George Mason University plans to focus on athletics facilities first when redeveloping the western portion of its Fairfax campus.
After new sports/recreation facilities are in place, Mason will move forward with developing housing — for both the university community and others — plus retail spaces and community facilities, university officials and consultants told community members on May 22.
About 40 people attended the community meeting at Fairfax City Hall, which offered a first look at three concept proposals for the future development. Most were members of surrounding neighborhoods worried about the impact of additional development on traffic congestion.
Traffic “is a concern,” acknowledged Julie Zobel, GMU senior vice president and chief operating officer.
The gathering followed similar meetings held in December and March and was designed to engage the community early in the process.
“We don’t have a fully baked plan,” Zobel said. “We want to hear what you’re excited about, and what your concerns are.”
Proposals for how to bring the 190-acre part of the campus west of Ox Road (Route 123) have percolated for more than a quarter-century. Most recently, GMU partnered with Washington Freedom owner Sanjay Govil on a plan for a combined cricket and baseball stadium, but the concept was abandoned last year after area residents objected.
The three concepts laid out on May 22 all contain the same elements, placed in different arrangements.
New athletic facilities would include a high-performance training center, baseball facility, softball field, field house with an indoor track, and an outdoor track-and-field facility.
Housing proposals range from apartments and condominiums to townhouses, some available to university students and staff, and the others for the general public. A mix of market-rate and subsidized units is expected, although no development partner has been selected.
A hotel remains a possibility but doesn’t appear to be a priority. A hotel and conference center that previously served the Fairfax campus lost money and ultimately was converted into student housing and academic facilities.
Public spaces, trails and plazas would be part of the west campus development, while environmentally sensitive portions of the site would remain untouched.
The proposal calls for what is described as a community gathering space and multi-purpose venue, but when questioned at the meeting, university officials said that concept had not been fleshed out.
The western area of the campus is bordered by University Drive to the north and Braddock Road to the south, and bisected by Campus Drive. Existing facilities there would be razed and replaced, not renovated, university officials indicated.
GMU Athletics Director Marvin Lewis said improvements to existing sports and recreation facilities are needed to maintain Mason’s ability to attract students.
“Many of our facilities are aging [and] underutilized,” he said.
Lewis pointed to current baseball facilities, which date to the 1980s. They are unlit and offer no concession stands, no restrooms and no hitting and pitching practice areas.
“We have a great opportunity” to expand facilities, Lewis said. “It helps you compete.”
At the meeting, Lewis and his staff received praise from one representative of an adult track organization, who said the university had been much more proactive with sports organizations in recent years.
GMU broke ground last year on a new Activities Community Wellness Building that’s expected to open sometime in 2025. In addition to serving as the first dedicated home for the university’s popular Green Machine pep band, the facility will have basketball and volleyball courts for recreational and intramural games and studios for yoga and exercise classes.
Additional meetings on the west campus development plan are expected, as designs are refined over the course of the year. In 2026, the university anticipates selecting development partners and beginning to publicly detail how the project’s components will be funded.
