The Fairfax County Planning Commission unanimously recommended approval at its July 22 meeting of a proposal that could more than quadruple the number of residential units at the Merrifield at Dunn Loring Station Apartments.
County staff’s comprehensive plan amendment would pave the way for Malkin Properties — which has owned the 35-acre garden-apartment complex at 8130 Prescott Drive since its construction in the late 1960s — to replace the existing 706 units in phases with up to 2,975 apartments in high-rise and mid-rise buildings near the Dunn Loring Metro station.
Construction likely would begin in three or four years, if the amendment and a related rezoning application win approval. In addition to housing, Malkin’s development plan calls for up to 25,000 square feet of retail space.
The parcel is located in the Merrifield Suburban Center with the I-495 and I-66 interchange to the northeast and Gallows Road to the west. The site also has frontage on Hartland Road to the east, as well as a network of private interior streets including Prescott Drive and Heatherton Lane.
The planning commission’s recommendation on the plan amendment will be considered by the Board of Supervisors at a Sept. 15 public hearing. Hearing dates haven’t been scheduled yet on the rezoning application.
“We think it’s a really good concept. We still have some work to do with it as we move into the rezoning,” said Kelly Posusney, a DLA Piper land use attorney representing the property owner.
Planning commissioners largely concurred. They supported the overall plan but raised concerns about traffic, pedestrian connectivity to the Metro station and additional student enrollment generated by the new development.
Several commission members, including Sully District’s Evelyn Spain, wanted more details about what will happen to existing tenants, many of whom have lived in the garden apartments for years and sometimes decades.
“These are families,” Spain said. “There’s an emotional component that’s going to be associated with tearing down a home where one has lived for a period of time.”
Torie Foss, who has lived at the apartment complex for two years, testified to the planning commission that “the displacement of residents … is something I as well as others are very concerned about.”
The “stress of displacement” will hit some groups particularly hard, Foss said.
“There are many people who have lived here for a very long time,” she said.
According to Posusney, Malkin Properties plans to continue to own the site, and would work with existing tenants to ease the impacts of the phased redevelopment.
“We don’t have all the answers yet, but we do plan to be respectful about it,” she said. “It is top of mind.”
According to the Malkin Properties website, monthly rents for units range from $1,884 to $3,645, making it one of the few bastions of relatively affordable market-rate apartment living close to a Metro station in that part of Fairfax County.
Becca Dedert, testifying on behalf of the Coalition for Smarter Growth, was generally positive about the proposal, encouraging the property owner “taking full advantage of this site” to provide needed housing.
She expressed hope that there would be more committed-affordable units included as part of the rezoning plan than the 250 units (8%) that are typically required by county officials as workforce housing.
Desert also pressed for a robust relocation package.
“These longtime residents deserve those protections,” she said.
As part of the plan, the maximum height on the site would increase from the currently allowed 115 feet to 150 feet.
Neil Hamlett, an 18-year resident of the Merrifield area, was generally supportive, but expressed concerns about how the additional vehicular traffic would be accommodated and the importance of prioritizing pedestrians.
“As it is right now, crossing Gallows can be harrowing,” he said.
The development plan calls for deeding between two and three acres of the southeast portion of the parcel to the Fairfax County Park Authority for eventual incorporation into Hartland Green Park.
While mostly supportive, a coalition of homeowners associations surrounding the parcel expressed hope that their concerns will be addressed during the rezoning review — a sentiment echoed by Providence District Commissioner Jeremy Hancock.
“There’s going to be a lot of details to be worked through,” he said.
Hancock successfully secured his colleagues’ backing for a revision to the staff recommendation, requesting that the Board of Supervisors mandate a 75-foot setback on the northwest side of the parcel, similar to the distance planned for the south side. That would treat all surrounding neighborhoods equally, he said.
If the proposed amount of housing and retail are fully built out, the parcel would have a floor-area ratio (FAR) of 1.9. FAR measures the total amount of interior square footage divided by the lot’s square footage.
County supervisors had authorized consideration of a site-specific plan amendment (SSPA) for the parcel in April 2023. As part of an online meeting held with affected parties in June, the development team said it anticipates votes on the rezoning to take place in 2027, the site plan process to occur in 2028-2029 and the first phase of development to begin in 2030.
Buildout could continue to and beyond 2030, but the development team promised work on the roadway and park areas would take place during the early phases of construction.
