A plan to redevelop two vacant office buildings on Worldgate Drive in Herndon is barreling towards official approval.
At a meeting on Monday (Feb. 26), the Herndon Planning Commission unanimously approved the redevelopment plan for 13100 and 13150 Worldgate Drive.
The developer, AM Worldgate Owner, intends to turn the existing office buildings into multi-family, stacked and townhouse residences. According to plans submitted to the town, the redevelopment would include 460 dwelling units.
A Fairfax County Fire Marshall review of a new entrance off of Worldgate Drive is pending but expected to wrap up before the Herndon Town Council reviews the application, town staff said in a memo.
The nearly 10.5-acre property is located on the north side of Worldgate Drive, east of Elden Street, west of Wilshire Lane and south of Chandon Park.
Staff and the planning commission worked with the developer to iron out concerns with the design of the new secondary access point called Road A. Ultimately, a new curb cut on Worldgate Drive, west of Wiltshire Lane, was proposed. Exiting traffic will be limited to right turns onto Worldgate Drive.
“These conversions are a bit quirky,” said land use attorney Ken Wire, the applicant’s representative. He noted that the developer expects to receive the final approval on the zoning map amendment application from the fire marshall soon.
The proposal was approved with little discussion.
“We’ve gone over this quite thoroughly in my opinion,” Planning Commission Vice Chair George Burke said.
A decision on the proposed redevelopment of two linked office buildings on Worldgate Drive in Herndon is going to wait until January.
At a meeting on Monday (Dec. 18), the Herndon Planning Commission voted unanimously to defer the decision on whether to recommend approval of plans to redevelop 13100 and 13150 Worldgate Drive into a residential community with a 360-unit apartment building, 49 standard townhouses and 52 units of stacked townhouses.
“We take the responsibility of being the gateway to the Town of Herndon seriously,” said Shawn Sullivan, who represented the developer, Boston Properties, at the public hearing.
Staff said they needed more time to work with the applicant on specific issues, like the design of Worldgate Drive’s westbound entrance, a trail connection into Chandon Park, improvements to the pedestrian circulation throughout the development and the design of a bus stop along Worldgate.
The developer plans to repurpose an existing parking garage for parking. In response to concerns about a request to reduce parking to 1.42 spaces per multi-family unit, staff said that amount of parking appeared sufficient based on a parking study of neighboring and comparable developments completed by Boston Properties.
Sullivan said the parking garage has a buffer of between 70 to 80 parking spaces that would be more than enough for guest parking.
“It doesn’t serve us to under-park our clientele,” Sullivan said.
Bryce Perry, a deputy director of community development for the town, told the commission that the town’s existing parking rate for its more transit-oriented areas is lower than what the developer is providing.
He noted that maintaining the town’s current parking requirements in more transit-oriented areas is difficult to implement.
“In a site like this with the smaller lots…especially with the multi-family [housing] the way it’s designed, that approach is a challenge to maintain,” Perry said.
After the planning commission completes an advisory review, the application will go to the Herndon Town Council for its consideration. The proposed development requires rezoning the approximately 10-acre site.
Hundreds of residential units are on the horizon for two linked, vacant office buildings on Worldgate Drive in Herndon.
According to preliminary plans before the town’s Architectural Review Board, the applicant wants to build a combination of townhouses and apartment units on a 10.4-acre property at the intersection of Worldgate Drive and Elden Street.
If approved, the project would include a 360-unit apartment building, 52 units of four-floor, stacked flats and 49 townhouses.
A 487-space parking garage is planned, along with 39 surface parking spots. Stacked private garages will have 104 dedicated spaces while townhouses will have 98 spaces, according to a preliminary site plan from developer Boston Properties.
The proposal to redevelop the buildings at 13100 and 13150 Worldgate Drive first came before the architectural review board over the summer.
“After studying several options, the team opted for a concept which bisects the site to proportion the multi-family and single-family components, partially demolishes the garage, and improves the area connectivity by adding a new street grid,” a presentation on the potential application says.
The apartment building will use half of the garage structure and wrap around it to create internal courtyards and a “urban edge” towards Elden Street and Worldgate Drive. The townhouses are proposed as a series of blocks with townhouses and stacked flats.
The development would add a road from the south to “announce the multi-family amenity from Worldgate Drive” and create a public plaza. A new internal road will connect the townhouses to the apartment building’s entrance, according to the presentation.
The pre-application heads to the ARB today (Wednesday) for remarks. It will then go before the town’s planning commission.
A new tea spot is opening soon in Herndon’s Worldgate Centre.
Sharetea, a franchise that specializes in tea drinks, is expected to open soon at 13043 Worldgate Drive, according to signage posted at the door.
The business kicked off in Taiwan in 1992. It currently has more than 300 locations across 13 countries.
Virginia has three locations in Fairfax, Falls Church and Chesapeake. The business didn’t immediately return a request for comment from FFXnow.
Items on the menu include a variety of milk teas, fruit tea, blended ice beverages, and tea mojitos.
It replaces 1,053-square-feet of space previously leased by Pivot Physical Therapy.
The shopping plaza — which is anchored by Worldgate Athletic Club & Spa and AMC Theaters — has one 921-square-foot vacancy, according to the property owner’s website.
A new sign plan aimed at creating uniformity in Herndon’s Worldgate Centre has been put on hold.
At a work session public hearing before the town’s Architectural Review Board last night (Wednesday), town staff indicated that the property owner intends to withdraw the plan because of the town’s efforts to adopt Uniform Sign Standards.
“The applicant’s agent has indicated their intention to withdraw this application given the adoption of the Uniform Sign Standards, however, a formal withdrawal has not been received at this time,” Tamsin Homes, a lead planner with the town, said in a May 3 memo.
The owners of Worldgate Centre submitted an application in March to create additional design criteria with a new master sign plan.
“The applicant proposes to amend the current master sign plan to accurately reflect the location and size of existing tenant spaces within the shopping center and provide updates sign area allocations for each respective tenant in accordance with each tenant space,” the application said.
In a Feb. 22 memo, the applicant stated that the plan allows the center to get revamped and refreshed signage that will “ultimately improve and enhance the quality of this prominent shopping area in the Town of Herndon.”
A formal withdrawal request has not yet been made.
Image via Google Maps
Boston Properties Inc. has acquired a 50% interest in the former offices of Fannie Mae in Herndon.
The developer, whose properties include Reston Town Center, paid roughly $17.3 million for the acquisition of 12310 and 13150 Worldgate Drive, according to its first quarter earnings report.
Both buildings have been vacant for years, poising Boston Properties for a joint venture that includes redeveloping the property for residential use, according to an April 26 earnings call. Washington Business Journal first reported the news.
The tentative plan calls for demolishing both buildings and using a portion of the garage for a 349-unit rental and for-sale housing development, according to Boston Properties CEO Owen Thomas.
Boston Properties would act as the developer of the project alongside Artemis Real Estate Partners. MRP Realty and Artemis paid around $45 million for both properties in 2018.
Development likely won’t kick off until next year.
“Additional new acquisition opportunities will undoubtedly grow in this environment,” Thomas said. “We will remain highly opportunistic and solely focused on premier workplaces, life science and residential development.”
Fannie Mae’s former campus on American Dream Way in Reston is also being eyed for redevelopment. Developer Wheelock Capital recently resubmitted plans to Fairfax County after an earlier approval was voided due to a late payment.