Roughly 20 months after Vienna’s Wolf Trap Hotel and Tequila Grande were demolished, construction has yet to begin on the mixed-use development slated to replace them.
However, a chain-link fence surrounding the 2.8-acre site at the corner of Maple Avenue and Nutley Street has been removed, and some neatly trimmed bushes have been planted around the perimeter, suggesting the community shouldn’t expect to see construction crews any time soon.
Asked about the changes, Vienna Planning and Zoning Director David Levy told the town council on Monday (Oct. 23) that he, Town Attorney Steven Briglia and other staff members recently sent a “strongly worded letter” to developer Hekemian & Co., urging them to clean up the empty site.
“We’re all working together on trying to crack the nut on having that site be in better condition during the period when the developer’s waiting for the market conditions to improve to build,” Levy said. “Nobody’s been happy with the way it’s looked over time.”
According to Levy, the developer added some landscaping to the gravel site after the town’s public works and planning staff accompanied the site manager on a visit, but the removal of the fencing — which had started to lean over the existing plants and the sidewalk — came as a surprise.
Town staff is scheduled to meet next Monday (Oct. 30) with the site manager and Hekemian Senior Vice President of Acquisition and Development Chris Bell to discuss how to handle the property going forward, including the need to secure it to prevent safety and dumping issues.
“You can tell there are kind of holes in the middle of it. We don’t want anybody to get hurt on the site,” Levy told the council. “We want them to clean that up, leave it in a condition where it’s flat, landscaped and well-maintained…So, we’ve been on it constantly, but now it’s time to get it into a more long-term condition.”
The timeline for when construction on the project known as 444 Maple will actually commence remains up in the air.
When Tequila Grande was razed in February 2022, Bell told Tysons Reporter, FFXnow’s sister site, that construction could begin in late spring or early summer of that year. Bell and Hemekian didn’t return requests for comment by publication time.
According to Levy, the developer put the project on hold to wait out rising costs due to inflation, increased interest rates and other market conditions.
“A bunch of that has apparently improved, but they’re not ready to get started yet. [Bell] said if things look good at the beginning of next year, early 2024, they hope to get started,” Levy said, adding the caveat that Bell “told me the same thing a year ago.”
Approved in 2018, 444 Maple will be a four-story residential and retail center with 151 rental units and 20,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space. The pizza franchise Mellow Mushroom announced a year ago that it had an agreement to open a restaurant there.
During the rezoning process, the project divided the town council and Vienna residents between those concerned about its size and traffic impacts, and those who felt it would help revitalize the town’s main commercial corridor. The Maple Avenue Commercial (MAC) zoning that opened the door for the development ultimately got repealed, setting the stage for a zoning code rewrite that the town council officially adopted on Monday.
Clark Construction has officially topped out on the construction of Skymark Reston Town Center, which the company describes as the tallest mixed-use residential tower in the D.C. region.
Located at the corner of Town Center Parkway and Inspiration Street, the 40-story building will have 464 units when completed. It’s built on a podium with ground-floor retail, 44 loft-style residential units and 80,000 square feet of office space spread over four stories.
“Clark thrives on delivering the largest and most complex projects that push the boundaries of engineering and construction,” Terry Simon, Clark Construction Group division president, said. “We look forward to the completion of another successful collaboration with long-time partner BXP to deliver this superstructure.”
The company has completed construction of 1950 and 2000 Opportunity Way — the first two office buildings in the expansion of Reston Town Center.
“BXP is thrilled with the progress of this iconic landmark project in Reston,” said David Miller, senior vice president of construction at BXP.” This achievement is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the talented men and women who have worked tirelessly to get us to where we are today.”
SCB is the project architect. Construction on the apartment building is expected to wrap up in 2025, according to Clark Construction’s website.
Construction is about to ramp up on Dominion Energy’s undergrounding of a power line near the Spring Hill Metro station in Tysons.
The project will require an extended closure of the entire Vesper Trail from Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) to Vesper Street at Higdon Drive, starting Nov. 1, the utility company recently told residents in the area.
Expected to last until February 2024, the closure is needed so crews can work within the trail path, Dominion Energy said, noting that signs alerting users to the closure will be placed at the trail.
“We appreciate your patience and understanding as we work in your neighborhood,” Dominion said in a postcard sent to residents. “We are committed to completing this work safely and expeditiously to minimize disruptions to the Vesper Trail and your community.”
Preliminary construction activities on the Spring Hill project began this spring, necessitating a roughly five-day trail closure in late April as crews installed a manhole.
To increase the capacity of its power grid as Tysons continues to grow, Dominion is moving part of an existing, overhead electric transmission line underground. The 230-kilovolt line will run a half-mile from a Tyco Road substation to a transition pole near a new substation around the Vesper Trail’s midpoint.
Construction on the new, 75-foot-tall substation will begin after crews finish undergrounding the power line. The overall project is currently on track to be complete and in service by the end of 2025, according to Dominion spokesperson Peggy Fox.
Dominion says the project will “generally” serve its customers south of Leesburg Pike and outside of the Capital Beltway (I-495).
Graphic via Dominion Energy
A ditch will no longer force pedestrians and bicyclists to ditch the shared path along Route 29 in Merrifield.
Construction has been substantially completed on a new, unbroken shared-use path spanning about one-third of a mile between Vaden Drive and Nutley Street, the Virginia Department of Transportation announced on Friday (Oct. 6).
The path replaces an asphalt sidewalk that abruptly ended at an Accotink Creek tributary that runs under the roadway. In addition to filling in some missing segments, the project added a central yellow line to the new trail and extended a box culvert over the tributary to support it.
In the works since spring 2019, construction on the improvements began in November 2022. The project cost an estimated $3.8 million, funded by local dollars and a concession fee that the I-66 Express Lanes operator agreed to provide as part of the Outside the Beltway toll lanes extension.
“Construction on the project…is now substantially complete, with minor work occurring in the coming weeks until final completion with minimal impacts,” VDOT said.
#Merrifield area bicyclists & pedestrians – enjoy your new shared-use path along NB Rt 29 from Vaden Dr to Nutley St! This project constructed missing path segments and extended a culvert to carry the new path over an Accotink Creek tributary. 🚴🚶
More: https://t.co/YXq3jlHWhL pic.twitter.com/PeK2t2vq6c
— VDOT Northern VA (@VaDOTNOVA) October 6, 2023
While the new path isn’t especially long, it provides a crucial connection for pedestrians and cyclists to the nearby Vienna Metro station and other area sidewalks and trails, including ones in Towers Park, VDOT says.
However, that accessibility still ends at Nutley Street, since the south side of Route 29 has no sidewalk east of the intersection.
As part of a plan to redevelop the Pan Am Shopping Center, Fairfax County staff recommend implementing “continuous bicycle and pedestrian facilities along Route 29” in the future. The existing Bicycle Master Plan doesn’t show any trail on the south side and indicates that “further analysis and outreach is needed to determine the best fit for bicycle facilities along this roadway,” according to the amendment approved by the Board of Supervisors on Sept. 12.
Developer Federal Realty, which owns the shopping center, has proposed adding a 10-foot-wide shared-use path along Nutley Street with the redevelopment. To the north, VDOT is working to complete its I-66 shared-use trail, which opened a first segment in May that included a tunnel under Nutley.
As of Aug. 9, most remaining sections were slated to open this October, according to VDOT’s project website. That excludes a segment through the Route 50 interchange that’s not projected to open until spring 2024.
(Updated at 12:10 p.m. on 10/9/2023) A central piece of the Scotts Run development near the McLean Metro station is now in place.
Distinguished by a tall, glass-box front, the 28-story Heming has wrapped up construction after more than three years, bringing 410 new apartments and 38,000 square feet of retail space to 1800 Chain Bridge Road in Tysons, developer Skanska announced yesterday (Wednesday).
With site work underway since August 2020, the project required 1.1 million hours of labor, 2,700 tons of steel rebar and 37,000 cubic yards of concrete, according to the construction firm.
“We are excited to deliver this stunning project thanks to the unwavering commitment and meticulous work of our construction team,” Dale Kopnitsky, general manager and executive vice president of Skanska’s D.C. building operations, said in a press release. “As the communities of Tysons and McLean continue to grow, Skanska is honored to be part of the team transforming Scotts Run into a modern urban core.”
Resident move-ins began on Sept. 5, a Skanska public releations representative says.
The apartments that are still available range in size from a 545-square-foot, one-bedroom studio to 2,195-square-foot, three-bedroom units that cost $ 7,118 per month, according to property manager Bozzuto’s website for the building. The cheapest unit is a $1,331-per-month studio, one of 53 designated workforce dwelling units (WDUs).
(Correction: This article initially said the cheapest available unit was a $1,885-per-month one-bedroom apartment, and that there were 82 WDUs. Corrected numbers were provided by Skanska.)
The WDUs are reserved for households earning up to 60% to 80% of the area median income, or a maximum of $85,200 for one person, according to Fairfax County Housing and Community Development.
The residential tower is supplemented by underground parking and 23,000 square feet of amenities, including a penthouse dining room on the top floor, co-working spaces, club and game rooms, a pet spa, an outdoor pool with cabanas, a community garden and a fitness center.
Though Skanska didn’t provide information on how many units have been leased, the developer says Heming saw “a surge of interest” from both residents and businesses over the summer.
“The completion of Heming marks a substantial milestone for the Scotts Run Development and transitions this area of McLean and Tysons into a community that is navigable for pedestrians and cyclists,” said Mark Carroll, Skanska USA Commercial Development’s executive vice president of D.C. operations.
As part of the project, a new private street called Platform Avenue was built to connect Colshire Drive and Dartford Drive. Skanska has said the road could be blocked off for events, such as farmers markets.
Heming’s retail is centered around The Levels, a 21,000-square-foot, tiered outdoor public plaza that will host neighborhood gatherings and events.
Incoming tenants include Modan, a Japanese restaurant slated to open next spring, and Body Fit Training, which is scheduled to open in Suite 202 on Nov. 14, according to Pavan Katariya, the fitness company’s D.C. area developer.
The 3,374-square-foot studio will serve as Body Fit Training’s flagship franchise in Northern Virginia, where it plans to have about eight locations. Discounted memberships are now available for those who sign up for the founding member club.
Katariya says the company was drawn to Tysons for the area’s growing sense of community, something it tries to foster in its regular training sessions and through volunteer activities like races. Leading up to its opening, the new studio is offering free outdoor workouts at 9:30 a.m. on Saturdays.
“With the population increasing, with a lot of the pedestrian-friendly activities, with a lot of the things like The Perch at Capital One, it’s getting its own identity and its own neighborhood,” Katariya told FFXnow. “So, we felt like it would be a really good fit for Body Fit Training there.”
Scotts Run is planned for over 6.6 million square feet across 17 buildings at full build-out. Other completed portions of the mixed-use development include the Haden apartments, the Mitre4 office building, the temporary pop-up Shipgarten and Archer Hotel.
Sushi Umi was expected to open by the hotel at 7615 Colshire Road this summer, but a pop-up message on the Herndon-based restaurant’s website just says its new Tysons location is “opening soon.”
The Lake Thoreau and Shadowood pool renovations in Reston should both be finished in time for the facilities to open for next year’s swim season, Reston Association staff say.
After running into delays this summer, construction on Lake Thoreau pool at 2040 Upper Lake Drive is about 90% complete, RA Director of Capital Projects Chris Schumaker reported in an update on Friday (Sept. 22). That puts the project on track be done by Thanksgiving, he said.
The roughly $3.5 million renovation includes a pool with six lap lanes, a ramp and “zero-depth” feature to provide ADA access, a redesigned and elevated deck, a larger 25-space parking lot, an overlook with a pollinator garden, and expanded bathhouses, which have been moved away from the spa.
“We’ve now moved [the spa] over to the other side of the facility to provide ADA accessibility,” Schumaker said. “It’s been kept the same size but has improved jets and heating that we didn’t have before.”
This is the first major overhaul of the pool since it was originally built in the 1980s. The facility has been closed for the project since 2020, but work didn’t begin until last fall after encountering delays related to permitting and the availability of contractors and construction supplies.
Schumaker also reported that the first phase of RA’s Shadowood pool renovation at 2201 Springwood Drive has been completed, a process that included squaring the main pool and replacing the bathhouse roof.
Design engineering on phase two is now underway, and RA is preparing to submit plans for the Design Review Board‘s approval and Fairfax County permits, according to Schumaker.
“Some of the features proposed in phase two at Shadowood include the conversion of the wading pool into a splash pad, installation of gas heating for the main pool for users’ enjoyment, and ADA enhancements to the bath house and entrance,” Schumaker said.
The Shadowood pool has been closed for four consecutive swim seasons after RA determined that significant improvements were needed to address sewage and other issues at the aging facility, which was built in 1976.
“We anticipate this work being underway here in the fall and winter and be completed before reopening in 2024,” Schumaker said of the project’s second phase.
The value of an office building just outside the Mosaic District will determine whether Fairfax County has to go to court to boost a Merrifield sewer’s capacity.
The owner of 8315 Lee Highway is the lone remaining holdout in land rights negotiations with the county, which has reached agreements for six of the seven properties that will be affected by the project, land acquisition staff reported to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors last week.
While hopeful that a resolution can be achieved without a court visit, the board voted 8-2 last Tuesday (Sept. 12) to authorize staff to complete the land acquisitions — including by exercising the county’s eminent domain powers if necessary.
“A lot of times, this is the impetus to get to the finish line,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said before the vote. “…This has been a long process, and to make sure we’re continuing to make progress on this, hopefully, we reach an agreement before it has to go to court.”
The sewer capacity upgrade will replace a 12-inch-wide line with a 20-inch PVC pipe wrapped in 30-inch steel casing. The new pipe will extend 563 linear feet between the corner of Route 29 and Eskridge Road and the U.S. Postal Service’s Merrifield facility.
The project will also add three new manholes. The existing sewer line will be abandoned in place.
The Department of Public Works and Environmental Services determined that existing pipes were “at risk” of overflows that could affect nearby buildings and the environment “due to the current average daily flows and the current pipe size,” according to a staff report in the board meeting package.
“The goal of the project is to alleviate this public health risk concern and provide additional capacity to account for the growing population size upstream of the pipes in the Merrifield area,” staff wrote.
DPWES says it hopes to begin construction on the project in January to avoid disrupting post office operations during the busy winter holiday shopping season.
However, the county and CJC Associates LP, which owns the building at 8315 Lee Highway, are still “very far apart” in their assessments of the site’s redevelopment potential and the project’s impact on its value, Land Acquisition Division Director Dennis Cade admitted at last week’s public hearing.
Negotiations for sewer and temporary access and construction easements needed to allow construction and equipment staging on the property have been underway since spring 2022, according to Jocelyn Campbell, a right-of-way agent for the county.
Confirming that his company recently presented a counteroffer to the county, CJC Associates partner Jim Coakley said “outside parties” have estimated that the building could lose about $325,000 in income from leasing during the construction period. Read More
Fairfax City’s first for-sale affordable dwelling units have officially become homes.
Residents have started moving into the designated units in the new Sutton Heights townhouse community at 3500 Pickett Road, developer EYA and the City of Fairfax announced today (Tuesday).
The 50-unit project was the first one approved under the city’s Affordable Dwelling Units (ADU) program, which was established on June 23, 2020 to promote the inclusion of affordable units in new residential developments.
“Everyone in the region is designing new ways in which to provide more housing, and more importantly, more affordable housing,” Fairfax City Manager Rob Stalzer said. “EYA, as the developer, brought significant expertise and creativity in delivering a project that supports the area’s growing housing needs.”
Sutton Heights was approved by the Fairfax City Council in the summer of 2020 after 16 months of discussion, The Connection reported at the time. During that time, EYA provided input as the city amended its zoning ordinance to add affordable housing requirements for any development with 30 or more units.
Though the project only includes five ADUs, it offered a rare opportunity for residents looking to buy a home instead of renting one. Fairfax City has three developments with dedicated affordable rental units: West Wood Oaks (10734 West Drive), Scout on the Circle (9450 Fairfax Blvd) and The Moxley (4040 Gateway Drive).
The Sutton Heights units were open to first-time homebuyers who earn 70% or less of the area median income (AMI), among other criteria. Fairfax City’s median household income is $118,492, per its 2023 fact book.
More than 200 people applied for the lottery that the city organized for the units, according to EYA. Finalists were selected in June, and the first resident moved in earlier this month, with all five ADUs expected to be occupied by the end of September.
“EYA is committed to creating mixed-income housing,” said EYA’s Chief Acquisition Officer, Aakash Thakkar. “We appreciated the opportunity to work collaboratively with the City of Fairfax to develop this ADU program, and we are proud to be the first developer in the City of Fairfax to implement it to create economic diversity and housing for a range of incomes.”
Located north of Fair City Mall and Main Street, Sutton Heights consists of three- and four-story townhomes with private garage parking, optional rooftop terraces, and a new promenade with seating and open park space.
According to EYA, more than 60% of residents have moved in. Construction is on track to be completed early this fall.
Under Fairfax City’s ADU program, single-family developments must designate 10% of their total units as affordable to those earning 70% of the AMI or less, while multifamily projects provide 6% of units as affordable to those earning 60% or less. Projects that meet those standards are granted bonus density.
(Updated at 9:35 a.m. on 8/22/2023) Maryland has renewed its commitment to replacing the American Legion Bridge and adding express lanes on the Capital Beltway, much to the relief of Northern Virginia transportation officials.
The Maryland Department of Transportation has applied for a federal grant to fund the initial phase of its project to widen the Beltway (I-495/I-270) and reconstruct the aging bridge, which provides the only road connection between Fairfax County and Montgomery County, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore announced today (Monday).
The announcement is the first indication of how Maryland will proceed since private express lanes operator Transurban backed out in March over concerns about delayed environmental approvals, lawsuits and the change in leadership after Moore succeeded Larry Hogan in January.
Since Hogan and then-Virginia governor Ralph Northam announced an agreement in 2019 to replace the heavily used American Legion Bridge, Maryland’s cooperation has been seen as critical to the success of Virginia’s I-495 Northern Extension (495 NEXT) project, which is now under construction and will extend the Beltway’s toll lanes from the Dulles Toll Road in Tysons to the bridge north of McLean.
“Governor Moore’s plan ensures these long-awaited improvements will become a reality. This is great news for area travelers and the economic competitiveness of our entire region,” Northern Virginia Transportation Alliance President Jason Stanford said in a statement. “The Alliance applauds Governor Moore for finding a multimodal solution to address one of the region’s worst bottlenecks and move more people through one of our most congested corridors.”
The Virginia Department of Transportation has estimated that 495 NEXT will move 2,500 more people per hour in both directions when the express lanes open in 2025. However, it would move 5,400 more people an hour with Maryland’s project in place.
Skeptics of 495 NEXT, including Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust, have argued that widening I-495 in Virginia without a concurrent widening in Maryland will only push the existing congestion further north, leaving McLean residents to deal with the traffic, environmental and neighborhood impacts without getting any of the supposed benefits.
Noting that many details of Moore’s plan have yet to be shared, such as what kind of “managed lanes” will be involved, Foust called the announcement “great news” as a sign that Maryland is committed to helping address congestion on the American Legion Bridge.
However, assuming it secures the necessary approvals and funding, the Maryland project will still likely take years to complete, Foust said in a statement.
The estimate I have seen is that the project could be complete in eight years (by 2031) if all goes well. Unfortunately, that means commuters who cross the American Legion Bridge, and residents of the communities around the bridge, will continue to suffer from the impacts of severe congestion for at least that long unless something is done in the interim. Given the miserable traffic conditions around the bridge, eight years is too long to wait for any relief. That is why I believe VDOT needs to deliver interim solutions that mitigate the congestion impacts over the bridge and in the surrounding neighborhoods.
The 495 NEXT project was designed to seamlessly connect to a version of an American Legion Bridge project that we now know will not be built. In addition to very nasty congestion, established neighborhoods along the path of the 495 NEXT project are being severely impacted by construction activity. Given the dramatic change of plans and potentially major reduction of scope for the Maryland project, I believe VDOT should determine whether and by how much it can reduce the scope of disturbance of its project to help mitigate those construction-related impacts on the adjacent communities.
Shifting away from the public-private partnership that Hogan sought and that has built Virginia’s growing express lanes network, Moore emphasized in his announcement that Maryland’s project will incorporate transit and other multimodal improvements, including pedestrian and bicycle access. Read More
Construction on two-level garage condominiums near the Innovation Center Metro Station is well underway.
The site at 13570 Dulles Technology Drive — named Overlook at Dulles Tech — will be home to the neighborhood. It includes several pocket parks, a meditation area, a tot lot and an open lawn exercise area.
“Construction began in March 2023 and is expected to be completed in early 2025,” Kiante Chapman, a spokesperson for Stanley Martin Homes, said.
The units start at roughly $603,000. A mix of units are offered, ranging from two bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms to three beds and 2.5 bathrooms. The size of the units range from 1,553 square feet to 2,507 square feet.
