A plan for mixed-use redevelopment on a small but key parcel in downtown McLean has won the support of the Fairfax County Planning Commission.
Commission members voted 10-1 yesterday (Wednesday) in support of Reston-based Cypress Real Estate Company’s plan to construct 56 residential units with 2,120 square feet of ground floor retail on a 0.56-acre parcel at the northwest corner of Beverly Road and Elm Street.
The rezoning proposal now moves on to the Board of Supervisors for final action.
“We’re really proud of this project and all the input we’ve had from the community,” land use attorney Evan Pritchard told commission members. He called the final result “a much better project from where we started last year.”
“We really tried to make something interesting architecturally that had some variations to it, but also fits in,” said Pritchard, an attorney with Wire Gill LLP representing the property owner.
Located near the bull’s-eye of the 230-acre McLean Community Business Center, the 87,000 square feet of planned new development will replace the McLean Office Center at 1368 Beverly Road. The compound consists of two small office buildings and surface parking on the parcel.
Seven of the 56 units will be reserved as workforce housing, which is reserved for incomes higher than those expected for affordable housing but below market-rate homes.
Access to a mostly underground garage to be built on-site will be via Beverly Road.
The overall proposal has the “strong support” of the Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce, said Paul Kohlenberger, the organization’s president.
The project “furthers the community’s vision” for downtown McLean as it evolves, he said. That vision of a more walkable, mixed-use community was solidified by a comprehensive plan amendment adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2021.
Kohlenberger, the only speaker at the public hearing, also delivered a message of support from the McLean Planning Committee.
The lone planning commissioner to vote in opposition to the application was Franconia District’s Chris Landraf, who voiced concern about the parcel being undersized compared to the 2-acre minimum typically needed for the PRM (planned residential/mixed use) zoning district sought by Beverly & Elm Development LLC, a subsidiary of Cypress Real Estate.
County planner Sunny Yang said that while the project size is well below the PRM zoning district’s minimum, staff support the zoning change.
“Despite the smaller site area, the proposal demonstrated reasonable uses,” she said.
According to Pritchard, Cypress “very much did” try to entice neighboring property owners to participate in a joint redevelopment effort, but those owners “were emphatic they did not want to come in,” he said.
Braddock District Commissioner Mary Cortina said that while she had wrestled with the issue of the parcel’s size, she ultimately felt the best action was to support the proposal.
“Consolidation can be the enemy of progress, especially when you have lots of smaller parcels or different owners,” Cortina said.
Landgraf also had concerns about the limited amount of publicly accessible park space in the plan.
The developer has proposed a corner plaza and a linear park fronting Elm Street. However, it would provide only 0.09 acres of total park space — below the 0.15 acres that typically would be required.
To make up for the gap, the developer plans to provide equivalent funding to support other parks in McLean.
Speaking more generally, at-large commissioner Candice Bennett voiced concern at a lack of emphasis on universal design elements in projects coming before the commission and supervisors. Universal design helps to make properties accessible to those of varying ages, sizes, and abilities.
New development across Fairfax provides “an opportunity to think creatively to make sure that housing is available to everybody,” Bennett said.
“Once the [housing] stock is built, making the modifications is expensive, if it’s even feasible,” she said.
Under county zoning rules, the proposed zoning change from the existing C-6 to PRM requires approval of supervisors. The planning commission under its own authority approved a concurrent final development plan (FDP) filed by the developer.
