The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a rezoning proposal on Tuesday (Jan. 13) that will bring nearly 450 new residential units to a 12-acre site in the McNair Farms area near Herndon.
Dubbed Valley Drive Village, the project will replace two 25-year-old office buildings and surface parking in the Dulles Technology Center complex (13600 and 13650 Dulles Technology Drive), which is located within a half-mile of the Innovation Center Metro station.
“I couldn’t be more excited,” said Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman, in whose district the parcel is located.
“We need more housing in this county. This adds significantly to our supply,” Bierman said.
The developer, Mandrake Capital Partners, received zoning approval for a 5-story multifamily residential building with 244 units accompanied by 200 townhouses.
When first proposed in mid-2024, the development plan called for a similar number of townhouses, but a much smaller amount of multifamily housing. At the Jan. 13 meeting, Board Chair Jeff McKay praised the collaborative effort that brought in more housing without creating community opposition.
The final Valley Drive Village plan represents “a display of good work that was put in … to get us here,” McKay said.
“It’s been a very good process,” said Brian Winterhalter, an attorney with DLA Piper who represents the developer.
The project won a positive recommendation in December on an 11-0 Planning Commission vote. No speakers appeared at the Board of Supervisors’ Jan. 13 hearing to discuss the proposal.
Winterhalter told supervisors the townhouses will be of mixed sizes and at a variety of price points, rather than all being at the upper end of the market.
The site currently is home to two office buildings constructed in 2000. The site will be rezoned from an industrial district to the Planned Residential Mixed Use (PRM) District, which allows for moderately intense residential development.
About 25% of the parcel will remain open space, with 1.5 acres of park sites dotted throughout.
An estimated four residential units will be available as affordable housing, with just under 13% of the total units constructed designated as workforce housing.
There also will be two interior roads constructed within the site.
The developer agreed to pay just under $15,000 to Fairfax County Public Schools for each student expected to be generated by the new housing, plus an additional $2,500 per unit for future school construction.
The approval also came with a condition that the developer make 10% of parking spaces in the multifamily building available for electric vehicle charging, and offer an EV-charging option to townhouse purchasers.
The Jan. 13 vote represents another step, but not the final one, before construction can begin. Next up will be consideration of a site plan that will drill down further on details of the development.
Bierman said he was hopeful that the process would move quickly, enabling the developer to “break ground on this sooner rather than later.”
