Community members will now get their first chance to weigh in on dozens of pitches submitted to Fairfax County earlier this year for potential future developments.
The county will host a series of community meetings over the next month so the developers can share information about their proposals with the public, who can then ask questions and provide feedback.
The county received 53 nominations in January and February through its Site-Specific Plan Amendment (SSPA) process, which allows members of the public to suggest changes to the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan’s land use recommendations for individual locations.
The Board of Supervisors voted on March 4 to advance 43 nominations to a screening phase involving the upcoming public meetings and a workshop led by the Fairfax County Planning Commission, which will make recommendations to the board for which proposals should be formally studied by staff as part of the Comprehensive Plan Amendment Work Program.
The planning commission workshop is scheduled to take place every Thursday from May 1 through June 5, with the exception of May 29. The Board of Supervisors will then vote to authorize the plan amendment studies on June 10.
First, though, the accepted nominations will be subject to community meetings, starting tonight (Monday) with a 7 p.m. virtual meeting focused on two Sully District applications and one for the Arrowbrook Centre development in Herndon.
- Arrowbrook Centre: The property owner is seeking to drop the percentages dictating a certain mix of residential and non-residential uses in a corner block labeled “Land Bay A-1” in the development plan, which was last revised in 2023. The change would allow a seven-story, 132-unit multi-family residential building with no retail instead of the currently approved office building.
- Community of Faith United Methodist Church: The affordable housing nonprofit Sanctuary AP3 proposes two multi-family residential buildings behind the church at 13224 Franklin Farm Road in Herndon. The development would have approximately 157 units — all reserved for households earning 60% of the area median income or lower — and it could include a community park.
- 14050 Thunderbolt Place: Raising Cane’s, which recently opened its first Fairfax County location, is looking to build a drive-through restaurant on the 1.62-acre parcel in Chantilly. The existing tenant, Bob Evans, “is approaching the end of its lease … and has indicated that it intends to vacate the building,” the statement of justification says.
The other scheduled community meetings will be a mix of virtual and in-person affairs, each centering on a different part of the county. All of them will begin at 7 p.m., with the exception of a 7:30 p.m. start time for the Leesburg Pike meeting.
Merrifield (March 25, virtual)
- 2719 and 2723 Dorr Avenue: Owners Glandore LLC and Marble Systems seek to increase the intensity of residential development allowed on the warehouse site. The proposed concept shows a 375-unit multi-family building with up to seven stories.
- 2800 Dorr Avenue: The property owner proposes to replace the one-story industrial warehouse in the Lee Hi Industrial Park with a seven-story, 220-unit multi-family residential building.
- 2832 Dorr Avenue: The property owner proposes two multi-family residential buildings with up to 640 units total on approximately 5.57 acres of the Lee Hi Industrial Park.
- Halstead Road Square (8302 Merrifield Avenue): The property owners of three parcels in the Lee Hi and Merrifield industrial parks seek to replace the existing warehouses with one six-story multi-family building with up to 450 units and one seven-story residential building with up to 200 units.
Franconia/South County (March 31, virtual)
- Hilltop Village Center: The shopping center owner proposes constructing a mid-rise residential building with 280 units instead of an office building that was approved in 2012 but never built.
- Beulah Street at Steinway Street Properties: The nominator seeks to increase the density of the residential development on the mostly vacant lot at 7301 Beulah Street in Kingstowne, submitting a concept with a mix of single-family detached houses and townhomes.
- Pohick Road Assemblage: The nomination suggests a mix of single-family and multi-family housing on part of the 49.55-acre property in the southeast quadrant of Pohick Road and I-95 in Lorton. About 30 acres would be preserved as public open space.
- Excel Holdings: Excel is proposing a seven-story hotel with up to 175 rooms on the 6.38-acre vacant parcels at Loisdale and Newington roads in Newington. A previous proposal in 2019 also included a restaurant and self-storage facility.
Fairfax Center (April 1, virtual)
- 12716 Route 29: Property owner Metropolitan Communication Properties proposes an independent living facility with approximately 117 residential units on the 5.86-acre site near the Brightview Fair Oaks community.
- Storage Mart: The company seeks to expand its self-storage facility onto an adjacent parcel at 11325 Route 29 that’s currently planned for residential development.
Reston South (April 1, in person at Langston Hughes Middle School)
- Alexander Bell Drive: The nomination would replace two four-story office buildings that are “largely vacant” with townhomes.
- Parkridge IV (10690 Parkridge Blvd): Replaces a six-story office building constructed in the 1980s with a residential neighborhood that could involve repurposing the building, adding multi-family or single-family attached housing, or a combination
- Parkridge I (10800 Parkridge Blvd): A residential townhome development would replace the two-story office building, whose current tenants include the Social Security Administration.
- Parkridge III (10701 Parkridge Blvd): Owner Phoenicia Real Estate Holdings proposes redeveloping the 7.19-acre site, currently occupied by an office building, with multi-family residences and/or townhomes.
Tysons (April 2, virtual)
- Corporate Ridge: Rubinstein Partners, which owns the office building at 2000 Corporate Ridge, proposes replacing that building and an adjacent office building with townhomes. The two submitted concepts show a total of 187 attached dwellings or 203 attached and stacked units.
- Valo Park (7950 Jones Branch Drive): Property owner Tamares suggests redeveloping the office park with up to 240,000 square feet of new office space, up to 213 multi-family residential units and additional retail space.
- Tysons Plaza: Seeks to allow either mixed-use residential development or offices with housing and retail components on the parcels at 1410, 1420 and 1430 Spring Hill Road, which are currently built out with office buildings.
Vinson Hall (April 3, virtual)
- The senior living facility at 1733 Kirby Road in McLean is seeking to renovate with additional independent living units and medical care facility beds. Upgraded amenities, including publicly accessible park and recreational spaces are also proposed.
Reston Golf Course and Sunrise Valley Drive (April 7, in person at Langston Hughes)
- Reston National Golf Course: Developer NVR is reviving the push to redevelop the private golf course with housing and “significant publicly available park/open space.” With previous proposals stalling, though, the facility’s owner has also partnered with Kemper Sports to submit an application that would allow renovations.
- Wiehle North District: Reston Station owner Comstock Companies proposes expanding the development west to Plaza America with new residential, shopping and office districts.
- 11600 Sunrise Valley Drive: Proposes changing the comprehensive plan’s recommendation to all residential uses for the site, which is currently developed with a four-story office building
North Richmond Highway (April 8, in person at Mount Eagle Elementary School)
- 6404 Telegraph Road: Redevelop the commercial buildings at 6404 Telegraph Road and 6408 Highland Drive in Rose Hill with single-family attached townhouses. A concept plan shows 29 units.
- Lidl: The nominator proposes redeveloping the existing commercial building — currently occupied by Office Depot — at 6211 North Kings Highway in Penn Daw with a nine-story multi-family
residential building that would include approximately 200 units and up to 30,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, anchored by a grocery store (presumably Lidl).
Reston North (April 8, in person at Langston Hughes)
- Winwood Children’s Center (1841 Explorer Street): Raj Development seeks to increase the residential density allowed on the site from 125 to 350 units.
- 11600 American Dream Way: The owner of the former Fannie Mae office campus seeks to complete its ongoing transformation into a residential neighborhood by replacing a remaining office building that has been vacant for over five years with townhomes and a central green area.
- Hunter Mill Road: The developer G&G proposes an increase in residential density to allow up to 100 homes on 67 acres of vacant land near Hunter Mill Road and Sunset Hills Road. The proposal would eliminate a realignment of Sunset Hills Road that was approved by the county in 2018 but faced “overwhelming” public opposition, per a statement with the nomination.
- Colvin Woods: The owner of the Haven Reston apartments at 11012 Becontree Lake seeks to add 73 new townhomes on the north side of the site, stating that market-rate units are necessary to ensure the long-term maintenance and preservation of the 259 existing affordable apartments.
Providence — Leesburg Pike (April 9, virtual)
- Eaves Fairfax Towers: Property owner Avalon Bay Communities seeks to supplement the existing, 415-unit apartment building by redeveloping the parking lot with a 437-unit, seven-story multi-family building and approximately 139 townhouses.
- Beyer-Gordon Road Triangle: The nomination seeks mixed-use development in an approximately 22-acre area in Idylwood that includes several parcels owned by Rep. Don Beyer’s family and the Falls Church Animal Hospital. A concept shows multi-family residential buildings with retail and restaurants, but the nominator says it’s open to alternatives and would try to retain “legacy businesses” when possible.
Mason 1 (April 9, virtual)
- Bren Mar Park: Proposes increased residential density of up to 12 units per acre to allow townhouses on a 3.5-acre portion of the park at 6326 Edsall Road in Lincolnia
- 5300 Shawnee Road: The owner of the 2.49-acre parcel in Lincolnia proposes replacing the existing office building with an approximately 50-unit apartment complex.
- 5055 Cherokee Avenue: Seeks to redevelop the commercial building, which will house MindShift Gym until the end of March, to allow a Sheetz gas station and convenience store
- Versar Center: Proposes adding vehicle sales to the permitted uses on the property at 6800
and 6850 Versar Center in Springfield. The existing office building would be replaced by a 30,000-square-foot retail building for an “electric vehicle retail and service center.”
Mason 2 (April 10, virtual)
- The Jefferson: Seeks to add up to 101 townhouse units while retaining the existing six-story, 310-unit apartment building at 6166 Leesburg Pike in Seven Corners
- Former Sears site: Proposes a new residential development option for up to 600 units on the site at 6211 Leesburg Pike in Seven Corners, which has been vacant since Sears closed in 2020
- Food Star: Proposes an option for additional residential and/or independent living uses up to 20 stories with community-serving commercial use on the grocery store property at 5521 Leesburg Pike in Bailey’s Crossroads
Mason 3 (April 21, virtual)
- 7616 Little River Turnpike: The property owner, an affiliate of Nicholas Development, proposes a mixed-use development on the Annandale site with five buildings: one new residential building, two new commercial buildings, an office-to-housing conversion and one existing commercial building to remain.
- 6675 Little River Turnpike: Adds an option for residential mixed-use development on the Annandale site, which currently hosts Pro Computers, the Miracle Garden Center and a single-family house. The concept shows a five-story building with 186 units and 16,714 square feet of commercial/retail area.
- Strawbridge Square Apartments: Proposes up to 131 new units of affordable housing at 5100 Lincoln Avenue in Lincolnia
- Brighton Mall: Seeks to increase the allowed heights of buildings in a future mixed-use redevelopment of the Lincolnia shopping center from 4-6 stories to 5-10 stories
The description of the Reston National Golf Course nomination has been corrected. NVR submitted the site for a potential plan amendment application that would allow for redevelopment but isn’t involved in the renovation proposal.
