Springfield Town Center developer seeks to scale back residential plans

The redevelopment of the Springfield Town Center could be scaled back with fewer residential buildings than originally planned.

Hanover R. S. Limited Partnership is seeking Fairfax County’s permission to consolidate two approved high-rise residential towers into a single 85-foot-tall, mid-rise residential building with up to 460 units.

The proposal, submitted on May 6, also includes changes to the existing parking garage north of the property, upgrades to the planned fitness park on the corner of Spring Mall and Loisdale roads, and a small adjustment to the approved internal street network.

An initial development plan for the town center approved in 2009 envisioned a 275-foot high building and a 152-foot high building, totaling a little over 408,000 square feet.

Big plans are in store for the 68-acre campus. An additional level is proposed to the existing four-story parking garage, which is located to the north of a proposed South Street. Roughly 550 parking spaces in the garage will be allocated for residents and their visitors only.

In a statement of justification to the county, senior land use planner Elizabeth Baker described the change as a “relatively minor adjustment to the original approval.”

Baker wrote that the development of the building “with new streets, new streetscapes, and a community park is an important first step in redeveloping Springfield Mall into a mixed-use town center as envisioned in the Comprehensive Plan.”

Despite the changes, she also said the redevelopment plan continues to envision a “lively mixed-use development consisting of residential, retail, office, hotel and park uses” for the town center.

The application is in the preliminary phases of the planning process and has not yet been accepted for review by the county.

The news comes as the owner of the campus, the Philadelphia-based Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, makes plans to sell a hotel development parcel at the town center, according to a quarterly earnings call earlier this month.

The overall redevelopment plan was approved in June 2009, but none of the approved 5.7 million square feet of development has been constructed yet.