Fairfax County is inviting local residents to learn about a possible plan to combine a renovation of the Chantilly Regional Library and technical operations facility with affordable housing and community space.
The community meeting will be held July 16, from 6-7:30 p.m., at the Chantilly Regional Library (4000 Stringfellow Road).
“We are in a very early conceptual stage of considering whether the Chantilly Regional Library site could be redeveloped to include a new regional library with affordable housing, as well as a new library technical operations facility,” said Allyson Pearce, a spokesperson for the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority. “We are very early in the process, and no design details have been determined. Any new design would consider the input of the community.”
The estimated cost for the project is $53 million, which the county hopes to fund with economic development bond financing in 2028, according to the county’s adopted fiscal year 2027 capital improvement plan.
The Chantilly project was moved up from a planned 2032 bond referendum during the budget process earlier this year, as was a similar concept at the Centreville library, due to “the imminent risk of catastrophic failure of a building system” at both facilities, according to a county staff report.
The current Chantilly building was constructed in 1993. It has recurring issues with the roof, inadequate electrical wiring for modern patrons’ use of devices, and “substantial” issues with the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems.
Chantilly is also the site of a technical operations center that supports all 23 libraries in the Fairfax County Public Library system by processing new books and books on hold, so a prolonged closure “would have a substantial negative impact to every branch in the system,” the report says.
If the county pursues the affordable housing concept, it would likely be through a public-private partnership, as it is considering doing in Centreville. Faced with soaring housing costs, a number of localities throughout the country, including D.C. at the Chevy Chase library, have looked at co-locating libraries with residential development in recent years to increase their housing supply.
People who attend next week’s community meeting “will learn more about Fairfax County’s affordable housing needs and goals, specifically in the Sully District where the Chantilly Library is located,” Pearce said. “Attendees will participate in a workshop to provide feedback and ideas about potential development.”
