The first phase of work is underway in the redevelopment of Isaac Newton Square, an office park in Reston that will be transformed into a mixed-use neighborhood in phases over the next 20 years.
Work started at the end of September at the northern end of the site to preserve a line of willow oak trees located along Isaac Newton Square North near Wiehle Avenue. Improvements to streets and infrastructure, such as stormwater facilities, utilities and bioretention facilities, are also in the works.
The tree and infrastructure work is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, according to Andrew Painter, a land-use attorney for Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh who represents property owner Peter Lawrence Companies.
There are 60 mature willow oaks in the square, 47 of them inside the 32-acre area slated for redevelopment. Although they weren’t required to do so, Peter Lawrence has hired a certified arborist to monitor the trees and made a series of commitments to their preservation, Painter says.
“The inspiration for the [Isaac Newton Square development] plan’s layout and open spaces was, in large measure, due to the ownership’s desire to preserve these trees,” he said.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission approved a final development plan in 2021 for internal roads on the northern section of the site, which lies north of Sunset Hills Road and west of Wiehle Avenue.
A plan for a 345-unit, seven-story apartment building at 11410 Isaac Newton Square North — designated as Block N2 in the overall development — was finalized in 2023. Previously intended for APA Properties, the block is now under contract to JLB Partners, which is awaiting site plan approval and expects to begin construction in 2026.
Developer Tri Pointe Homes submitted plans to the county this summer for three more blocks dubbed W2, N1 and N3, all filled with townhouses. The applications are currently being reviewed by county staff ahead of public hearings before the planning commission scheduled for May 2026.
Linked by new walking paths and amenity spaces, the first blocks of Isaac Newton Square were designed so they could be developed in a unified manner, starting with the supporting infrastructure to potentially accelerate the delivery of other components of the neighborhood, Painter said.
“When Peter Lawrence Companies looked at how it could move forward with the first phases of the project, it wanted to do it in a way that would establish Isaac Newton Square as a new neighborhood,” Painter said, “not just as one block here, or one block there, but have a catalyst project with a critical set of blocks to create a semblance of place.”
With the Isaac Newton Square project, Peter Lawrence also wanted to provide a diverse range of housing options for all segments of the population — both renters and homeowners, Painter said.
The overall plan for Isaac Newton Square, first approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2019, calls for 2.8 million square feet of mixed-use construction across 10 blocks, including around 2,100 housing units, 300 hotel rooms, 260,000 square feet of office space and around 69,000 square feet of retail.
