Association Drive’s long-contemplated transition from office park to mixed-use neighborhood could start with townhomes.
An affiliate of the home builder Toll Brothers is seeking to redevelop the office building at 1902 Association Drive in Reston with 54 rear-loaded townhouses, according to a rezoning application submitted to Fairfax County on Aug. 31.
“The Proposed Development represents an initial step in the long-term redevelopment of the Association Drive area,” DLA Piper land use attorney Brian Winterhalter wrote in a statement for the application. “It will introduce additional housing proximate to the Wiehle-Reston East Metrorail Station while preserving the ability to implement Fairfax County’s broader housing, transportation, connectivity, and open-space objectives contemplated in the Comprehensive Plan.”
Constructed in 1975, the one-story office building is currently owned by a limited-liability company tied to Rosenthal Automotive, which has operated more than a dozen dealerships in the D.C. region and Pennsylvania for decades
According to county property records, Rosenthal Automotive bought the approximately 2.5-acre property under the name KM Stonecroft for $5.1 million in 2011.
The building has served as Rosenthal Automotive’s headquarters in the past, but it’s unclear whether the company is still using that site or even actively operating. As the Washington Business Journal reported, its main website and those of many of its listed dealerships appear to be inactive or defunct.
As the WBJ noted, Rosenthal Automotive President and CEO George Liu did sign an authorization supporting Toll Brothers’ application.
According to the submitted development plan, the new townhouses would be 1,900 square feet in size on average with a maximum possible height of 55 feet or four stories. One affordable dwelling unit and five workforce dwelling units would be included in accordance with the county’s zoning requirements.
The neighborhood would be supported by a quarter-acre of urban park space, featuring a “natural” playground and landscaped recreational area in the southeastern corner of the lot and more passive recreational space to the north.
Proposed pedestrian improvements focus on internal sidewalks and paths connecting the residences to the park spaces, but the site was designed “to retain significant existing vegetation where practicable,” the application says, acknowledging that Fairfax County’s Reston Comprehensive Plan explicitly prioritizes the preservation of mature trees on Association Drive.
Approximately 2,643 square feet of existing tree canopy, including two trees measuring 48 inches and over 20 inches in diameter, would be preserved and supplemented with new plantings, Winterhalter wrote in the Aug. 28 statement.
The targeted office building is one of three parcels along Association Drive not included in a comprehensive plan amendment study authorized by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in April 2023 as part of a larger review of land use and development guidance for the Wiehle and Reston Town Center Transit Station Areas (TSAs).
The Reston TSA study was triggered by the submission of 10 different site-specific plan amendment (SSPA) nominations for properties in Reston, including one that proposed allowing mixed-use residential development to replace 10 low-lying office buildings at 1900, 1920, 1904, 1906, 1912, 1914 and 1910 Association Drive.
Initially put on hold until the Board of Supervisors adopted an updated comprehensive plan for Reston as a whole in September 2023, the Reston TSA study and accompanying SSPA proposals were then designated as tier-1 priorities on county staff’s work program.
No public meetings have been scheduled yet on the Association Drive plan amendment, which is considering whether to change the recommended mix of uses from 75% residential and 25% non-residential to 100% residential.
The townhouse proposal from Toll Brothers is the first concrete plan filed with the county for an Association Drive property since December 2022, when the home builder partnered with fellow developer JLB Realty to pitch apartments and triplexes at 1900 and 1920 Association Drive.
With the SSPA under review, that rezoning application is currently listed as indefinitely deferred.
Though 1902 Association Drive isn’t part of the SSPA, Toll Brothers’ townhouse plan “advances the predominantly residential character” that the office hub is expected to evolve toward in the future, Winterhalter’s statement says.
“Concentrating a greater share of employment-generating and commercial uses immediately proximate to Metrorail both reinforces the transit-oriented character of the station area and allows properties farther west, including the Property, to provide a greater proportion of residential development,” Winterhalter wrote.
The project won’t deliver the Soapstone Connector that will eventually link Sunrise Valley Drive with Sunset Hills Road, controversially cutting through a historic district on Association Drive, but the developer says approximately 6,144 square feet of right of way will be reserved to accommodate the future road extension.
Estimated to cost $269.5 million, the Soapstone Connector has been in various stages of planning since a feasibility study was completed in 2013. After presenting an initial design to the public in 2024, the Virginia Department of Transportation anticipates holding a formal public hearing sometime in late 2026 or early 2027, according to the project page.
