The Fairfax County Planning Commission voiced support last Wednesday (June 24) for the construction of 143 townhomes on the northern portion of Isaac Newton Square in Reston.
If approved by the Board of Supervisors, the project will represent the second phase of a larger plan greenlit in 2019 that calls for the 36-acre office park to be redeveloped with 2,100 residential units, plus new office, retail and potentially hotel space.
The plan presented to the planning commission last week dealt with Blocks N1, W1 and N3 — an approximately 9-acre area previously home to office buildings that have since been razed, as well as surface parking.
Located just north of the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station, the sites are bounded by Hidden Creek Country Club to the northeast and Wiehle Avenue on the east.
Commission members recommended approval of the developer’s proffered condition amendments (PCAs) and conditional development plan amendments (CDPAs). Scheduled to face a public hearing before the Board of Supervisors on Aug. 25, the proposal had the support of county planning staff and the Reston Planning and Zoning Committee.
Developer Tri Pointe Homes D.C. Metro Inc. is seeking to build 58 townhomes on Block N1, 61 townhomes on Block W2 and 24 townhomes on Block N3.
Previously, N3 had been planned to contain a 180-unit multifamily building, but the developer determined “the dimensions are too small,” and there were parking and infrastructure concerns, said Andrew Painter, a land use attorney representing the developer before the planning commission.
The three parcels are among the most distant on the site from the Metro station, making townhouses a reasonable choice, Painter said. Taken as part of the broader Isaac Newton Square redevelopment plan, “it fulfills the vision for high-quality, mixed-use development,” he said.
Planning Commission Chair Phil Niedzielski-Eichner said the proposal was not perfect, but represented acceptable land use for the site.
“This is a first step. I believe it will be a catalyst,” he said.
Some of the proposed townhouses will be the types typically seen in Northern Virginia, while others will be back-to-back units, a type Painter said was popular in the 1970s, fell out of favor but is now seeing a resurgence.
The three townhouse parcels flank Block N2, which was approved by the Board of Supervisors in 2023 for a 7-story, 345-unit multifamily building. Construction is slated to begin later this year, Painter said.
Future development will be guided by the plan approved by county leaders in 2019. It calls for 2.8 million square feet of new construction to replace office buildings that date back to the 1960s and ’70s.
The project is being undertaken by Peter Lawrence Company, a privately held commercial real estate firm.
Planning for redevelopment has been ongoing for a decade. The development team is currently wrapping up roadway and infrastructure work as it gears up for construction of the apartment building.
“I appreciate the fortitude, the willingness to keep working at this over an extended period of time,” Niedzielski-Eichner said before the unanimous vote to recommend approval of the proposed townhouses.
Painter said the development team plans to ultimately build all 2,100 units allowed under the overall Isaac Newton Square plan. Several commissioners said they hoped that would be the case, given the site’s proximity to Metro’s Silver Line just south of Sunset Hills Road.
“This is a prime location,” said Niedzielski-Eichner, fearing “the risk of us not being able to achieve the density” that has been approved.
In addition to sending its recommendation to supervisors, the planning commission accepted a final development plan amendment for the site. That action does not require review by the county board.
