Workdays at 1895 Preston White Drive are getting lonely for the Corporation for National Research Initiatives, the owner and sole occupant of the Reston office building.
After trying without success to attract other tenants, the information technology research nonprofit has given its support to a developer seeking to transform the 4.6-acre office property just south of the Dulles Toll Road into a new residential community.
If approved, the redevelopment would replace an three-story office building constructed in 1987 with up to 71 single-family townhouses, according to a rezoning application submitted to Fairfax County earlier this month (Oct. 9).
“The replacement of the 1980’s vintage, 100% vacant office building that does not meet the modern office market demand expectations with meaningful housing … will contribute to the desired concept of a mix of uses in a compact, pedestrian-friendly urban form within the Wiehle-Reston East [Transit Station Area],” McGuireWoods real estate attorney Gregory Riegle said in a statement for the application.
The proposal was filed by High Street District Development, a subsidiary of the Dallas, Texas-based developer Trammell Crow that typically focuses on multifamily housing.
Trammell Crow had requested that the county amend its comprehensive plan to allow residential development on multiple Preston White Drive parcels as part of the 2022-2023 Site-Specific Plan Amendment (SSPA) process, contending that a lack of walkable amenities and “vast” parking lots isolating the different office buildings put them at a “severe disadvantage” compared to the new offices going up closer to the Wiehle Metro station.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors authorized county planners to review the potential amendment in April 2023 as part of a broader Reston TSA study that encompasses 10 separate proposals for land use changes around the Wiehle and Reston Town Center Metro stations.
The county doesn’t appear to have started work on an amendment for Preston White Drive, but High Street anticipates that its rezoning application, which only deals with the Corporation for National Research Initiatives property, will be processed “somewhat concurrent with the review of the SSPA,” Riegle wrote.
Under the submitted plan, the future townhouses would be four stories or 50 feet tall with rooftop decks, rear-loaded garages and entrances facing either provided open spaces or a wooded Environmental Quality Corridor along the northeastern edge of the property that the developer says will be preserved.
The developer is proposing approximately 1.76 acres of open space, including a community gathering space with a dog park, tot lot, outdoor kitchen and dining area, and seating. The 0.41 acres of urban park space also includes a designated Resource Protection Area that will be restored to its “natural, intended state” with the removal of the existing parking lot for the office building.
“Trails circulate through these areas, connecting all portions of the property,” the application says.
The application doesn’t address why High Street Development is interested in townhomes, rather than multifamily housing, but the lower-density approach to office redevelopments seems to be gaining momentum in Fairfax County recently.
Just in Reston, similar proposals have emerged this year for two office buildings on Alexander Bell Drive, the American Armed Forces Mutual Aid Association’s property on Old Reston Avenue and the office at 1821 Michael Faraday Drive currently occupied by Northern Virginia Community College, among other tenants.
