The Herndon Town Council has approved another piece of development expected to transform the Herndon Metro station area north of the Dulles Toll Road.
The council voted unanimously on April 28 to allow the office building at 575 Herndon Parkway that once housed Booz Allen Hamilton to be redeveloped with a seven-story, 525-unit apartment building.
In addition to new housing, the project will deliver approximately 9,200 square feet of retail space, 6,000 square feet of office or commercial space — including 1,200 square feet reserved for the Town of Herndon’s use — and about half of the promenade that will connect the Herndon Metro station to Herndon Parkway.
Located along the western side of the property, the promenade is “probably the most important part of open space and pedestrian connection included in” the town’s Herndon Transit-Oriented Core (HTOC) plan, Herndon Deputy Director of Community Development Bryce Perry told the town council.
Adopted in February 2012, the HTOC plan calls for denser, more urban development across nine properties that encompass approximately 38 acres of land along Herndon Parkway directly north of the Metro station, which turned out to still be a decade away from opening as part of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Silver Line extension.
The 575 Herndon Parkway development plan, submitted by property owner Bristol Capital Corporation, is the third major one that Herndon officials have approved so far for the HTOC, following greenlights for adjacent projects at 555 Herndon Parkway to the east and 593 Herndon Parkway to the west.
Construction is now underway on Fairfield Residential’s Nell at 555 apartments, a 400-unit building expected to be completed next year, per the developer’s website.
Lerner Enterprises’ Parkview project at 593 Herndon is currently considered “inactive,” according to Perry, noting that the developer hasn’t moved forward with a site plan. Last updated in 2022, the approved plan envisioned a mixed-use complex with 675 apartments, 400,216 square feet of office and 9,900 square feet of retail or restaurant space — plus the other half of the Metro promenade.
Even by itself, though, the eastern portion of the promenade built as part of the 575 Herndon project promises to improve the experience for pedestrians heading to and exiting the Herndon Metro station.
Lined with trees, the 35-foot-wide pedestrian-only promenade will feature a 10-foot-wide walkway separated from a 7-foot-wide sidewalk with a row of trees. Planned amenities include pop-up kiosks that can be occupied by different businesses, a variety of seating areas, pedestrian lighting, wayfinding signage, artwork and a pocket park with a fire pit.
“All of [the amenities] combined are an attempt to create an activated outdoor space not only for people to walk through, but to stay a while and enjoy,” Perry said.
When the 593 Herndon Parkway site is redeveloped, the promenade will expand to 70 feet wide with additional landscaping and walkways.
In addition to building part of the promenade, Bristol Capital and its partner Woodland Development Company have proposed extending the Sugarland Run Trail with a 12-foot-wide shared-use path along the southern edge of the property.
Lori Greenlief, a senior land use planner with McGuireWoods who represented Bristol Capital at the public hearing, noted that the commercial space reserved for the town will face the promenade, which could be closed for town events under a proffer commitment agreed to by the developers.
The town hasn’t determined a specific use for the space yet, but it would have access to it under a 10-year lease free of charge with options for two five-year renewals at half the market rate, Perry said.
“We are confident that our proposal is the right answer to transforming this property into a welcoming environment that is reflective of Herndon’s character for people coming to Herndon to work, people coming home to Herndon and visitors coming to the town,” Greenlief said.
In response to a community member’s question about the availability of parking, Greenlief said the developer “worked very hard on the parking,” which will primarily be provided in a 638-space garage entirely enclosed within the building. On-street parking will also be provided on a new private street constructed on the east side of the site.
Like his colleagues, Herndon Town Council member Cesar del Aguila voted to support Bristol Capital’s project, but he was still “a little disappointed” that the town didn’t accelerate work on an affordable housing policy in time to incorporate it into this application.
The Town of Herndon currently doesn’t have any policy requiring developers to provide designated affordable units. A consultant is crafting an interim policy that could be presented to the council in the coming weeks and take effect until a new comprehensive plan with more permanent recommendations is finalized at the end of 2027.
“[A housing policy] is painfully needed in the town,” Del Aguila said. “… For future applicants, it would be really nice, and we as a council need to get moving on a comprehensive plan to define what we really want in terms of specific housing.”
When presenting a staff report, Perry noted that the 575 Herndon Parkway project isn’t as dense overall and specifically doesn’t include as much office space as what the town had anticipated for new development in the HTOC.
While the town-wide decline in office space will be evaluated as part of the comprehensive plan process, Bristol Capital’s proposal still aligns closely enough with the HTOC vision in “form and function and activation” for staff to recommend its approval, Perry said.
In a call last week with FFXnow, Herndon Mayor Keven LeBlanc also expressed his support for the newly approved development, saying he expects “it will be a very good project.
“It includes a beautiful, tree-lined colonnade coming up to Herndon Parkway,” he said. “I think that the building itself is designed aesthetically pleasing while providing … an appropriate balance, so I think there’s lots of things, and we’re just seeing the beginning of things moving along that Metro area.”
