Let speculation about the future of the Sheraton Tysons Hotel begin, as the conclusion of a tax dispute that ended up in court could allow the property to move forward.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors agreed to accept a settlement agreement following a closed-door meeting on Tuesday (Dec. 7) to resolve lawsuits filed by the owner of the 449-room hotel (8661 Leesburg Pike), which permanently closed in April 2020.

Constructed in the mid-1980s, the Sheraton was one of a handful of union-run hotels in the Commonwealth, which contributed to higher operating costs, including for employee benefits.

Sheraton property owner JBG Smith, a Maryland-based real estate development and investment firm, filed lawsuits against Fairfax County in 2019 and 2020, contesting years-old property tax assessments.

The company’s lawyers argued that the county’s mass appraisal process failed to take the site’s higher operating costs into account. The suits had been headed for trials in 2022.

The county declined to comment on whether it has changed any appraisal policies or procedures due to the error. Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay’s office deferred questions to a county attorney, who cited a tax law, arguing settlement details couldn’t be released due to confidentiality.

The county also said the matter “remains in litigation.” The county suggested yesterday (Thursday) that the property’s assessments in 2016 and 2017 would be modified.

A county property database has stated the owner’s annual real estate taxes were around $252,092 for 2021.

Court records indicate that JBG Smith, identified as JBG Tysons Hotel LLC, sought compensation between $100,000 and $500,000 for each case.

Crescent Hotels & Resorts, which managed the Sheraton, issued a layoff notice for 171 workers, effective April 3, 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic rocked the U.S. hospitality industry. Later that year, the hotel launched a liquidation sale of furniture and other items.

John Boardman, a representative for Unite Here Local 25, a union for D.C. area hospitality workers, said employees received closing pay as part of their now-expired collective bargaining agreement around six months ago.

“Our contract also provides that if all or part of the property is reopened as a hotel operation, then individuals who were formerly employed have a right to return to work in their previously held jobs,” Boardman said, adding that while the contract is no longer in force, the return-to-work provision runs in perpetuity.

The former Sheraton building occupies 5.8 acres of prime real estate off of Route 7 in Tysons West. JBG Smith has not publicly shared its future plans for the site, but rising property values could make it ripe for redevelopment.

Photo via Google Maps

Vehicle manufacturers at Tysons Corner Center can now let customers purchase a car on-site and drive away with it.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to grant the mall’s request that vehicle sales be a permitted use in its parking garages after a public hearing on Tuesday (Dec. 7).

Under the approved plan, Tysons Corner Center can allocate 30 parking spaces each to up to eight different vehicle manufacturers for vehicle storage and sales. The designated spaces will account for 240 out of the roughly 11,000 spaces available at the mall.

Tenants are prohibited from using the spaces to provide vehicle services, and the mall has committed to limiting loading activities to outside its operating hours, so they won’t disrupt customer traffic, Fairfax County Zoning Evaluation Division Director Tracy Strunk told the board.

“No outdoor display is going to be permitted. That’s one of the development conditions,” said Brian Clifford, a land-use planner with DLA Piper who represented Tysons Corner Center at the hearing. “At the moment, we only have two [tenants], but we asked for eight total just for the sake of flexibility, and there’s nothing that could limit another manufacturer from coming.”

The mall’s two current vehicle manufacturers are Tesla, which also has a store on Tyco Road, and Lucid Motors, which opened a showroom on Nov. 6.

According to Tysons Corner Center’s rezoning application, Tesla was allowed to have six designated parking spaces, including two electric chargers, to store vehicles when the county permitted its showroom in 2012, but customers couldn’t make purchases directly from the showrooms.

Instead, customers order a vehicle, make a deposit, and have the car delivered to them at a later date, according to Clifford.

He says allowing on-site vehicle sales will put Tysons Corner Center “at the forefront of the vehicle sales industry,” allowing the showrooms to offer a standard car dealership service but in an environment similar to other mall retail stores.

The Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended on Nov. 17 that the supervisors approve the mall’s application, a decision also supported by county staff.

Lucid Motors is also planning to open a store and service center at Tysons Galleria. That proposal got the planning commission’s approval on Oct. 20 and was later granted by the Board of Supervisors on Nov. 9.

Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said she believes the addition of auto sales at Tysons Corner Center will add to the mall’s vitality.

“I did get a chance to swing by on the opening day of the Lucid location recently — very enthusiastic public, very well-displayed,” Palchik said. “I look forward to seeing more of these electric vehicle sales coming to our county, especially Tysons.”

The owner of the Pan Am Shopping Center wants to overhaul the aging strip mall, potentially turning it into the latest effort to bring mixed-use development to the Vienna Metro station area.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors directed county staff yesterday (Tuesday) to evaluate a possible change to the comprehensive plan guidance for the shopping center at the southeast corner of Nutley Street and Route 29.

Property owner Federal Realty has expressed interest in working with the surrounding community on a redevelopment concept for Pan Am, according to Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik, who introduced the request for a review.

“This motion is intended to allow the planning process to be a platform for the property owner to work with staff and community stakeholders to consider how evolving the center to a more mixed-use environment could enhance the retail experience, ensure the long-term viability of the commercial center, and advance County objectives,” Palchik said in the board matter.

According to county land records, the Pan Am Shopping Center was built in 1979, and Federal Realty bought the 1 million square-foot parcel for over $21 million in 1993.

The center still boasts Safeway as an anchor, along with CVS, Microcenter, and Michael’s as major tenants, but it has seen a few notable departures over the past couple of years.

The former Baja Fresh space has been vacant since the restaurant closed in January 2019, and a standalone building that had been occupied by a Capital One bank and McDonald’s since the shopping center opened is now empty after the fast-food chain left earlier this year.

Most recently, the Chinese eatery Lo’s Restaurant closed permanently last week after switching to delivery-only service during the COVID-19 pandemic.

While specific details likely won’t take shape for a while, Federal Realty says its goal with the redevelopment is to turn the Pan Am Shopping Center into “an amenitized and vibrant neighborhood.”

“We are constantly looking at ways to evolve our properties to best meet the needs of the communities that they serve,” Ramsey Meiser, Federal Realty’s senior vice president of development said. “Pan Am’s convenient location and close proximity to the Vienna Metro Station provides an opportunity to create an environment that  brings residential living to an already successful retail mix. We look forward to working with Supervisor Palchik, County staff and the community to make this vision a reality.”

Palchik says she expects any redevelopment to consider the area’s transportation capacity and potential impacts on existing neighborhoods, along with opportunities to provide more bicycle and pedestrian amenities and open space.

“Additionally the provision of housing would need to serve a variety of income levels,” she told Tysons Reporter by email. “It is my further expectation that the planning process will need to have robust community engagement.”

According to Palchik’s office, the comprehensive plan review doesn’t have a specific timeline yet, but Federal Realty is expected to begin the community engagement process before submitting a formal rezoning application.

The news of a possible Pan Am Shopping Center redevelopment comes as the Fairfax County Planning Commission is scheduled to vote tonight (Wednesday) on a proposal for five residential buildings with 35,000 square feet of commercial uses in the MetroWest neighborhood to the north.

If the plan is approved, developer Pulte Homes says it will finally be able to introduce retail around the Vienna Metro station, where attempts at mixed-use development have long floundered.

(Updated at 1 p.m. on 11/11/2021) The Boro can officially venture west of Westpark Drive.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted yesterday (Tuesday) to approve a pair of rezoning applications that will expand the Tysons mixed-use community with 1.1 million square feet of housing, retail, and other amenities.

The new development will be concentrated on a 9.37-acre site previously occupied by the former National Automobile Dealers Association headquarters. Demolition work on the existing building began at the end of August.

While three of the four buildings proposed by developer The Meridian Group still need to get approved individually, the overall project will benefit the community by adding housing, including affordable and workforce units, as well as recreational facilities and pedestrian improvements, according to Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik.

“While there is quite a bit of work ahead as we look at the [final development plans] for the remaining buildings, I do find that it’s an important asset to walkability, to the amenities, to a possibly new type of housing stock in this area,” Palchik said.

Major elements of The Boro expansion include:

• Block J: Silverstone Senior Living’s 210-bed, 198-unit continuing-care facility, expected to finish construction in 2023
• Blocks I and K: residential buildings with 122 and 421 units, respectively, and approximately 34,000 square feet of retail, joined by a glass bridge over Boro Place
• Block L: a 145,000 square-foot health club or 42 townhouses with a central green space
• A new grid of streets, including an extension of Boro Place and construction of the new Clover and Broad streets
• A rapid-flashing pedestrian beacon on Westpark Drive at Boro Place
• Tysons Community Circuit: the first three blocks of a 10-foot-wide recreational trail that will eventually loop through Tysons
• 1.49 or 1.59 acres of publicly accessible parks and recreational facilities

Prior to the board’s vote, Walsh Colucci land-use planner Elizabeth Baker, who represents Meridian, reported that the developer has made progress toward resolving a conflict with the neighboring Greensboro Square Condominiums regarding the size of retaining walls along their property line.

Ongoing negotiations over that issue were one factor in the board’s decision to defer voting on the development after holding a public hearing on Oct. 19.

Baker told the board yesterday that Meridian has come to a verbal agreement with the condo association for an off-site grading easement that will enable the developer to reduce the height of the retaining wall.

Palchik questioned Baker about The Boro’s attention to accessibility, citing a recent opinion piece in The Washington Post by a resident who took issue with the lack of streetlights, passenger loading areas, and parking spaces reserved for people with disabilities.

Accessibility concerns also came up when the Fairfax County Planning Commission approved the planned senior living facility — now named The Trillium — on Oct. 13.

Baker says Meridian believes it is in compliance with accessibility guidelines and took “great pains” to consider those issues when working with Silverstone on its plans for the 16-story building, noting that the developer had an accessibility consultant.

“We will also do the same for [future development plans] to ensure that we are meeting the standards for both handicapped parking and accessibility,” Baker said. “We understand it’s an issue, and we take it seriously. We will be working on it diligently.”

Overall, the development will have approximately 40,000 square feet of retail and over 800 residential units, depending on whether Block L ends up being townhomes or a health club.

The proposed townhomes would be triplexes that meet Fairfax County’s affordable and workforce housing policies for Tysons, Baker says. If the developer opts for a health club, it has committed to giving the county $3 per square foot of non-residential space to fund housing elsewhere in Tysons.

A final plan for Blocks I and K remains under review by county planning staff. If approved, those buildings could be delivered in 2024.

Fairfax County leaders would love to get a repeat of the Mosaic District, but future success with similar public-private partnerships is far from guaranteed.

The mixed-use project intended to kickstart Merrifield’s revitalization has been Fairfax County’s first and only use of tax increment financing, known as TIF, a process that governments across the country have used to help develop areas.

“It’s often called the self-funding tool,” Keenan Rice, president of the Maryland-based public financing consulting firm MuniCap, told the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ economic initiatives committee on Tuesday (Oct. 26). “It creates the money that you’re investing to make the project happen.”

One of several tools available to the county for supporting development, a TIF can allow a developer to improve a property but freeze a tax rate for a certain period of time, keeping taxes the same as before the improvements are made.

The base tax rate is still paid, and the remaining money goes to pay off the financing, such as bonds that a government could issue.

It gives a developer money to launch a project, while the tax rate is fully restored later. A government authority can also require a project to have certain public elements.

“TIFs are risky…because they depend on new development,” Rice said. “Development’s always risky, and TIF projects are probably riskier because that’s why you’re using a TIF for those projects: There’s some unusual challenge to that project.”

To help reduce those risks, the county developed 16 financial principles in 2008 to guide decision-making, ranging from whether a project would have a “catalytic effect on…revitalization” to avoidance of a negative impact on the county’s bond rating.

Board Chairman Jeff McKay mentioned those principles could be updated and requested that county staff re-evaluate them on a 10-year, recurring basis.

Annual reports show the Mosaic District’s TIF generated over $5 million each year from 2017 to 2020, surpassing $5.5 million in some years.

The Board of Supervisors has heralded the Mosaic District as a model to replicate, but they also want to avoid pitfalls and being misled by previous results.

When a TIF fails to deliver

To see what happens when TIFs go wrong, look at Williamsburg in York County, Rice said.

The county approved the project in 2007 to help its Marquis development project, which was envisioned as a hub with a new library, office space, hotels, restaurants, retail, and entertainment, according to a county memo.

But shortly after the bonds were issued, the developer behind the project went bankrupt, Rice said.

The result was a 1980s-style “big box shopping center” featuring a Best Buy, Kohl’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods, and a JCPenney that closed in 2015 and has remained vacant, though the space has a new owner, York County noted.

Projections of a payoff within a decade and multimillion-dollar annual tax payments thereafter has turned to uncertainty over whether the privately held bonds will ever be paid off, York County administrator Neil Morgan said in a memo.

“I don’t think we can afford to fail,” Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross said.

Officials noted that Fairfax County has other options to help guide development. Rice said TIFs provide upfront capital or financing, but “not every project needs that.”

The Board of Supervisors adopted another tool in September 2020 called an Economic Incentive Program, which provides a potential 10-year tax abatement for properties in certain designated areas.

There are also special assessments and taxes. Mosaic District has both mechanisms in place but hasn’t had to use them, according to the county.

“To the District’s credit, the TIF revenues have exceeded the debt service needs every year, so we have not had to [go] down…option two, special assessment, or option three, special tax,” said Joe LaHait, debt coordinator with the county’s Department of Management and Budget. “We stand with the good fortune of the development in that district.”

Members of the public can now follow Tysons’ transformation from office hub to “America’s next great city” from their laptop.

Fairfax County has repackaged its annual report on the implementation of the Tysons Comprehensive Plan into an online, interactive development data platform called the Tysons Tracker.

Already live, the tracker contains information about land use, transportation, parks, and other topics that has traditionally been delivered in a 200-page, print document given to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors every year since the comprehensive plan was adopted in 2010.

In addition to making data on Tysons more accessible, the move is a cost-saving measure as the report historically cost $1,800 a year to print, says Suzie Battista, the urban centers section chief for Fairfax County Department of Planning and Development.

“With the 10-year mark of plan adoption, there was interest from county leadership to revisit how reporting is done to better utilize available technology and to increase public accessibility and usability of Tysons land use data,” Battista told the Board of Supervisors during a land use policy committee meeting yesterday (Tuesday).

Building off a similar project for Reston, this is the first phase of a multi-year rollout for the platform. County staff say they will continue to increase functionality and integrate additional data into the tracker over the next year.

The platform was developed by the county’s planning department in coordination with transportation, land development, housing, schools, and park authority staff, according to Battista.

Highlights of the tracker include a language translation function that accommodates over 100 languages, an ability to directly share information on social media, and PDFs of the data that can be made available by request.

Each section has unique features, from links to in-progress zoning applications and a “grid of streets” map to an interactive land use map that lets users see conceptual development plans overlaid with a current map of developments in Tysons.

The tracker also provides updates on notable projects, such as the ongoing construction of the I-495 pedestrian bridge, the completion of Scott’s Run Trail, and the county’s planned Capital BikeShare expansion.

The tracker will be updated annually, but Battista added that county staff will be working on adding functionality to make it more accessible over the next year.

The county planning department maintains that it will still present an annual status report to the Board of Supervisors.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors expressed enthusiasm for plans to expand The Boro to the north side of Westpark Drive in Tysons at a public hearing last Tuesday (Oct. 19).

However, the scope of the project and lingering concerns from neighbors led the board to defer its vote on two rezoning applications submitted by developer The Meridian Group to Nov. 9.

Calling this “the largest case” she has worked on since taking office, Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik praised the developer, county staff, and residents who will be affected by the project for working to reconcile their differences.

“I believe we have a much improved and very high-quality project to look at now, thanks to your dedication and work on this,” Palchik said. “…We have something that can work, and my only hope is that a few more weeks can give a little additional time for those final improvements.”

The Boro extension will bring 1.1 million square feet of development to the 9.37-acre site occupied by the former National Automobile Dealers Association headquarters building, which is now being demolished.

After securing the Fairfax County Planning Commission’s support for the senior living facility proposed for Block J on Oct. 13, the developer is asking the county to rezone the NADA site at 8400 Westpark Drive as well as the adjacent Westpark Corporate Center lot.

No new development is planned for the corporate center, which has two office buildings, but that rezoning is needed for construction of Broad Street and three blocks of the Tysons Community Circuit, a recreational trail that will eventually loop around Tysons.

Meridian will also modify an existing private alley, county planning staff coordinator Katie Quinn told the Board of Supervisors.

Walsh Colucci land-use lawyer Elizabeth Baker, who represents Meridian, acknowledged that neighbors, particularly residents in The Rotunda Condominiums, raised concerns about the development’s accessibility, traffic, and construction activities.

She says the developer reached an agreement with the Rotunda after making revisions along Greensboro Drive, putting construction management commitments in its proffers, and obtaining approval from the Virginia Department of Transportation for a rapid-flashing beacon on Westpark Drive. Read More

Victim of West Falls Church ATM Shooting Dies — “A 73-year-old man has died days after he was shot at an ATM in Falls Church, Virginia, during an attempted robbery, police said days after the attack. The victim was identified as Nelson Alexander, a loving, family-oriented man and involved member of his church who sang in the choir, his loved ones said.” [NBC4]

FCPS Hires Firm for Superintendent Search — The Fairfax County School Board has awarded human resources recruitment firm GR Recruiting a contract to conduct a nationwide search for Superintendent Scott Brabrand’s successor. Fairfax County Public Schools says parents, students, staff, and community members will be involved in the process, with the next superintendent taking over on July 1, 2022. [FCPS]

Another Full I-66 West Closure Coming Tonight — “All lanes of I-66 West approaching Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) will close Monday night, October 25, for continued bridge beam installation at the I-66/I-495 Interchange. Traffic will be detoured using Route 7 and I-495. Multiple lanes of I-495 North approaching I-66 will be closed, along with a full closure of the 495 Express Lanes North and associated ramps at the interchange so that this work may be implemented.” [VDOT]

Nonprofit Opens New Office in Vienna — “A nonprofit organization focused on providing day programs for adults with disabilities held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and talent show on Thursday as it celebrated the opening of its new administrative office in Vienna. The new office for the nonprofit SPARC is at The Church of the Good Shepherd, a United Methodist church located at 2351 Hunter Mill Road in Vienna.” [Patch]

County Board Looks at Waiving EV Permit Fees — “Fairfax County supervisors on Oct. 19 directed the county’s Department of Land Development Services to analyze the possibility of waiving permitting fees associated with installation of electric-vehicle infrastructure. The intention is to reduce barriers to switching to environmentally friendly alternatives, said Chairman Jeff McKay (D).” [Sun Gazette]

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a pair of agreements yesterday (Tuesday) that will send $1 million in I-66 toll revenues to Metro for the planned project to build a second entrance at its McLean station.

“I’m looking forward to this improvement,” Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik said just before the unanimous vote. She also thanked county transportation staff for their work.

The funds will be awarded by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission as part of its I-66 Commuter Choice program, which launched in 2017 to allocate a dedicated portion of I-66 Express Lanes revenue to transit and capital improvement projects in the corridor.

NVTC included the McLean Metrorail station entrance project in the most recent round of Commuter Choice funding, which spanned July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021 and was approved by the Commonwealth Transportation Board on Dec. 10.

The new entrance will be located on Scotts Crossing Road in anticipation of increased activity north of the station from the burgeoning Capital One Center mixed-use development, according to a project description in yesterday’s board package.

“With up to 2,000 prospective residents moving into the redeveloping area north of the current station, this project will create a shorter, more convenient walk to the Metro and increase its visibility,” the document says.

Ridership at the McLean Metro station had been on the rise prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which decimated ridership levels and revenue across the board last year to the point where the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority considered shuttering 19 stations, including McLean.

As of August, weekday train ridership was still only at 26% of pre-pandemic levels, though usage of both rail and bus services has been increasing since February. WMATA’s estimate of 230,000 train riders for Oct. 1 was the highest of the year so far.

WMATA will be responsible for constructing the new McLean station entrance, which carries a total budget of $1.3 million. The actual costs could change once the procurement and contractor selection process begins, according to WMATA spokesperson Sherri Ly.

Capital One contributed $300,000 to the project, which was part of a proffer agreement with Fairfax County for its headquarters campus redevelopment. That money includes $100,000 for preliminary engineering and $200,000 for construction costs, according to county documents.

In order for NVTC to transfer the $1 million in Commuter Choice funds, Fairfax County had to sign off on separate project agreements with NVTC and WMATA that set the conditions tied to the money, including requirements that Metro provide regular status updates to the county and notify county staff of any potential cost overruns.

Ly says the agency’s board of directors is scheduled to vote on whether to approve its project agreement with the county when it meets on Oct. 28.

“Under the proposed agreement, Metro would build the entrance which is funded by Fairfax County,” Ly said. “The design work for the entrance is already done and construction would begin once funding and permitting is complete and a contractor selected through the procurement process.”

Tysons Corner Center could potentially host another mass COVID-19 vaccination site if booster shots get approved for a broader population, local and state health officials say.

Fairfax County Health Director Dr. Gloria Addo-Ayensu told the Board of Supervisors during its health and human services committee meeting this morning (Tuesday) that the county and Virginia health departments are working together to establish a Community Vaccination Center (CVC) “at the Tysons location.”

The Fairfax County Health Department confirmed that “planning is ongoing” to revive the large-scale clinic that the Virginia Department of Health and Department of Emergency Management opened earlier this year in Tysons Corner Center’s former Lord & Taylor store.

“As with mass vaccination sites operated by the Fairfax County Health Department, the CVC would provide first, second, and third doses to anyone who is eligible based on [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] and VDH clinical guidelines,” county health department spokesperson Lucy Caldwell said in a statement.

Fairfax County currently offers third shots of the two-dose Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to people whose immune system is compromised by a medical condition or certain medications and treatments, making them more vulnerable to severe illness if they contract the virus.

The county doesn’t have numbers yet on how many people in the Fairfax Health District, which includes the cities of Fairfax and Falls Church, have gotten a booster shot.

“FCHD is waiting on additional data to become available from VDH to determine the number of Fairfax Health District residents who have received an additional dose,” Caldwell said.

A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee voted on Friday (Sept. 17) to recommend approval of booster shots for individuals who are 65 and older, people at risk of severe illness if they’re infected, and people whose jobs put them at high risk of exposure, including healthcare workers and teachers.

However, the committee voted decidedly against recommending a booster shot for everyone 16 and older as proposed by President Joe Biden’s administration, citing a need to see more safety data, particularly on heart inflammation issues that have been reported in some younger people after getting the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

The CDC’s independent advisory committee is scheduled to discuss whether to recommend authorizing booster shots when it meets tomorrow (Wednesday). Virginia and Fairfax County officials have said they’re working with pharmacies, hospitals, and other partners to plan for the possibility of expanding the availability of third vaccine doses.

Bringing back the Tysons CVC and other mass vaccination sites is one of many options currently under consideration, the Virginia Department of Health says.

“The FDA and CDC need to make their decisions before VDH can finalize its plans,” VDH spokesperson Cindy Clayton said by email. “We have been planning for several scenarios and will be able to share more information when we know more.”

Virginia opened the Tysons CVC on April 20 in conjunction with Fairfax County opening up COVID-19 vaccinations to all adults for the first time. Enabling the county to eliminate its registration waitlist, the site had the capacity to vaccinate 3,000 people per day.

The center closed on June 26 as state and local officials shifted their attention to smaller, more mobile clinics intended to target specific pockets of people who were still unvaccinated due to hesitancy or access issues.

During the Tysons mass vaccine site’s one month of operations, VDH administered 27,212 first doses and 50,956 doses overall, according to the department’s data team.

Because the COVID-19 vaccines are more widely available now from a variety of providers, including pharmacies and private health practices, Fairfax County doesn’t anticipate encountering the supply constraints for booster shots that hampered its initial vaccine rollout.

“Given that there will be ample vaccine this time around to meet demand, we are confident that people will have access, and then, through our outreach efforts, we will make sure that our equity clinics continue,” Addo-Ayensu said at today’s Board of Supervisors committee meeting.

Even as the discussion around booster shots heats up, many county residents have yet to get their first vaccine dose.

Almost 400,000 people in Fairfax County remain unvaccinated, including about 195,000 children under the age of 12, who remain ineligible, Addo-Ayensu told the board.

According to the FCHD dashboard, 811,922 Fairfax Health District residents — 68.6% of the total population — have received at least one vaccine dose, including 81.1% of adults 18 and older. 737,467 residents — 74% of adults and 62.3% of the overall population — are considered fully vaccinated.