Construction is now underway on a multi-year project to restore the residential high-rise that has towered over Lake Anne in Reston for over half a century.
The restoration will help preserve Heron House, a 15-story condominium building, while also making repairs to prevent water leaks that have affected some units, the Lake Anne of Reston Condominium Association (LARCA) says.
“The restoration project was necessary due to water intrusion into owner units,” LARCA Community Manager Vanessa Lazo told FFXnow. “Some is standard maintenance, like caulking. Some is repair work of concrete spalling, and concrete degradation on some balconies.”
LARCA’s Board of Directors announced plans in fall 2023 to restore the building at 11400 Washington Plaza West, stating that the $700,000 project would be complemented by other improvements around the plaza.
LARCA now says in a press release that the project will be a “multimillion-dollar” restoration, though it didn’t specify an exact cost estimate.
After announcing the start of construction last Thursday (June 27), LARCA expects to complete the first phase of work early this fall, though there’s no set timeline yet for subsequent phases. Implemented by Osprey Contracting, the project will focus on common elements of the building, rather than individual units.
“The subsequent phases will be scheduled based on the scope of that phase, financing and any needed permitting,” Lazo said. “We anticipate this to be completed over the next couple of years. This kind of work is very weather and temperature dependent.”
Heron House features 66 condo units and became the first condo building to open in Reston in 1966. Designed by Conklin & Rossant, its mid-century modernist architecture is distinguished by a “unique roof design” with concrete spires, creating “a unique silhouette in the Reston skyline,” LARCA says.
However, the high-rise and other parts of Lake Anne have been plagued for more than a decade now by various issues related to their aging infrastructure, from a lack of hot water to a malfunctioning fountain.
In 2021, an architectural firm hired by Fairfax County identified over $37 million in repairs that it said the village center needs. Issues at Heron House included cracks in the brick and mortar that allows water to get into the building, elevators and balcony railings that aren’t up to current building code standards, and a “catastrophically failed” air handler, Samaha Associates said in its report.
The Heron House restoration is based on recommendations from Wiss, Janney, Elster Associates (WJE), an engineering firm hired by LARCA’s board to evaluate the building’s condition, the condo association says. WJE chose Osprey as the contractor and will provide day-to-day oversight of the project.
Separately, the county has been working to solidify a new economic vision for its Lake Anne Commercial Revitalization Area, and county staff recently suggested the area could be added to a program that offers developers financial incentives in the hopes of spurring more activity.
The county is also updating the design guidelines for all of its historic overlay districts, including the one for Lake Anne Plaza. Lazo says the revisions aren’t expected to affect the Heron House restoration, since it won’t involve any design modifications.
The Fairfax County Department of Planning and Development will hold an in-person information session to discuss the proposed new guidelines at Reston Community Center’s Lake Anne facility (1609-A Washington Plaza) at 7 p.m. next Monday (July 8).
