Plans for an apartment building with approximately 240 homes and ground-floor retail in the Seven Corners area have received support from the Fairfax County Planning Commission.
Commission members unanimously recommended on June 24 that the Board of Supervisors approve the proposal submitted by EYA and Southern Management.
The proposed 8-story apartment building and a new 5-level, 366-unit parking garage would be added to the Fairfax County portion of the 5.5-acre site at 6200 Wilson Blvd. The existing 12-story, 220-unit Cavalier Club apartments on the site would remain.
While most of the parcel is in Fairfax County, the site is bisected by the Fairfax-Arlington line. Future plans call for a townhome development on the Arlington side, but that has not yet started moving through the review process.
At the June 24 meeting, planning commissioners raised some concerns about the development plan, but in general, they called it a positive step for Seven Corners.
“I’m glad we were able to reach something we could all agree on,” said Alis Wang, who represents the Mason District on the commission.
“We all want more housing, and this project will do that. It’s good news,” she added, praising designs for park spaces on the site.
The Fairfax portion of the parcel sits in Wang’s district. Others on the panel had similar views.
At-large commissioner Candice Bennett agreed that the dual plans to add more housing on the property are “a creative solution” to the unique, two-jurisdiction situation.
In addition to being bisected by the Arlington/Fairfax line, the western portion of the site abuts the boundary between Fairfax County and the City of Falls Church.
Having a parcel split between multiple jurisdictions results in “a very complex case” that has been ongoing for years, Wang said.
The existing Cavalier Club apartment building currently consists entirely of market-rate, unsubsidized units.
Under an affordable-housing plan submitted to Fairfax officials, property owner Southern Management and developer EYA will designate 24 of the apartment units in the new building as workforce housing for those earning up to 80% of the area median income (AMI). In addition, units representing 23 bedrooms in the existing apartment building would be converted to affordable housing for those earning up to 60% AMI.
Those affordable housing levels are dependent on final financing of the project, representatives of the developers told the planning commission.
Sully District Commissioner Evelyn Spain lauded the plan for affordable housing.
“You’re doing a great job,” she said.
On top of recommending approval by supervisors of the rezoning from R-20 to PRM (high-density residential) zoning, the commission formally approved the site’s final development plan, which does not require action by supervisors.
Townhouse proposal not yet submitted
Plans for townhouses on the Arlington side of the parcel have not been submitted to Arlington officials.
At the June 24 meeting, representatives of the developer suggested that future townhouse development on the northeastern (Arlington) part of the parcel could follow the look at EYA’s Sutton Heights development in the City of Fairfax.
Beyond showing a drawing of the Sutton Heights architecture at the Fairfax meeting, the development team has stayed largely silent about its Arlington plans. Sara Mariska, a land use attorney representing the development team, said the overall project will feature “architecture that is meant to fit the community in which it is being constructed.”
As the development plan has moved through the Fairfax process, it has been suggested that westbound Wilson Blvd be narrowed from two travel lanes to one as it passes the property. That would better align it with the Arlington side, which has one lane in each direction from Ballston to the Fairfax border.
Approval of the reduction of a travel lane ultimately rests with the Virginia Department of Transportation.
