A new developer is getting involved in the MetroWest neighborhood near the Vienna Metro station, though it won’t affect the long-stalled town center portion of the project.
An affiliate of the Peterson Companies submitted a new plan to Fairfax County on Dec. 8 for the Oakton development’s “Building 18,” a proposed multifamily residential building with commercial uses that would include a child care facility.
Based in Fairfax Corner, Peterson Companies acquired the 1.83-acre site at the corner of Sprague Avenue and Royal Victoria Drive from fellow developer Pulte Homes for $6 million on Jan. 31, according to local property records.
Peterson saw the property as “an opportunity to develop a transit-oriented, mixed-use building at a key location in Fairfax County,” the developer’s senior managing director of residential development, Stuart Prince, told the Washington Business Journal, which first reported the application.
Pulte has been the primary driver of construction at MetroWest, funding the Providence Community Center that opened in 2014 and was later renamed on top of building 500 townhouses and condominiums and the 206-unit Atrium at MetroWest senior living complex.
The homebuilder began construction in 2024 on a set of six-story condo buildings totaling 236 units at the corner of Sprague Avenue and Bleeker Street. Now dubbed MetroWest Square, the complex will bring a number of amenities to the neighborhood, including an outdoor swimming pool for MetroWest residents and a publicly accessible courtyard with a tot lot, amphitheater, table tennis, grills and picnic tables.
However, only 7,660 square feet of retail space will be provided in MetroWest Square, which is expected to be delivered in early 2026.
Looking to revise a development plan approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in January 2022, Peterson Companies envisions Building 18 as a 10-story, 114-foot-tall apartment building with 271 rental units and 21,546 square feet of ground-floor commercial space — approximately 10,013 of which will be allocated to a child care center.
The new plan increases the building’s maximum floor area, allowing for more retail and other nonresidential space, and bumps up the number of housing units from 244.
“The proposed increase in residential units will provide additional housing supply within a transit-rich location, help with streetscape activation, and drive the demand for Metrorail and MetroWest’s commercial uses,” land-use attorney Andrew Painter wrote in a statement for the rezoning application.
The developer is also seeking to increase the building’s maximum allowed height, which was previously set at 105 feet as recommended by the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan. The additional height is necessary to provide loading and vehicle access along Sprague Avenue, according to the application.
In addition, Peterson has proposed updating the project’s parking to match the reduced requirements adopted by the county in September 2023 as part of its Parking Reimagined zoning ordinance overhaul. Parking for Building 18 would mostly be provided in an underground garage with 335 spaces for residents and 41 for the non-residential functions.
Excluding corridors, amenities and service areas, units will have an average size of around 874 square feet, and 27 of them will be income-restricted affordable dwelling units (ADUs) in accordance with a condition from the original MetroWest development plan approved back in 2006.
“Pedestrian access to the building will be provided via the lobby located at the corner of Sprague Avenue and Hammersmith Lane,” Painter wrote. “Ground floor retail has been concentrated along Royal Victoria Drive, which will help that street evolve into a strong retail corridor that mirrors the ground floor retail uses provided in Pulte’s multifamily buildings to the east.”
In addition to offering private amenities for residents, including an outdoor courtyard and pool on the building’s second level and a rooftop terrace, the developer says it will provide a 5,025-square-foot playground for the child care center and a 500-square-foot, publicly accessible plaza and seating area at the corner of Sprague Avenue and Royal Victoria Drive.
The public plaza’s location would provide a transition to the town center that developer CRC Companies has promised for two decades now on the development parcels closest to the Vienna Metro station.
The Board of Supervisors removed a cap on residential permits for MetroWest in 2022, allowing CRC to move forward with housing without first delivering one of two planned office buildings. Over three years later, the town center still exists only on paper, but a site plan for two multifamily buildings appears to be progressing through the county’s review processes.
If that construction doesn’t start promptly, though, Building 18 could deliver the first rental apartments in a development dominated by for-sale housing options.
“The Applicant’s proposed development provides much-needed housing with convenient access to nearby Metro station and transit options, as well as ground-floor retail and a child care facility to establish a sense of place and mix of uses in the MetroWest community,” Painter wrote.
The application hasn’t been formally accepted for review yet by county staff.
