An office complex near the Spring Hill Metro station in Tysons could soon be reinvigorated by the power of dance.
A dance studio has expressed interest in opening a new location at the Westwood Center, Atlantic Realty Company — which owns and manages the adjacent buildings at 8603 and 8605 Westwood Center Drive — said in a zoning application submitted to Fairfax County in late February.
If approved, the studio would occupy a 5,241-square-foot space in the 8603 Westwood Center Drive building that was filled by a different dance company for years, even though it technically shouldn’t have been permitted, according to the application.
A development plan for the office buildings, which were constructed in the mid-1980s and renovated in 1999, allows a wide range of commercial retail and service tenants, including restaurants, banks, health clubs, recreational facilities and repair shops. However, there’s no mention of specialized instruction centers — the category that dance studios fall under in the county’s zoning ordinance.
As a result, an amendment to the final development plan needs to be approved “to allow the dance studio within the existing building,” the application says, noting that a permit “was erroneously issued” in the past.
“A dance studio has operated in this same location in the past without any negative impact on other tenants or the surrounding community,” a Jan. 15 statement of justification for the application said. “The Project will provide a service to residents of Fairfax County and provide economic benefit to this office park.”
The previous tenant appears to have been the Arthur Murray Dance Center of Tysons, which relocated to 1953 Gallows Road in August 2024.
The prospective new dance studio has applied for building permits but asked not to be identified by FFXnow due to the uncertainty of when they might be approved.
According to the plan amendment application, the studio is expected to offer classes and workshops for up to 70 students at a time. The facility will have three to seven employees and operate “at variable times” between 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.
The buildout of the space won’t require any new development or expansion of the floor area, the application says. No changes to the parking lot are being requested either.
The mix of commercial uses allowed at Westwood Center, including a dance studio, has helped the property maintain “its vibrancy and economic resiliency,” the application says, but it hasn’t been immune to the challenges facing many older office parks when it comes to retaining and attracting tenants.
“Maintaining occupancy is a challenging endeavor for an older building without an anchor tenant, particularly with the current and forecasted weak office market,” the statement of justification said.
Existing tenants at 8603 Westwood Center Drive include the restaurants Paisano’s Pizza, bb.q Chicken and Bombay Tandoor Bar and Grill.
Fairfax County planners received the application on Feb. 26 but, as of press time, hadn’t officially accepted it for review yet.
