Big changes, building shuffle proposed for final piece of Herndon’s Arrowbrook Centre

The team behind more than 2.3 million square feet of development at Arrowbrook Centre in Herndon is poised to make some big changes to the massive mixed-use neighborhood near the Herndon Metro Station.

Property owner Arrowbrook Centre LLC — a subsidary of the Ruth and Hal Landers Charitable Trust — and developer Pulte Home Company hope to shuffle several previously approved buildings, consolidate residential buildings and eliminate certain aspects of the plan.

Overall, the approved square footage of development would remain unchanged, despite significant changes to its components, according to a rezoning application submitted to Fairfax County on May 20.

Most of the changes are in Land Bay A — the only one of seven land bays in the center that is not yet under development.

The applicant wants to absorb unused density from the six completed land bays and shuffle several buildings in order to move forward with the project.

“The applicant will be able to meaningfully improve the final piece of Arrowbrook Centre while ensuring it is carefully integrated into the distinctive place that has already been established,” the May 20 application says.

While one planned 140-unit apartment building would remain unchanged, staying up to 14 stories and 170 feet tall, the developer hopes to consolidate two multifamily buildings into a single building with 290 units. The building would stand between five to eight stories tall with a maximum height of 85 feet.

Instead of an additional residential building, the application proposes an office building with around 280,000 square feet and 11,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. A second planned office building will have slightly increased square footage — between 220,000 and 240,000 square feet — and 13,000 square feet of retail.

A 300-room hotel is proposed with 13,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.

The office buildings and hotel would have a height cap of 175 feet.

The developer also wants to reallocate approved office space within the land bay and eliminate a parking garage in the area. The hotel would be relocated, and an auto court at the terminus of Wind Charm Street would be removed to accommodate an approved pocket park.

“The Land Bay A Applications will result in more housing options, while keeping the previously approved residential density, within distinctive, livable neighborhoods in close proximity to transit, public parks and amenities, in accordance with the County’s vision for transit station areas,” land-use attorney John C. McGranahan said in a statement of justification on Arrowbrook Centre’s behalf.

Photo via Arrowbrook Centre