Some significant changes could be coming to the transportation network around the West Falls Church Metro station in Idylwood later this year.
The developers enlisted by Metro to transform the transit station’s parking lots into a mixed-use community anticipate starting construction on promised infrastructure improvements this summer, according to EYA Executive Vice President of Acquisition and Development Evan Goldman.
Though there’s no definite timeline yet, the work would start “shortly after closing” on financing for the project, which is expected to come “later this summer,” Goldman told FFXnow.
EYA is one of three developers involved in the project, partnering with Rushmark Properties and Hoffman & Associates on a plan to build over 1 million square feet of housing, office and retail space on approximately 24 acres of the Metro station property at 7040 Haycock Road.
Approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in June 2023, the development plan calls for 810 multifamily residential units, 90 townhomes, up to 110,000 square feet of office space, and up to 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.
A proposed amendment submitted to the county in May seeks to shift 23,326 square feet from one of the multifamily buildings to two blocks where townhouses are planned. The reallocation will ensure a uniform height of four stories for all of the development’s townhomes, but it “does not change the number, type or overall design of the homes,” EYA says.
According to the application, the multifamily building will still have 180 to 210 units, as required by the approved development plan.
As a condition of the plan’s approval, the West Falls Church Metro developers agreed to provide a number of transportation improvements based, in part, on recommendations from a study group convened by the county to address safety and congestion issues in the transit station area (TSA).
In addition to an internal street grid for the new neighborhood, the developers are expected to deliver some off-site improvements, including:
- A shared-use trail on the north side of Haycock Road over I-66
- Pedestrian crosswalks, pedestrian-initiated signalization, and modifications to the existing median, including an eastbound left turn lane, on Falls Church Drive
- An exclusive left-turn lane and a single shared through/right-turn lane in each direction along Haycock at the Great Falls Street intersection
- A right-turn lane along Grove Avenue at the Haycock Road intersection
West Falls Station Blvd, a new street created by the nearby West Falls development in Falls Church City, will be extended through the Metro property. The developers have also committed to adding at least four bus shelters.
As shown in the approved development plan, the proposed Haycock Road trail will be at least 10 feet wide with a 3-foot-wide jersey barrier on the I-66 bridge to separate pedestrians and cyclists from drivers. A new crosswalk is planned across Turner Avenue, where the trail would begin.
However, the shared-use trail commitment did come with an escape option: a $350,000 contribution to the county to fund pedestrian and bicycle improvements in the area, if the trail can’t be built due to Virginia Department of Transportation approval and right-of-way acquisition challenges.
For now, EYA says the developers “intend to make pedestrian safety improvements along Haycock.”
“EYA is coordinating with VDOT on the permitting process,” the developer said through a public relations representative.
The infrastructure is expected to take approximately 24 months to fully build, though “the bulk” of the work will be completed within the first nine to 12 months, according to EYA.
Construction on the development’s first buildings will begin after the infrastructure work is complete, starting with a first phase that includes 85 townhomes from EYA and a multifamily building from Rushmark.
Site and development plans under review by Fairfax County indicate that Rushmark’s Building D will have 305 units, including 32 income-restricted workforce dwelling units (WDUs). It will be located at the intersection of Falls Church Drive and the extended West Falls Station Blvd, across from the new townhomes.
Subsequent phases will include two more multifamily buildings — one from EYA and one from Rushmark. EYA says it also has the rights to construct the planned office building on the surface lot north of the existing parking garage, which will remain.
The Metro project is part of a larger vision for revitalizing the West Falls Church TSA that also includes a redevelopment of Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia Center campus. Construction is underway on a new headquarters building there for HITT Contracting.
In addition, Fairfax County and Falls Church are working on plans for new pedestrian facilities on both the Shreve and Haycock road sides of Leesburg Pike (Route 7).
