Developer Pulte Group’s plan to expand the Lofts at Reston Station with more housing is poised to secure a final approval with the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors holding a public hearing next Tuesday (June 23).
The project seeks to replace three low-rise office buildings at 1810, 1825 and 1850 Samuel Morse Drive with 158 homes, including 112 condominiums across three five- to six-story buildings and 46 stacked townhouses in one four-story building. Even after seven years of review and revisions, though, it has struggled to win over its future neighbors.
While the Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended on June 10 that a rezoning application to allow the development be approved, the Reston Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Committee — an advisory group of volunteering local residents and other community members — did not offer the same support on Monday (June 15).
Before taking a vote last week, the planning commission had deferred a decision on Pulte’s application twice, urging the developer to address lingering concerns related to the design and construction of Easterly Road, striping on Reston Station Blvd for bicycle lanes and crosswalks, snow removal and construction clean-up.
At the June 10 meeting, Hunter Mill District Commissioner John Carter reported that county staff and Pulte had settled on an interim design for Easterly Road, which sits on the property line between the future Lofts II on Samuel Morse Drive and the office building at 1821 Michael Faraday Drive that’s also eyeing redevelopment.
Pulte had initially proposed that whichever developer begins construction first should provide the right-of-way and grading, while the other developer constructs the finished road. After a representative for the Michael Faraday developer, JB Properties, argued the arrangement would be unfair, the planning commission called for a more detailed interim design featuring street trees, sidewalks and possible space for on-street parking.
Carter indicated that the design had advanced to a satisfactory point, though the road’s ultimate construction will still depend on an agreement with JB Properties.
As a condition of its proffer agreement with the county, Pulte will fully construct Easterly Road on the south side of the property line, while provide the right-of-way and grading for the section to the north, if the county approves a site plan for Lofts II before one for JB Properties’ development. The developer would also contribute $182,000 toward the road’s full design and construction.
“We now have a design for that that’s a little more directed, and it’s clear at least what this developer will do,” Carter told his fellow planning commissioners.
The proffer agreement also includes commitments to stripe Reston Station Blvd, implement a dust management plan to limit debris produced during construction, and remove snow from surrounding roads, either individually or as part of a consortium of area property owners that’s reportedly under discussion.
Those conditions emerged in response to complaints raised by residents of the original Lofts at Reston Station, a 44-unit condominium complex that opened in 2019 at 1825 Michael Faraday Drive.
The proposed consortium would consist of Pulte, which owns and developed Lofts I, and other property owners in the growing neighborhood east of Wiehle Avenue and south of Sunset Hills Road. They would coordinate to ensure snow is removed within 24 hours of a storm from local private roads, including Reston Station Blvd and Easterly Road, until the streets are turned over to the Virginia Department of Transportation and converted into public streets.
If the consortium ultimately doesn’t coalesce, Pulte would be responsible for snow removal on its private streets, as is the case on the Lofts I property.
“Pulte has committed to pay their fair share,” DLA Piper senior land use planner Kelly Posusney said, speaking as the developer’s legal representative at the Reston P&Z Committee’s meeting on Monday.
She added that the potential consortium members are “still working through the details.”
Reston Planning and Zoning Committee unconvinced
However, a representative from the Lofts at Reston Station Condominium Association board disputed the extent of Pulte’s commitments to snow removal, stating that he was present at a single meeting last month where the developer suggested it would explore a possible cost-sharing agreement with other property owners in the area.
Pulte hasn’t provided any updates since then, condo board vice president and treasurer Adam Rubinstein told the P&Z committee at its virtual meeting on Monday.
“I feel like they’re trying to take credit for something that doesn’t exist, and I don’t think will exist,” Rubinstein said of the snow removal consortium. “They’re just dragging their feet. That [proffer] should be removed. It should just say Pulte’s responsible [for snow removal], period.”
Rubinstein also noted that Pulte has resisted Lofts I residents’ request that it power wash their building after finishing construction on Lofts II to clean up any resulting dust. The developer had proposed a $1,000 contribution to the condo owners’ association so they can hire a power washer directly — an amount that Rubinstein called “insulting.”
The monetary contribution was dropped from the proffer agreement when the planning commission voted on June 10.
“We don’t want to be limited to a thousand dollars,” Rubinstein said. “We hope Pulte will clean our building when they’re finished with construction.”
Members of the P&Z committee expressed dissatisfaction with the architectural design of the Lofts II buildings, the lack of plans for a rooftop garden or other “green roof” measures to assist with stormwater management, and the amount of open space provided on the approximately 5-acre site.
“While black [roofs] may show less dirt and look modern, it’s not the best for long-term maintenance or sustainability,” committee member Sue Vanell said. “Green roofs would result in cooler building, cleaner air, increased stormwater retention, reduce noise.”
Michelle Kimmel said that, based on provided renderings, the playground planned in a central park for the development “just looks like the most sparse, sad playground I’ve ever seen.”
Carter, who was sitting in on the P&Z meeting, noted that, unlike many other newer developments, Lofts II will join Reston Association, giving its residents access to the organization’s many recreational amenities.
“The problem is there are no RA facilities close to this,” committee member Tammi Petrine responded. “We’re thrilled that the residents will be RA members, but RA doesn’t have property or parks or facilities or amenities in the corridor, so that’s a problem, and that’s where the owners have to come forward and provide for their people.”
Lynne Mulston, a committee member and president of the Reston Citizens Association, urged Pulte to “go back to the drawing board” before presenting its rezoning application to the Board of Supervisors next week to incorporate the committee’s concerns, which had been raised in previous meetings.
“I don’t want to have to go testify before the Board of Supervisors to say the planning [committee] had issues with this project,” Mulston said. “It would be great if you present something to the board of supervisors that is acceptable to the planning and zoning committee.”
Posusney observed that Pulte has been working on plans for Lofts II since 2019, and the redevelopment currently on the table is the eighth iteration.
“We’ve worked with county staff for years and years. They’ve tried to work with the neighbors in good faith,” she said. “This has been a very long process for Pulte.”
Skeptical that the developer will make any further revisions to its plans, the committee voted 8-2 with two abstentions to recommend denial of Pulte’s application.
Given that the application was supported by the planning commission, it remains to be seen if the P&Z committee’s frustrations have any sway on the Board of Supervisors, but Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn, who represents Reston, told FFXnow that he hasn’t settled on a stance.
“I decide how to vote only after hearing from the public, that’s the point of having public hearings,” Alcorn said. “I look forward to hearing all arguments for or against this rezoning.”
