A decision on Comstock’s proposed changes to the Reston Row neighborhood has been delayed.
At a meeting on Tuesday (July 25), the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to defer a decision on the application.
Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said the deferral was the result of an “affidavit issue.” The board is now expected to vote on changes to the neighborhood on Sept. 12.
At a Fairfax County Planning Commission meeting in June, the project was criticized for shifting public park space into a private dining space for Ebbitt House, an upcoming restaurant that will mark a comeback for Clyde’s of Reston to the area.
Comstock also wants to reallocate 280,000 square feet of unbuilt but previously approved office space from Reston Station — the neighborhood near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station — to Reston Row.
Notably, the company wants to increase a residential building from a height of 180 to 350 feet and from 250 to 350 residential units.
Staff recommended approval of the application, even though the project doesn’t fully satisfy the county’s urban parks standards for the area. The total density between the two projects — Reston Row and Reston Station — remains unchanged.
Changes to Comstock’s Reston Row neighborhood are moving forward despite concerns about the proposed shift of a public park space into private outdoor dining space for Ebbitt House, an upcoming restaurant.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended on June 28 that the Board of Supervisors approve changes to the project near the Wiehle-Reston Easton Metro station.
Comstock is seeking the county’s permission to reallocate 280,000 square feet of unbuilt but previously approved office space from Reston Station to Reston Row. Specifically, the developer wants to increase the building height of a residential building from 180 feet to 350 feet and from 250 to 350 units.
Other changed elements include increased retail square footage, an elevated sport court, and a shift from two separate garages to a single underground parking garage.
Staff recommended approval of the application even though the project doesn’t fully satisfy the county’s urban parks standards for the area. The total density between the two projects — Reston Row and Reston Station — remains unchanged.
Mary Ann Tsai of the county’s Department of Planning and Development said the decison to approve the application was a “very hard” one.
Even though the application doesn’t meet the urban parks standards, the current plan is an improvement over the previous approval, especially when it comes to additional greenscapes for a corner park at the intersection of Sunset Hills Road and Wiehle Avenue, Tsai said.
“We look at the whole context of the recommendations,” she said, calling staff’s support a “soft” decision.
The outdoor dining area would extend outside Ebbitt House, a spin-off of D.C.’s Old Ebbitt Grill and the leading brand of Clyde’s Restaurant Group.
Jill Parks, an attorney with Hunton Andrews Kurth representing the applicant, said the outdoor dining space is a major placemaking feature of the development instead of a “strip of green.”
“It is more welcoming, it is an amenity and it is a feature to this neighborhood,” Parker said, adding that the applicant “scrubbed every single foot of this project” to improve the urban parks.
Providence District Commissioner Phil Niedzielski-Eichner said Comstock’s significant investment in the project warrants a closer look at the issue.
“The Ebbitt is a significant addition to the development,” Eichner said. “It has a region-wide standing. If the terms of being able to secure them meant there be an outdoors type of arrangement, I can see the logic of that.”
Hunter Mill District Supervisor John Carter concurred that he “actually like[s] the dining space here. This is something for the future.”
Clyde’s Restaurant Group COO Kevin Keller said the outdoor dining space will be a significant amenity for the company’s guests.
“It brings that energy outside and really connects the community,” Keller said.
Overall, the development plan won the approval of the commission. Carter noted that the plan was a hallmark of placemaking that Reston’s transit station areas need.
“Our stations are underperforming. It’s not because of the density. It’s because people can’t get there,” Carter said.
Randall Farran, the Fairfax County Planning Authority’s park planning branch manager, emphasized that failing to meet the urban park standards was seen as a “deficiency,” particularly because supplemental features — like areas fronting buildings — were used to try to meet the 1.2-acre urban park space standard for the development.
“We didn’t feel like it was an equivalent replacement,” Farran said.
Braddock District Commissioner Mary Ann Cortina wasn’t satisfied with the developer’s approach to urban park spaces — even though she understood the need for the private outdoor dining area.
“It does make it difficult to continue to provide what the comprehensive plan expects,” Cortina said, adding that future applicants may argue that the appeal of private amenity space precludes meeting urban spark standards.
The application will go to the Board of Supervisors for a public hearing on July 25.
A new neighborhood park is officially online at Reston Station just in time for the summer — although recent air quality advisories may deter some park-goers.
Developer EYA will host a grand opening ceremony tomorrow (Saturday) for the latest neighborhood playground and park at Reston Station.
The grand opening ceremony begins at 9:30 a.m. with remarks at 10 a.m. Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn and Robbin Martz, a resident of the townhomes, are expected to speak at the park, which is bounded by Reston Station Blvd, Faraday Park Drive and Midline Avenue.
Music and activities for children of all ages are also planned.
The Townhomes at Reston Station development turned an office park into a mixed-use neighborhood near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station. Other amenities in the area include plaza for seating, a bocce ball court, and a dog park.
McLean Quinn, president and CEO of EYA, told FFXnow that the project represents everything that the company seeks in redevelopment opportunities.
“By combining access to transit, a new grid of streets and plenty of green space like the newly opened park, we were able to design a neighborhood that brings homeowners closer to all the livable and walkable elements that fulfill our brand promise of life within walking distance,” Quinn said.
There are 113 units in the townhome community, along with a 229-unit apartment building with ground-floor retail that was sold to Elm Street Development. The townhomes — which are roughly 1,690-square-feet each — start from $850,000.
Reston Town Square Park (11900 Market Street) and Reston Station (1901 Reston Metro Plaza) will soon come to life with summer entertainment organized by the Reston Community Center.
RCC has organized six series this year, varying from jazz ensembles to family picnics. Some events will feature pop-up treats in other neighborhoods.
“Reston knows it’s summer when the sounds of great music can be heard in our beautiful plazas,” RCC Board Chair Beverly Cosham said. “RCC brings people together to dance, socialize, visit an outdoor restaurant, or share a picnic basket. It’s a Reston tradition we keep expanding and look forward to every year.”
The first concert — a jazz show from singer Darden Purcell — will usher in Memorial Day weekend at Reston Town Square Park tomorrow (Friday).
A complete breakdown of the events is available below:
Take a Break
Thursdays, June 1 – August 31
7-8:30 p.m.
Reston StationBeginning with Don’t Back Down, a Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers tribute band, the Take a Break concerts fill the plaza atop the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station. Other performers include Texas Chainsaw Horns, Loudoun Jazz Ensemble, Scott Kurt and Memphis 59. For the full schedule click here: Take a Break Concerts at Reston Community Center. Concerts are presented by RCC in cooperation with MSE Productions, Inc., and are hosted by Reston Station.
Darden Purcell and Friends
Fridays, May 26 – October 13
5:30-6:45 p.m.
Reston Town Square ParkJazz vocalist and series curator Darden Purcell brings her group to open the summer series of “Darden & Friends” in Reston Town Square Park. This concert will feature exciting new arrangements of Great American Songbook repertoire and jazz standards.
Fab Fridays
June 2 – September 1
7-8:30 p.m.
Reston StationKick off the weekend with Fab Fridays featuring the U.S. Army Blues Big Band, festive rhythms from Dogo from Togo, merengue with Latin pop band Ocho de Bastos and many more. See the full concert schedule here: RCC Fab Friday Concerts. Three hours of free parking are available in the ParkX garage with validation. Concerts are presented by RCC in cooperation with MSE Productions, Inc., and are hosted by Reston Station.
Family Fun Entertainment
Saturdays, June 17 – August 5
10-10:45 a.m.
Reston Town Square ParkBring the kids for magic, comedy, puppets, music and lots of laughs. Family Fun begins on June 17 with Guava Jelly. Other shows include Rocknoceros, Lohr Family Antics, The Uncle Devin Show and Turley the Magician. Family Fun Entertainment is presented by RCC and Reston Town Center Association in cooperation with MSE Productions, Inc. Reston Town Center garages offer free parking on Saturdays.
Sunday Art in the Park with the Shenandoah Conservatory
Sundays, June 11 – August 27
7-8 p.m.
Reston Town Square ParkWind down your weekend with classical, jazz and cabaret-style music provided by faculty and students from Shenandoah University’s acclaimed music conservatory. The series starts June 11 with Ellington Caravan paying tribute to Duke Ellington. This series will run through August 27. Visit Sunday Art in the Park for the complete schedule. Reston Town Center garage parking is free on Sundays. Sunday Art in the Park is presented by RCC and Reston Town Center Association in cooperation with Shenandoah University.
Family Picnic Days
Saturday August 5 – Temporary Road Pavilion
Saturday, August 12 – Pony Barn Picnic Pavilion
Saturday, August 19 – North Hills Picnic Pavilion
4-6 p.m.Bring a picnic, your family and friends to Family Picnic Day. Play family-friendly lawn games, enjoy local performers and have some fun! Family Picnic Days are presented by Reston Community Center and Reston Association.
Changes to Reston Station and Reston Row — mixed-use developments near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station — are barreling towards approval.
At a meeting yesterday (Tuesday), the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a motion to set a July 25 public hearing date for the joint proposals, which would shift approved but unbuilt residential density from one block of Reston Station to Reston Row.
Reston Row is an extension of Reston Station, a nearly 10-acre development at the Metro station. Reston Row includes two office buildings that will be anchored by Puttshack, an indoor mini-golf destination, and VIDA Fitness.
A third building includes 93 condos over a JW Marriott, while an apartment building labeled Building D will be anchored by the restaurant Ebbitt House.
Comstock wants to shift roughly 165 units or 264,000 square feet of space that was not used in Reston Station to the Ebbitt House apartment building. Nearly 10,000 square feet of space would be dedicated for a roof deck on top of another building for Founding Farmers and a future building in a different block on the property.
“Critically, the Applicant is not requesting one single square foot of additional density over and above what was approved and is entitled to be developed when Reston Station and Reston Row are aggregated,” the application said.
The developer argues that shifting the residential density would allow it to deliver workforce dwelling units sooner “than it otherwise would have” and in a better location for the county’s residents, according to the application.
The Puttshack building is set to delivered December of next year, while Building D is expected to deliver in November 2026, according to a board matter introduced yesterday by Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn.
In the matter, Alcorn states that the changes shift density to a “more logical, Metro-proximate, and resident-friendly location at Reston Row.”
From a logistical standpoint, the two separate applications for the project can be voted on concurrently. The July hearing before the Board of Supervisors will be preceded by a June 28 public hearing by the Fairfax County Planning Commission.
A data analytics and intelligence firm is the latest tenant to sign a lease at Comstock’s massive Reston Station project.
Babel Street will lease 10,200-square-feet of space at 1900 Reston Metro Plaza. The company offers advanced data analytics and intelligence for government and commercial clients with an aritificial intelligence-enabled platform. It’s currently located at 1818 Library Street.
Comstock is “thrilled to welcome Babel Street to our roster of tech and IT security office tenants at Reston Station,” the developer’s Chief Operating Officer Timothy Steffan said in a statement.
Having recently signed several new retail and experiential brands including VIDA Fitness, Puttshack, and Ebbitt House, the first ever expansion of the iconic Old Ebbitt Grill in Washington, D.C., we continue activating the Reston Station neighborhood to be a dynamic mixed-used and transit-oriented neighborhood that provides exciting dining, fitness, and entertainment options for our growing list of corporate office tenants and residents alike.
Babel has other offices in Tokyo, Tel Aviv, London, Canberra and Ottawa.
Roughly 3,000 additional residences are planned at the mixed-use neighborhood, including 420 units currently under construction. Two hotels are also planned, along with a flagship VIDA Fitness and Spa facility, Puttshack, and Ebbitt House — the first expansion of the Old Ebbitt Grill brand.
The development’s tenants are Founding Farmers, Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse and Starbucks.
(Updated at 2:45 p.m.) A spin-off of the popular, D.C.-based Old Ebbitt Grill is coming soon to Reston.
The business, which is the leading brand from Clyde’s Restaurant Group, will open its second location at Reston Station in 2025, the company announced. It marks the comeback of Clyde’s in the area after the Reston location bid farewell to the community last year.
The restaurant is D.C.’s oldest saloon, first opening in 1956. Envisioned as a “stylish, modern spin” on the original, the Reston location will be called Ebbitt House and include the grill’s menu, including happy hours, a raw bar and seafood towers.
“Reston Station is shaping up to be the most prominent location along the Dulles corridor,” said Jeff Owens, chief financial officer and head of Corporate Development for Clyde’s Restaurant Group. “CRG is thrilled to partner with Comstock to introduce a restaurant brand that is both new and iconic. We are delighted to be returning to the Reston community, where Clyde’s has been a presence for over thirty years.”
Located at 1860 Reston Row Plaza, Ebbitt House will have 300 indoor seats and two bars, along with 125 outdoor seats and another bar on the patio.
The move represents a return to the area for the company after Clyde’s of Reston closed in Reston Town Center last year, ending 31 years of business. Other brands in Clyde’s Restaurant Groups include the Tombs, Hamilton Live and Mark Center.
“I have had a strong relationship with the Clyde’s Group dating back to the 1990s and have always felt there would be great synergies between both Comstock and Clyde’s as creators of iconic Northern Virginia real estate locations,” Comstock COO Tim Steffan said. “The addition of Ebbitt House to our already remarkable merchandising lineup further strengthens Reston Station as a ‘first thought’ dining and entertainment destination in Northern Virginia.”
VIDA Fitness is slated to open its flagship facility in Reston in the second quarter of next year, a company spokesperson tells FFXnow.
The facility will open at Reston Row, Reston Station’s newest district near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station. The facility encompasses 50,000 square feet across three levels of an office tower at 1845 Reston Row Plaza.
The company’s Reston location will include an oxygen treatment and recovery strength, a day spa that offers facials, massages, body scrubs, cupping, and CBD oil treatments, a fuel bar and a salon. Other features include locker rooms and sauna rooms.
Reston Row is currently under construction and includes a JW Marriott hotel.
The company has six other locations in the D.C. area.
Comstock is seeking to tweak a critical piece of the Reston Station neighborhood.
With one block at Reston Station complete, the developer is moving towards Reston Row. The team is reexamining its 17.6-acre assemblage to complete the neighborhood in a “more organized, intuitive, and rail-focused manner.”
That’s why the developer plans to reallocated unused density on the block two parcel for a “more logical, transit-proximate location at Reston Row” and the “accelerated production of more workforce dwelling units closer to rail.”
Block two is located on Metro Center Drive and contains a 75,000-square-foot, six-story office building that will remain during the construction project. The parking structure on the site will be redeveloped as an office or residential building.
Comstock hopes to shift unused density from a 180,00-square-foot planned hotel and a 350,000-square-foot residential building to the site.
Set to go before the Reston Planning & Zoning Committee tonight (Monday), the application would shift roughly 360,000 square feet of available but unused density from the planned hotel and residential building to the project, which is approved for nearly 1.4 acres of mixed-use development.
Comstock will not build a planned nearly 167,000-square-foot hotel at Reston Station, because it would “interfere” with Founding Farmers’ outdoor seating and the overall experience of the plaza.
The developer also says it no longer makes sense to build a 280-foot-tall residential building on block two next to a 140-foot-tall office building.
Instead, Comstock hopes to bring 165 units or 280,000 square feet for a 425-unit residential building directly opposite the BLVD at Reston Station on block two.
Remaining density would be allowed for a roof deck on top of the building for Founding Farmers and other improvements, along with an unspecified “future building” on block two. Ground-floor retail is still planned on the base of the building along Reston Station Blvd.
“With all 35 of the formerly disparate parcels within the Reston Station and Reston Row properties now consolidated and included in the Reston Station Neighborhood, Comstock has much more flexibility to reorganize all of the pieces to maximize its rail proximity and plan the highest and best use of the whole,” the Jan. 13 amended application says.
The application does not add additional density and only requires reallocation.
A new kind of tech-inspired mini-golf experience is coming soon to Comstock’s Reston Station.
Puttshack, which describes itself as an upscale and tech-infused experience with global food and drink signed a lease at 1850 Reston Row Plaza. The 29,000-square-foot lease is part of phase two of Reston Station’s development.
“With Reston Station’s line-up of emerging and established tech companies on site, the transit-oriented neighborhood was an immediate draw for our tech-driven mini golf concept,” Puttshack President Dave Diamond wrote in a statement. “Puttshack will become a must-visit destination for a one-of-a-kind experience encompassing mini golf, exceptional dining, and lively entertainment.”
Here’s more from Comstock on the lease:
Puttshack Reston will be a major entertainment destination for D.C. metro area residents and visitors alike. The more than 29,000 square-foot space will feature four highly competitive, tech-driven nine-hole mini golf courses powered by the brand’s leading patented Trackaball™ technology, which elevates the game experience by keeping track of your score for you as you play. Additionally, a new game component currently in the final stages of development will be featured in the space.
The game play is matched by an innovative, globally inspired dining menu and signature hand-crafted cocktails, as well as world-class hospitality with a high-energy, upscale vibe. The new play-filled, immersive indoor space will feature multiple bars in addition to private event spaces for exclusive parties and business outings.
The company has two locations in the country. Additional locations in Boston and Miami are opening later this month. Sites in Dallas, Denver, Houston, Nashville, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Scottsdale, St. Louis, and a second location in Atlanta are all anticipated to open next year.
Puttshack will open at Reston Station in 2025.
