A multi-family housing development proposed in Fair Lakes took another step toward existence last week.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a comprehensive plan amendment on Tuesday, Sept. 10 that supports residential development and increased development intensity at a site that previously housed the Parkway Woods office building (12801 Fair Lakes Parkway).
“The proposed residential density may be appropriate on the subject site, subject to the ability of the proposal to satisfy the relevant Fair Lakes Design Guidelines and other applicable policies and regulations,” county staff said in a report on the proposed amendment.
Developer TPC Hornbaker LC is looking to build a 400,000-square-foot residential building with up to 400 units on the 4.3-acre site in Fair Lakes. An office building that stood on the site for more than three decades was torn down in 2023.
A lawyer representing the developer said the plan amendment would help support restaurants and shops nearby.
“It’ll create a more modern mixed-use environment in Fair Lakes, and it will increase the supply of housing in an area of the county that has the infrastructure available to support and accommodate new future growth,” the lawyer, Andrew Painter, said at the hearing.
The board’s vote came after the Fairfax County Planning Commission voted 10-0 at its June 12 meeting to support county staff’s recommendation of the amendment.
A rezoning proposal for the site still needs approval in order for the development to move forward. Scheduled for a public hearing before the planning commission this Wednesday (Sept. 18), the application has secured a recommendation from county staff, according to a Sept. 5 report.
In their report on the plan amendment, county staff found that the proposed development will be “limited” in its impact on Fair Lakes’ land use mix, suggesting that it “could serve as a catalyst for future redevelopment interest in the area.”
However, the report says the developers should maintain a “treed buffer” that separates the Parkway Woods site from a neighboring four-story condo building.
The vote was the result of the first phase of a two-part study that the Board of Supervisors authorized in September 2023. Initially, phase one was supposed to also evaluate potential residential development at another site (12701 Fair Lakes Circle), but the developer of that site delayed its proposal, according to the staff report.
The next phase of the study will reevaluate the county’s vision for the overall Fair Lakes area’s development, including the impact of changes in office demand.
“There is already interest in the potential replanning and/or redevelopment of some of those office sites for other uses, such as residential uses,” county staff said in their report on the Phase 1 amendment. “An updated vision should include more specific guidance related to the potential redevelopment pattern.”
