A mixed-use development that could transform a corner of Tysons West sailed through the Fairfax County Planning Commission last week after more than five years of review.
All of the commissioners present for the Oct. 22 public hearing recommended that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approve a conceptual development plan for the Piazza at Tysons, which would replace a gas station and the Tysons 3 shopping center near the Spring Hill Metro station with housing, office, over 2 acres of park space and, potentially, a public arts and culture center.
The project’s use of open space, art and trees to improve the pedestrian experience on Leesburg Pike (Route 7) drew praise from the commission, with multiple members saying they look forward to the development coming to fruition.
“The piazza, the open spaces, it really does feel like it’s bringing Tysons all together,” Braddock District Commissioner Mary Cortina said.
The proposed streetscape along Leesburg Pike (Route 7) is “a significant departure from the way we do things now,” Hunter Mill District Commissioner John Carter observed. Among other elements, the developer intends to add two rows of street trees with “lush ground cover plantings,” moveable planters and seasonal art installations to create an “art walk,” according to a county staff report.
Though more concrete details will emerge with future final development plans, which are needed for each building, land use attorney Michelle Rosati confirmed that applicant and property owner Tysons MK LLC — an affiliate of gas station owner Capitol Petroleum Group — has been working with the Virginia Department of Transportation to ensure the planned landscaping can be implemented.
“We really thought hard about, will these trees work? Are they going to be able to stay?” she told the planning commission. “And we’ve not had any indication that they won’t.”
Initially submitted in 2019, the proposal to redevelop the Schmitz Exxon gas station (8526 Leesburg Pike) and neighboring retail center at 8520 Leesburg Pike — currently home to the Marufuji Japanese Market and a Starbucks after the Tile Shop closed in July — aims to create “a true heart” of the community, Rosati said.
The Piazza at Tysons will feature three mixed-use high-rises and a small, one-story kiosk called The Cube, concentrated around an approximately 1.75-acre, publicly accessible piazza stretching from Leesburg Pike to Broad Street.
- Building A: a 30-story building at Spring Hill Road and Broad Street with up to 482 residential units, 26,000 square feet of office space and up to 20,000 square feet of retail.
- Building B: a 33-story building fronting Leesburg Pike with up to 295 residential units, 310 hotel rooms, 30,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and three indoor pickleball courts
- Building C: a 33-story building at Leesburg Pike and Spring Hill Road with up to 760,800 square feet of office uses and 33,000 square feet of ground-floor retail
According to Rosati, the housing will include between 64 and 109 workforce dwelling units, depending on whether the buildings end up being rental apartments or for-sale condominiums.
About 4,500 square feet of the retail space in Building A could be handed over to Fairfax County for an arts and cultural facility or another public use. Alternatively, if the county decides to pass on the space, it would receive a cash contribution to support a public facility elsewhere in Tysons.
Planning Commission Chair Phil Niedzielski-Eichner, an at-large member, noted that he had been a “real strong proponent” for the 20,000-square-foot, two-story library that the developer originally proposed, questioning why that commitment had changed.
According to Rosati, there had been conversations about finding a partner to finance a library, but the county ultimately determined that wouldn’t be viable.
“The answer we got was they weren’t sure they really had the funds to do that, and maybe they didn’t really need another library, so that’s what started the process of us looking at some other options,” Rosati said. “We understand the county may not be ready to identify a specific need on this site.”
The publicly accessible portion of the development will be split across three different levels:
- Vehicular access level: Constructed atop an underground parking garage, the ground level will encompass street-level retail, an indoor pickleball court in Building B, and a new Ribbon Plaza at the Route 7 and Spring Hill intersection. An urban tea garden will decorate both sides of Via Traverso, a private service road cutting through the site to connect Spring Hill Road and a planned West Street on the southeastern side of the property.
- Piazza level: Most park space will be located on this slightly elevated level, including a lounge with water features, an outdoor living room with a skylight and outdoor seating, a play park for children, a lawn for picnics and events, and a Piazza Centrale that could host concerts, outdoor markets, an ice skating rink and other seasonal festivities.
- Roof level: Publicly accessible terraces are planned in Building C, along with private amenities such as bocce and boules courts, table games, swimming pools and lounge decks.
The Piazza lawn would face the 900-square-foot Cube, which will have LED screens on its exterior walls that can be used to show movies and artwork. With doors that open like a garage, the building could also be used for different retail pop-ups, from a flower or ice cream shop to a hot cocoa stall to serve ice skaters during the winter, according to Rosati.
“I like the Cube. It could be the Tysons Cube as opposed to the Las Vegas Sphere,” Cortina said. “It could really be a highlight, something that is relatively small in terms of the overall square footage [but] would have a huge impact.”
While there’s no clear timeline yet for when construction might begin, Rosati predicted that the future development will be an attractive setting for both office tenants and residents.
“It’s a beautiful project,” she said to the planning commission. “It’s tough to imagine a more beautiful setting for a cadillac, signature headquarters in that office building, and I think it would be a really great place to live.”
Providence District Commissioner Jeremy Hancock, whose district includes the site, noted that it has taken the developer and county staff “years of work” to get the Piazza at Tysons application to a point where it’s ready for approval.
The final decision on the conceptual plan will be up to the Board of Supervisors, which has a public hearing scheduled for Nov. 18.
“It’s an incredible, exciting project. It’s really, I think, aligned with the vision of Tysons,” Hancock said. “It’s incredible to convert Route 7 in a way. We see so many applications just putting in a sidewalk, but really to soften Route 7 and integrate it into the larger community, I think, is exciting.”
This story was updated to clarify that Michelle Rosati used the word “cadillac” as an adjective, not in reference to the luxury car company.
