The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors set the stage last Tuesday (Sept. 29) for a potential new Reston Community Center satellite facility in the Lake Anne Plaza area.
Supervisors voted unanimously to authorize a comprehensive plan amendment increasing the amount of non-residential development allowed on the 16.5-acre Crescent Apartments property from 2,000 to 30,000 square feet.
The action would provide an opportunity for the Reston Community Center — which currently operates a satellite facility at 1609-A Washington Plaza adjacent to Lake Anne — to develop a larger facility nearby.
“This is a big step forward,” Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said, although he acknowledged there is “still a lot of work to be done as it moves to the next step.”
The 181-unit Crescent Apartments, located on Cameron Crescent Drive between North Shore Drive and Baron Cameron Avenue, date back to the mid-1960s when Reston was in its infancy. As of July 2025, the property is owned by the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA), which has proposed to raze the existing structures and build up to 750 multifamily units in their place.
The new apartments would be split between market-rate and committed affordable dwelling units.
The Sept. 29 vote does not impact the residential portion of the plan, but it does provide more options for non-residential development on the site.
Alcorn said the housing authority should “come up with a viable plan” that could include a community center facility.
“Those discussions are ongoing,” he said, noting that financing of a new public space is one issue that will need to be worked through.
The satellite community center is more easily accessible to residents in the northern part of Reston than the flagship Reston Community Center facility found further south at Hunters Woods Plaza.
Alcorn said that while the push for more non-residential space on the Crescent Apartments site has focused on its potential for a new community center facility, there were other options, like child care, that could ultimately be provided instead.
A number of speakers at the public hearing preceding the vote supported the idea of redevelopment but voiced concern about how it might affect traffic in the area and the availability of open space.
“I know the community center needs more space … but there’s an impact,” said Patricia Hagan, who lives in the neighborhood.
Alcorn acknowledged traffic impacts on North Shore Drive, asking that as the process moves forward, the county, FCRHA and its future development partner consider the feasibility of adding direct access to Baron Cameron Avenue to ease congestion.
Alcorn said he hopes the community center can maintain a presence directly on Lake Anne Plaza even if it develops a larger facility nearby. Keeping a public-use space on the plaza is “critical to the revitalization of Lake Anne,” he said.
Earlier in September, the Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended approval of the increase in non-residential uses on the Crescent Apartments site, while also proposing revisions to the comprehensive plan amendment related to pedestrian safety and access to Washington Plaza.
County staff concurred with the amendments, which were agreed to by supervisors.
Future steps in the process include the Fairfax County Housing and Redevelopment Authority selecting a development partner. That will lead, eventually, to a site plan process that will include another round of community engagement.
Another option still on the table is consolidating the Crescent Apartments site with adjoining parcels to unlock additional redevelopment potential.
