Author: Scott McCaffrey

A Northern Virginia native, Scott McCaffrey has four decades of reporting, editing and newsroom experience in the local area plus Florida, South Carolina and the eastern panhandle of West Virginia. He spent 26 years as editor of the Sun Gazette newspaper chain. For Local News Now, he covers government and civic issues in Arlington, Fairfax County and Falls Church.

News

Apartment rents across most of Fairfax County remain less expensive than in 2025

By Scott McCaffrey
Lease now sign for the Edmund Apartments at Halley Rise in Reston in winter (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

The median apartment rent across Fairfax County was down 1.3% year over year in July, with most major residential areas posting declines.

The county’s median apartment rent for all sized units was $2,430, down from $2,463 in July 2025, according to figures reported July 29 by Apartment List.

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News

Fairfax City Council split over housing plan for Chain Bridge Road office parcel

By Scott McCaffrey
Aerial view of a planned housing development with rows of red-roofed townhouses inside a blue boundary, surrounded by streets and parking lots.
Proposed new construction at 3541 Chain Bridge Road (via Network Realty Partners)

A proposal to replace two aging office buildings with 37 residential units and a small retail facility has met with mixed responses from members of the Fairfax City Council.

While some members praised the proposal for redevelopment of 3541 Chain Bridge Road with housing, others voiced concern about the decline of commercial property in the Northfax area of the city.

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Countywide

Number of jobless across Fairfax County up 10% over past year, new data shows

By Scott McCaffrey
Virginia Career Works advertises job transition resources on a Metro train (staff photo by Angela Woolsey)

Fairfax County recorded a 10% year-over-year increase in the number of residents counted as unemployed in June, according to new state data.

With 611,867 residents in the civilian workforce and 22,888 looking for jobs, the county’s non seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for June was 3.6%.

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News

Fairfax City officials mostly upbeat on revised redevelopment plan for Courthouse Plaza

By Scott McCaffrey
Rendering of a modern multi-story apartment building with red brick and beige facades, lined by trees along a street.
Revamped conceptual design of housing on Courthouse Plaza parcel (via Combined Properties)

Members of the Fairfax City Council have reacted generally favorably to the latest proposal to redevelop the Courthouse Plaza Shopping Center.

Representatives from Combined Properties, which owns the 10-acre site, detailed its latest proposal at a July 28 City Council work session.

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Countywide

McLean ZIP code led Mid-Atlantic in second-quarter luxury home sales

By Scott McCaffrey
White colonial-style house with dormer windows, black shutters, a red front door, brick chimney, and lush landscaping in front.
Luxury home (via Elijah Crouch/Unsplash)

One Fairfax County community recorded the most luxury-home sales this spring across the Mid-Atlantic region, according to new data.

More than 50% of transactions in McLean’s 22101 ZIP code — 76 of 144 — qualified as luxury sales during the second quarter of 2026, under criteria laid down by Bright MLS, the region’s multiple-listing service.

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Countywide

N. Va. Chamber’s PAC undecided about endorsing 2027 Fairfax supervisor candidates

By Scott McCaffrey
Members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors (staff photo by Jared Serre)

The political action committee associated with the Northern Virginia Chamber of Commerce is likely not to consider until next year whether to endorse candidates in Fairfax County’s 2027 Board of Supervisors’ elections.

“Trustees would likely not make that decision until the spring,” Clayton Medford, senior vice president of government relations for the Northern Virginia Chamber, said in response to an FFXnow inquiry.

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News

Single-family homes proposed for grounds of colonial-era Lorton church

By Scott McCaffrey
Front view of a two-story blue house with stone veneer, white trim, and a three-car garage; porch with hanging chair and landscaped yard.
Housing concept design for Pohick Episcopal Church site (via Urban Ltd/Fairfax County)

One of Northern Virginia’s most historic places of worship has submitted plans to Fairfax County officials for the construction of housing on part of its grounds.

The proposal by Pohick Episcopal Church and Christopher Land LLC seeks to rezone about 17.5 acres on western portions of the 43-acre church parcel at 9301 Richmond Highway in Lorton to construct a new subdivision called Cunningham Woods Reserve.

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News

Dulles partners mostly mum on details of how $22.5B expansion plan will be funded

By Scott McCaffrey
Airport terminal lobby with glass walls, planes on the tarmac at sunset, people walking with luggage and seating areas visible.
Conceptual rendering of interior of new Dulles International Airport facilities (courtesy of MWAA)

Specifics remain vague on how the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) plans to fund the $22.5 billion proposed Dulles International Airport expansion plan announced July 29 at the White House.

Neither MWAA officials nor those representing dominant Dulles carrier United Airlines offered further details when asked by FFXnow on how the expansion plan could impact the existing operating agreement between the authority and airlines using Dulles.

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News

Plan for more walkable, mixed-use Lorton core adopted after seven years of study

By Scott McCaffrey
Aerial map showing a district outlined in red, with a mix of residential and commercial buildings along a central highway near Pohick Bay.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a comprehensive plan update in July 2026 for Lorton (via Fairfax County)

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on July 14 adopted a roadmap to guide future development of Lorton’s core area over the next 20 to 50 years.

Adoption of the Lorton Core Study represented nearly a decade of work. The adopted plan seeks a mix of uses with a focus on walkability and parks.

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News

Townhouse option for Reston office site advances, as some seek more, some less, density

By Scott McCaffrey
Aerial view of an office campus with a building outlined in red along Dulles Airport Access Road, near Sunrise Valley Drive.
Location, in red, of 1850 Roland Clarke Place (via Stewart Investment Partners and Fairfax County)

The Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended approval earlier this month of a development option for 70 townhomes on a 3.5-acre site on the western fringe of the Wiehle-Reston East Transit Station Area.

Expected to be considered by the Board of Supervisors on Aug. 25, the comprehensive plan amendment requested by developer Stewart Investment Partners would allow the townhouses to replace a five-story office building at 1850 Roland Clarke Place that dates to the early 1980s

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