A developer that has been hoping to build on Tysons’ former Best Western Hotel site for more than a decade might have finally identified a way to turn its aspirations into a reality.
Dittmar Company is seeking to revise its plans for Westpark Plaza, a mixed-use development that would occupy an approximately 5.2-acre property at the corner of Westpark Drive and Route 7 (Leesburg Pike), just south of The Boro.
The revised design would ditch previously approved connectors linking the planned residential buildings and hotel, allowing construction to take place in phases, after the developer determined that the “inter-dependent” approach is “not economically viable nor buildable,” according to a rezoning application submitted to Fairfax County yesterday (Wednesday).
“The approved gross floor area has not increased, the range of dwelling units remains the same, and the quality of the development is not compromised but enhanced,” land use attorney Lynne Strobel wrote in a statement supporting the application. “Each building, including its parking, can be constructed and operated independently.”
Approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in November 2014, the original Westpark Plaza plan anticipated replacing the Best Western at 8401 Westpark Drive with up to 1.48 million square feet of development, split between two residential high-rises and a hotel with up to 14 stories. All three buildings would include ground-floor retail and service uses, totaling up to 24,500 square feet.
The plan proposed a maximum of 1,300 homes, including up to 260 designated workforce dwelling units, and 300 hotel rooms.
Though the Best Western Hotel was demolished in 2016, Dittmar has yet to move forward on any construction. The Westpark Plaza site was used for a period as a construction staging area for The Boro, and in January 2021, the county gave the developer a greenlight to establish a temporary public park and surface parking.
The book-themed Tysons Tales Park popped up on the site that summer, providing seating, a couple Little Free Libraries, landscaping and some artwork, including a large “READ” sign and oversized lawn chairs.
With the redesign, Dittmar is proposing to deliver four buildings: two residential buildings with ground-floor retail, one residential-only building, and a 300-room, 19-story hotel. The residential towers would have 32 to 33 stories and total up to 1,681 units.
The submitted plan identifies the hotel as building D3, but the developer wants to retain the option to relocate it within the property “to address future market demand.”
“In other words, the proposed development plan will be comprised of three residential buildings and a hotel, but the hotel may be located on any one of the four building sites,” Strobel’s statement says. “In addition, the construction of the buildings will be phased in response to market demand. Any of the four buildings may be constructed first, second, third, or fourth.”
The development would offer 94,242 square feet of open space, including private amenities and a neighborhood park, civic square and gateway plaza that would be publicly accessible.
More on the proposed park spaces from the application:
Park areas include a civic square located at the intersection of Silver Hill Drive and proposed Broad Street adjacent to Boro Park that will be accessible to the public; and a gateway plaza located at the corner of Westpark Drive and Leesburg Pike that is also accessible to the public. The civic square and gateway plaza are joined by a public neighborhood park that is envisioned as a common green-type park with a variety of active and passive amenities. The Applicant envisions park amenities such as large lawn areas, a plaza, a variety of seating areas, a meadow walk, two full pickle-ball courts with two half-court multipurpose areas, a shade structure and placemaking opportunities.
According to Strobel, the park spaces were designed to be “more visible and accessible” than they were in the original Westpark Plaza plan, and some portions of the open space would be constructed with each of the buildings.
The application seeks to retain the site’s approved zoning to the PTC District, which was created to encourage a transformation of Tysons from a suburb dominated by office parks and shopping centers into a more urban, mixed-use destination.
However, the developer is requesting some waivers, including of fencing and screening height limits, a planned paved trail along Leesburg Pike and Westpark Drive, and tree preservation standards “due to the lack of existing vegetation on the Property.”
“The most important result of this redesign is that it is more economically feasible and can result in more timely construction that will add to the Tysons urban vision and skyline,” Strobel wrote.
