The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a comprehensive plan amendment last Tuesday (Jan. 14) that ultimately could lead to the redevelopment of the Alliance Center office condominiums adjoining the Mosaic District in Merrifield.
Though there’s no current development proposal on the table, the amendment would allow nearly 360 residential units with 60,000 square feet of ground-floor uses on the 3.2-acre site, which currently hosts two buildings with 24 aging commercial-condominium units, surrounded by surface parking.
Located at 2929 and 2931 Eskridge Court, the parcel is surrounded by townhouses, mixed-use development and a Cox Communications facility. U.S. Postal Service regional facilities are located across Eskridge Road.
The revised plan more than doubles the density of residential development pemitted on the site, increasing the floor-area ratio from 1.25 to 3.0. That ratio, or FAR, compares the total square footage of development divided by square footage of the lot.
The property’s proximity to Mosaic, Merrifield Town Center and the Dunn Loring Metro station make it an ideal candidate for renewal, said Steve Teets, a land-use consultant hired by Alliance Center Condominiums.
“This is really where this type of density should be,” Teets told supervisors.
The property owner nominated the site for a comprehensive plan amendment in 2022, submitting a concept to the county that included two multifamily residential buildings. However, that concept hasn’t evolved yet into a specific development plan, according to Teets.
“We do not have any plans right now,” he told the supervisors. “We right now are just trying to make sense for where additional development should be.”
Besides Teets, there were no speakers during the public hearing. When the proposal went before the Fairfax County Planning Commission in December, residents of the nearby Mosaic District Townhouses voiced concerns about the impact of any future development on their homes, including its size, a lack of park space and traffic congestion.
In response to community concerns, county staff revised the now-approved plan amendment to require road and pedestrian access improvements along Eskridge Road, including at the Strawberry Lane intersection.
Noting that it’s unusual for the board to consider a plan amendment without an accompanying development application, Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik, whose district includes Merrifield, said she expects there will be “a lot of community conversations” whenever a redevelopment plan is filed.
Under the revised comprehensive plan, any future project could support both the county’s housing goals and efforts to improve transportation and pedestrian safety in that area.
“We’ve spent a lot of time over the past six years looking at Eskridge Road, trying to make improvements,” Palchik said.
