Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik also pushed back on Herrity’s comments, arguing that this is an “effective use” of federal funds to solve a practical problem facing the county and to provide critical resources for families in need.
“It is in an area that is going to provide services, public safety, housing, transportation,” Palchik said. “I think it would have been called too slow had it taken longer, and it’s called too fast because it’s going through efficiently.”
Photo via Google Maps
