As the first homes constructed on the former Fannie Mae campus in Reston prepare to welcome residents, developer Wheelock Communities is clamoring to add over 100 more.
Wheelock hopes to construct up to 150 stacked townhomes in place of the remaining office building on the nearly 5-acre site at 11600 American Dream Way, according to a rezoning application submitted to Fairfax County on Feb. 3.
Now vacant for more than five years, the nine-story office building is already “actively being demolished,” the developer said.
The mid-rise building was originally built in 1996 for Sallie Mae, which sold the property to Fannie Mae in December 2003. The mortgage supplier then sold it to Wheelock in 2018 before moving its offices to Reston Town Center in 2021.
According to the application, Wheelock spent over $10 million since 2020 to maintain the approximately 400,000-square-foot office building, even it had “no prospect for re-tenanting.”
“The Existing Office Building … was designed to accommodate a single corporate tenant and was not easily or efficiently able to be reconfigured into a multi-tenant building,” Lee Gleason, a land use attorney for Cooley, wrote in a statement. “… Consequently, the only economically viable path forward was to demolish the Existing Office Building and redevelop the Property as a residential community.”
The first phase of that community has been under construction by Dream Finders Homes since August 2024. Approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2022, the Sunset Station neighborhood will consist of 82 homes, including 74 townhouses and eight two-over-two condominiums.
“The first building of townhomes is completed, and residents should start moving in by the end of February,” a Wheelock spokesperson said when asked about the status of the development.
Construction is also progressing on walking trails and a playground for the new neighborhood, potentially wrapping up “in the next few months,” the spokesperson told FFXnow. That appears to keep the project on track for Wheelock’s anticipated December 2026 finish.
The county board’s decision to allow residential development on the site came despite objections from some residents and county staff, who took issue with Wheelock’s insistence on retaining a secured gate limiting access to a portion of American Dream Way. At the time, the property owner said the gate was necessary to draw tenants to the office building, which it still hoped to lease out.
With older office properties throughout Fairfax County continuing to struggle in the aftermath of the pandemic, Wheelock is now going all in on housing for the former Fannie Mae campus. The shift will negate the earlier concerns about gated access, but complaints about the density of the development might resurface.
Building on a request for a comprehensive plan amendment to allow townhomes in place of the office space, the submitted plan shows rows of townhouses oriented around a central green space.
While that amenity is intended only for the future residents, the new project will expand on the publicly accessible park space provided by Sunset Station with a “bio park” featuring bioretention facilities to improve stormwater management, a boardwalk, seating areas and connections to adjacent trails.
“A new grid of streets, open spaces and pathways will be formed to connect this residential development to the new adjacent residential development, revitalizing this expansive property into a cohesive residential community of walkable blocks, connected trails, and recreational areas a short distance from the [Washington & Old Dominion] trail,” Gleason wrote in the application.
The rezoning application hasn’t been formally accepted for review yet by county staff.
The Board of Supervisors authorized staff to consider a comprehensive plan amendment for the American Dream Way property last June but relegated it to the second tier of the county’s work program, meaning it’s a lower priority than other requests but could be undertaken once staff is available.
With a rezoning application now filed, the plan amendment study could start to move forward.
Correction: This story initially said the building at 11600 American Dream Way was built for Fannie Mae, instead of Sallie Mae. Hat tip to Ro Moto in the comments for the fact check.
