Tysons’ supply of housing for seniors could get a major boost from proposed changes to the Scotts Run development plan.
Cityline Partners, the developer behind the neighborhood south of the McLean Metro station, has enlisted the Atlanta-based senior living company Galerie Development to deliver three towers for a continuing care facility with rental homes, assisted living and memory care services, and a “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-like” array of amenities.
The developers are seeking to amend the Scotts Run plan originally approved in 2013 to allow the facility on a 5-acre site currently planned for one residential and two office high-rises, according to a rezoning application submitted to Fairfax County on Friday (July 18). The application was first reported by the Washington Business Journal.
Designated as the Taylor block in the Scotts Run plan, the property at 7581 Colshire Drive is south of Chain Bridge Road and north of a Northrop Grumman office building. While the land is mostly vacant, the dining and entertainment venue Shipgarten has been operating there since 2022, knowing its stay would end once development begins.
The proposed senior living facility would be part of Galerie’s Corso brand, an assisted living community that also offers city homes with their own front doors and patios as well as independent living and memory care options. After opening its first location in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood in 2021, the company is working on expansions to Druid Hills in Georgia and Chevy Chase, Maryland.
All units are leased by the month, and residents can customize their care package based on the services they need, according to the rezoning application.
“The grandeur of Corso Tysons and the breadth of its amenities helps seniors make seamless transitions from their beloved homes to the next chapters in their lives not begrudgingly nor reluctantly, but with enthusiasm and dignity,” Ballard Spahr real estate attorney Jill Parks wrote in a statement of justification.
According to the proposed development plan, Corso Tysons will have a total of 427 residential units and approximately 25,800 square feet of retail space for various amenities spread across the three buildings:
- East tower: 14 stories with 122 units and 3,400 square feet of retail
- Central tower: 17 stories with 154 units and 12,100 square feet of retail
- West tower: 14 stories with 151 units and 10,300 square feet of retail
With the change, the amount of development planned for the Taylor block would drop from over 1 million square feet to 823,700 square feet, but the new buildings will be taller than previous estimations, ranging from 201 feet to nearly 243 feet for the central tower.
The increased height is necessary for the facility to provide the “complete care and the full array of services and amenities needed to support the residents,” the application says.
Promising a “Four Seasons/Ritz Carlton-level experience,” the planned on-site amenities include up to four restaurants; a flower shop; ice cream and candy stores designed to appeal in particular to residents’ grandchildren; a movie theater that could also host fundraisers, dinners and other events; and two swimming pools — one open to the public with a spa and salon and another just for residents.
Per Parks’s statement, Galerie has hired a food and beverage director who worked at Ritz Carlton to develop the restaurants for its Tysons project. The company is currently considering providing American and Italian cuisine with the center and east towers — the first phase of development — and two other restaurants, plus a bistro with “lighter fare,” in the west tower.
“While the Restaurants will first serve the residents and their guests, they, like the other amenities in the Project, will be open to the public, preventing isolation and instead promoting integration and connection between the residents and their broader Tysons community,” Parks wrote, noting that the theater would be available for rent by the community.
For outdoor amenities, Galerie says it will work with the Fairfax County Park Authority to implement a previously approved trail network, sports court and dog park on the property, comparing the resulting “recreation park” to Rock Creek Park in D.C.
A corner park centered around a water feature and a 1-acre central park with a plaza, dog walks, play areas, community planting areas, picnic areas, fitness lawns and more water features are also proposed.
Though the new proposal is a big change from what the Board of Supervisors approved for the Taylor block before, a senior living concept “respects the spirit of the original land use mix … while having a significant impact on the County’s currently-deficient supply of options for seniors,” Parks wrote.
Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development staff warned the board earlier this month that finding affordable housing options for the county’s growing senior population is becoming increasingly difficult, with some residents unable to afford even subsidized units.
For Corso Tysons, Galerie has offered to contribute $3 per square foot of space, excluding amenities, to the county’s housing trust to support the creation of affordable housing elsewhere in Tysons in lieu of providing workforce housing.
Existing senior living communities in Tysons include The Mather in Arbor Row and The Trillium, which opened last summer at The Boro.
If approved, Corso Tysons could join the apartment buildings Heming and Haden, Archer Hotel and the Mitre4 office building in Scotts Run, which will deliver over 6.6 million square feet of development across 30 acres when fully built out.
The neighborhood recently started welcoming its first retail tenants, including the upscale Japanese restaurant Modan and Sunday Morning Bakehouse. Last year, the Board of Supervisors approved Cityline’s proposal to swap a planned office building in the Westgate block for a Hilton hotel.
