Reston Association’s Design Review Board recently got a fresh look at the latest plan for developing Reston Town Center North (RTC North), and for the most part, members were encouraged by what they saw.
“I don’t see any reason for a motion of … approval from my sense, because we’re still working,” Design Review Board Chair Michael Wood told the development team after a presentation on July 15. “You guys got some feedback from us. I think you guys have some actionable things that you guys can provide, and you’re in the right direction for sure.”
Representatives of Fairfax County and Inova Health System — which each own land in RTC North and have partnered on the development — approached the RA board for feedback on their plans for the future street grid and central green, the latest step in a planning process that has now stretched on for 15 years, as Inova land-use attorney Tim Sampson noted.
Located north of the existing Reston Town Center and south of Baron Cameron Avenue, RTC North encompasses nearly 48 acres of land currently occupied by the Reston Regional Library, Embry Rucker Community Shelter, the North County Governmental Center, the North County Human Services Center, Sunrise Assisted Living and Inova’s standalone Reston-Herndon emergency room.
A rezoning application submitted by Inova and the county’s Board of Supervisors in late April would establish eight blocks of mixed-use development in accordance with recommendations from an RTC North task force:
- Block 1: Future public elementary school
- Blocks 2, 4 and 6: Inova development
- Block 3: New library
- Block 5: Homeless shelter and human services building
- Block 7: Athletic field
- Block 8: Recreation center
Under the proposed plan, Inova’s development blocks would provide up to 1,000 residential units and up to 150,000 square feet of non-residential uses, which could include retail, office, hotel, medical care, cultural, recreational and public space.
Central green design praised
More detailed designs for the individual blocks will be provided in future development plans, but the rezoning application does solidify a concept for the 3.5-acre central green that will take over the now-vacant parcel where Inova’s Cameron Glen Care Center once stood.
Leaning into the site’s sloped topography, the developer will position an event plaza on the lower west side with a lawn to create an “amphitheater-type experience,” said Susan England, a senior associate for the landscaping and civil engineering firm LandDesign. A new Street C behind the plaza would be designated as a private road so it can be closed for festivals and other events.
The lowest point of the central green will also be used for stormwater management, which is envisioned as a “garden-esque field” with plants, a walkway and a bench.
Other elements of the central green include a playground in the northwest corner near the future school site, a public restroom building, bicycle racks and a spot for a Capital Bikeshare station to the southeast, and smaller green spaces and seating areas along the eastern edge of the block.
Different sections of the central green will be separated by trees and landscaping — a design influenced by the results of a community survey that found interest in the space as both an outdoor respite and a social gathering space.
“Social activities ranked high in general, but especially those organized events over smaller group activities, and respondents wanted a diversity of offerings,” England said. “It might seem contrary, but we also heard quiet spaces were important, so [the design was a matter of] figuring out best ways to balance the scale of those larger events while also providing smaller, quiet spaces where people can rest from the urban environment.”
The look of the central green drew praise from some Design Review Board members. Brian Cutler, an architect, noted that having the event plaza across the street from the future library site could create a “more natural connection,” and a proposed tabletop crosswalk would encourage drivers to slow down.
“I’m really encouraged by the design of the central green,” Cutler said. “Conceptually, I think it’s looking really great, because I like that the central green is broken up into so many different zones where you can imagine it having such a variety of uses all at one time.”
Parking, building heights among concerns
Some board members questioned the plans for parking, particularly during larger events, and raised concerns about the future buildings overshadowing the central green.
While RTC North will encourage pedestrians, bicyclists and transit with walking paths, bicycle lanes around the perimeter and slower vehicle speeds on internal roads, Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services engineer Eric Inman assured that the county is making plans to accommodate parking demands.
Initially, a temporary parking lot will be provided on the site of the future North County Health and Human Services Building in block 5, but eventually, spaces will be available in a parking garage planned to support that building.
“We are over-parking that garage to provide additional spaces,” Inman said. “I think we’re running over 100 additional spaces for the central green, and that’s above and beyond what’s required for the health and human services building.”
For the building heights, Inova and the county are taking “cues” from the surrounding development, Sampson says. Heights proposed in the rezoning application range from 40 feet for structures on the central green to 220 feet for blocks 5, 6 and 8.
“The intention is, and as reflected in the comprehensive plan recommendations, for the [residential] building on Block 6 to be no higher than the Paramount [condominiums] and then taper down in height as it goes further north,” he told the board.
Though he doesn’t see the proposed heights as “outlandish,” Wood suggested the developers would need to provide more details on the massing and setbacks for the buildings before he’d be comfortable with giving the conceptual plan an official approval. The Design Review Board previously approved plans for RTC North in 2019 and 2021.
“I think it’s going to be paramount to preserve the central green without having an 180-foot building 37 feet away,” Wood said, pointing to the nearby Signature apartments as a “successful” example of a high-rise building using stepping so it doesn’t seem to loom over the street.
The rezoning application remains under review, but Sampson said Inova and the county are hopeful it’ll get public hearings before the planning commission and Board of Supervisors by the end of the first quarter of 2026.
The central green would be delivered as part of the development’s first phase, which is expected to be the library, followed by a new Embry Rucker shelter. Replacing the aging facilities, which were both constructed in the 1980s, is one of the county’s top priorities for RTC North.
