An emerging trend of developers backing off of multifamily housing in favor of single-family housing has reached Tysons.
Property owner Link Logistics is seeking more flexibility in the type of residential development allowed in The Mile, a mixed-use project originally approved in 2019 to replace a 38-acre business park in north central Tysons.
Pointing to the nearby apartment buildings Jones at Tysons, Highgate at the Mile and the Brentford, Link Logistics has determined that the area is already saturated with multifamily housing, and “current market conditions” have made townhouses a more viable approach, according to a rezoning application submitted to Fairfax County on Aug. 25.
“Given the proximity of these and other nearby existing and approved multifamily buildings in Tysons, the Applicant has concerns about the market’s ability to absorb additional mid-rise multifamily product,” Walsh Colucci Lubeley and Walsh land use attorney Robert Brant said in a statement for the application. “On the other hand, there is a clear existing and growing demand in Tysons and throughout Fairfax County for single-family attached and stacked townhouse dwelling units.”
Formerly known as the Westpark Business Campus, the Mile is bounded by Westbranch Drive, Jones Branch Drive and Westpark Drive, and still encompasses 625,000 square feet of commercial space across six office buildings.
According to Fairfax County property records, the business park was acquired in June 2011 for $27.2 million by PS Business Parks, which got absorbed by Link Logistics in July 2022. Based in Texas, Link Logistics claims to be the largest U.S.-only owner and operator of industrial real estate, a portfolio that also includes the Tysons Corporate Center and Prosperity Business Campus in Merrifield.
Approved by the county board in July 2019, the master plan for the Mile envisioned over 3 million square feet of mixed-use development across eight blocks, including five residential buildings with supporting retail, four buildings that could have housing, office or a hotel, and a 5,000-square-foot retail kiosk in a roughly 5-acre Signature Park.
The first piece of project — Brentford at the Mile — was completed in 2022, opening across Hornby Street from the previously built Highgate apartments, which opened in 2017.
Partnered with the developer Kettler, PS Business Parks received the Fairfax County Planning Commission’s approval in May 2022 for a second building. Identified in the plan as Building B or the Charlton, this next phase would’ve been five to eight stories tall with up to 400 residential units, 13,500 square feet of retail space and a potentially 150,000-square-foot Public Storage facility.
With its new proposal, Link Logistics is hoping to retain the option for multifamily development on that block — minus the self-storage facility — but as the “base option,” it would instead build up to 90 single-family attached and stacked townhouses, each topping out at 50 feet or four stories in height.
In total, up to 250 townhouses are also proposed as alternatives on blocks C and D, which were previously approved, respectively, for a 380-unit multifamily building and a multifamily building with a hotel.
“By expanding upon but preserving the development options for Blocks B, C, and D, the Applicant maximizes flexibility to respond to market demands,” Brant wrote.
With the shift to single-family townhomes on those blocks, the developer is reallocating the unused space to blocks F, H and I:
- Block F: a 10-story building with office and/or a hotel, or a multifamily residential building with 500 units (up from 450) and 5,000 square feet of retail
- Block H: a 7 to 15-story office and/or hotel building with up to 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail, or a 30-story residential building with up to 500 units and 20,000 square feet of retail
- Block I: same options as Block H. A planned storage component has been dropped.
Block G — a 5- to 8-story multifamily residential building with up to 400 units and up to 10,000 square feet of retail — remains the same.
Link Logistics is also still planning to provide a 1,500-square-foot amenity building that could host a small restaurant, coffee shop or similar uses in Signature Park, which is Block E and would be constructed at the same time as Block D.
However, it’s now proposing to include athletic facilities at the park instead of offering a field on a separate site on Boone Blvd:
These “mini-pitches,” which are growing in popularity in urban areas due their efficient size, durability, and flexibility, are hard-surface courts that can be striped and used for a variety of athletic needs. They fulfill an existing and growing demand for practice space for youth sports organizations in the area, and represent an innovative approach to providing athletic fields in urban areas like Tysons. By re-programming Signature Park to accommodate a striped youth athletic field and introduce the Flexible Sports Pitches, the Applicant meets its athletic field requirement on-site, providing a variety of athletic field facilities that will substantially benefit both current and future residents of The Mile and Tysons.
By tying construction to one of the blocks where townhouses are now being considered, the developer says it should be able to deliver the park faster than if it sticks with an off-site athletic field.
Other planned park amenities include an open lawn, a crossroads plaza with a stage, a “destination” playground, picnic gardens and public art installations. A portion of the Tysons Community Circuit, a 4.75-mile loop trail for pedestrians and bicyclists, would be built south of the park.
The application to amend the overall development plan for The Mile hasn’t been accepted yet by county staff, as of press time.
