Fresh off its $50 billion merger with rival Discover, Capital One has turned to the Scotts Run neighborhood in Tysons as its next acquisition target, setting the stage for a possible expansion of its headquarters campus south of Route 123 (Dolley Madison Blvd).
Through an affiliate named Dolley Madison West LLC, the financial corporation spent $125 million between Feb. 24 and 26 to buy approximately 14.7 acres of land along a roughly half-mile stretch of Old Meadow Road and Chain Bridge Road, the Washington Business Journal reported.
With one exception, all of the purchased parcels were originally approved for mixed-use development in 2013 as part of the 30-acre Scotts Run South neighborhood planned by Cityline Partners. While some pieces of the project have come to fruition, including the Mitre 4 office building, Archer Hotel, and Heming and Haden apartments, they account for only a portion of the 6.5 million square feet of initially planned new construction.
According to Fairfax County property records, Capital One has now acquired:
- 1700 Old Meadow Road for $22.1 million on Feb. 24. Designated as the Lincoln block in the Scotts Run plan, the site is occupied by Dyncorp International’s former headquarters and currently provides parking for the dining and entertainment pop-up Shipgarten.
- 1690 Old Meadow Road for $16 million on Feb. 26 from an affiliate of the D.C. developer Akridge, which received Fairfax County’s approval in 2019 for an office high-rise to replace a Geico training facility. This parcel wasn’t part of Scotts Run.
- 1651 Old Meadow Road for $20.99 million on Feb. 24. Designated as the Grant block in the Scotts Run plan, the property is occupied by a 6-story office building constructed in 1970.
- A 2.6-acre, vacant parcel between Heming and Route 123 for nearly $17 million on Feb. 24. It was planned for office buildings A and B in the Johnson block of Scotts Run.
- 1600 Anderson Road for $37 million on Feb. 24. Identifying this site as the Westgate block in its Scotts Run plan, Cityline got the county Board of Supervisors’s approval in 2024 to build a Hilton hotel instead of a previously planned office building.
- 1616 Anderson Road for $11.6 million on Feb. 24. In 2021, the county approved a park called “The Block at Scotts Run” as a temporary use for the Van Buren block until construction could start on a planned residential building, though Cityline doesn’t appear to have implemented any amenities.
Capital One had already expanded its reach in Tysons East by acquiring Cityline’s planned Scotts Run North site on the north side of Route 123 at Scotts Crossing Road in May 2019. Renamed Capital One East, the property is now home to Capital One Park — a temporary baseball stadium — and Capital One East Park, an urban park with a playground that opened last September.
So far, the company hasn’t requested any changes to the long-term development plan that the county approved for Scotts Run North in 2015. That plan called for 1.5 million square feet of development across two residential towers and three office buildings, including one that could be turned into a hotel instead.
In a statement also provided to the WBJ, a Capital One spokesperson described its acquisitions to the WBJ as “a strategic investment in our future here” in Fairfax County.
“This land ensures we have the long-term flexibility to expand our campus to meet future growth needs and continue our long-term commitment to the Tysons region and Northern Virginia,” the spokesperson said.
Headquartered in Tysons since 2001, Capital One received the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ approval in 2012 to build out its 26-acre corporate campus with 5 million square feet of development, including additional office towers, a performing arts venue that became Capital One Hall, Watermark Hotel, The Perch skypark, and retail.
The master plan for Capital One Center also envisions over 1,000 units of multifamily housing, but none have been delivered so far. At a summit organized by the Tysons Community Alliance last week, Capital One Vice President of Global Workplace Services Erin Mical indicated that the company is currently focused on adding more street-level amenities, including recreation and restaurants, rather than new construction.
Cityline Partners, meanwhile, still owns one undeveloped block of Scotts Run — the Taylor block at 7581 Colshire Drive, where Shipgarten has been operating since 2022. The developer submitted plans to Fairfax County last year for a continuing care facility that would be built and managed by Galerie Development if it’s approved.
No public hearings have been scheduled yet for the application, which remains under review by county staff.
Cityline Partners Managing Director Donna Shafer told the WBJ that the company expects to sell the Taylor block to Galerie in 2027 and expressed confidence in Capital One’s stewardship of the former Scotts Run parcels.
“It’s a big win for Tysons and a big win for the commonwealth,” she told the WBJ.
