A redevelopment plan for the Courthouse Plaza Shopping Center in Old Town Fairfax is headed to the city council for review.
The Fairfax City Council is expected to hold a work session today (Tuesday) to discuss a revised proposal from developer Combined Courthouse to transform the aging retail center at 10300 Willard Way into a mixed-use development.
The proposal includes 315 residential units — 10% of which would be designated as affordable housing — as well as 5,000 square feet of retail space, a nearly 10,000-square-foot park, a similarly sized courtyard, 487 parking spaces for residents, 288 for retail, and bicycle storage.
To make way for the new development, the developer has proposed demolishing 25,000 square feet of existing retail space next to the current Safeway, which houses businesses like Chubby Squirrel Brewing Company, Down the Line Sports Center, and Fairfax Veterinary Hospital. This would result in a net loss of 20,000 square feet of commercial space.
However, the developer said in a May 17 statement that the plan “respects lease requirements” while building on The Flats on University, a nearby student housing development completed in fall 2022.
“The Applicant has prepared a thoughtful, residential project to respond and adapt to the market’s evolving landscape and the City’s small area plan goals for the Property,” the statement said. “Building upon the successful Capstone project to the north, the Project will introduce an upper story residential/mixed-use building along University Drive, which will extend the urban street edge and pedestrian experience into Old Town.”
Combined Courthouse also noted that it’s working to re-fill two vacant, standalone pad buildings on the site, including a former McDonald’s, with new restaurants.
The developer is seeking eight special exceptions that would allow the development to exceed the 48-foot height limit, increase its density to 36 units per acre, use more than 25% of the ground floor for residential purposes, reduce sidewalk widths along Blenheim Blvd and maintain current landscaping and parking configurations.
In May and June 2023, the Fairfax City Planning Commission and council reviewed a phased redevelopment plan for Courthouse Plaza that proposed 300 residential units and 66,000 square feet of retail space in phase one, followed by a second phase with 600 residential units and 62,000 square feet of retail, including a grocery store.
However, Combined Courthouse revised its proposal after city staff raised concerns about the timeline, parking, construction quality and alignment with the Old Town Fairfax Small Area Plan.
The developer resubmitted its proposal in May, removing phase two and focusing on phase one.
In a recent report, however, city staff noted the plan still needs to address long-term improvements and better align with the city’s comprehensive plan, which envisions Old Town as a future mixed-use activity center and cultural destination.
Among other issues, a north-to-south street shown extending from the back of Courthouse Plaza up to Layton Hall Drive in the Small Area Plan has been excluded from the development proposal.
“[The applicant has] instead proposed a large building that prevents this road from being constructed,” the staff report says. “Staff recommends providing the north to south street envisioned in the Old Town Fairfax Small Area Plan to enhance pedestrian connectivity and shorten travel distances by breaking up the existing large superblock.”
A traffic analysis predicts that, if the redevelopment moves forward, weekly trips to the shopping center would drop from 8,482 to 5,708 — a reduction of 2,774 trips.
While the project is expected to decrease the number of jobs generated by the site from 247 to 196, a fiscal analysis by Maryland-based consulting firm RCLCO projects that it will generate an additional $1.4 million in revenue for the county, primarily through property taxes.
