Updated 3/5/2020 — Corrects date in second graph.
The new annual report from Tysons Partnership expects Tysons to surpass 110 million square feet of development by 2050.
Tysons Partnership, which is made up of organizations and major employers in the area that want to boost Tysons’ prominence in Northern Virginia, unveiled its new report at an event today to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the region’s Comprehensive Plan.
Barry Mark, the vice president of workplace solutions at Capital One, kicked off the event by saying that Tysons is becoming a vibrant, urban center.
“Tysons is become a hub for top talent, especially in tech and continually provides us with the skilled workforce that we need to succeed,” he said.
Since 2012, 8.9 million square feet of new development and 4,500 new residential units have been added in Tysons, the report notes.
Wit major projects underway, like Capital One’s campus and Scotts Run, Tysons is projected to have roughly 113 million square feet of development by 2050.
“We have over 40 million square feet of approved unbuilt construction still left in the pipeline,” Jeff Tarae, the chair of the Tysons Partnership Board of Directors, said at the event.
What Tysons will be like several decades from now has dominated several recent events.
Tysons is expected to quadruple its population from 27,000 to 100,000 and boost its employment by 80,000 jobs when 2050 arrives, the annual report and Comprehensive Plan note.
To prepare for 2050, Tarae said that the Tysons Partnership board teamed up with Fairfax County for an “exploratory process” over the next few years that aims to “elevate the Partnership to a more robust, sustainable organization.”
Tysons Partnership has also been working closely with the county on a rebranding effort for the area and also on finding a different business model.
Calling Tysons the “economic engine of the county,” Jeff McKay, the chair of the county’s Board of Supervisors, said at the event that the county approaches Tysons with a focus on long-term results.
“When you make a commitment to do what we’ve done, you can’t stop midway,” McKay said, adding that “scattered high-density, no sense of place” is his worst case scenario for Tysons.
McKay also pointed to concerns that Fairfax County is working to address: the “affordable housing crisis,” climate change, timing infrastructure work with developments and trying to get young people to move to Tysons.
“We’re in this for the long haul,” McKay said. “We’ve stuck to the long term vision, and ultimately we’re in this now to complete it.”
This story was reported by Catherine Douglas Moran and Ashley Hopko.
A rezoning request for a proposed office tower near the McLean Metro station will be considered by the Board of Supervisors later this month.
Akridge and the Ronald D. Paul Companies are looking to develop 1690 Old Meadow Road, a triangular spot between Dolley Madison Blvd and the Old Meadow Road, into a 15-story tower with Class A offices.
Called One Tysons East, the project would include a 8,300-square-foot restaurant and cafe on the main level, along with retail space and a bike room, according to the website.
The project plans for five levels of parking with 500 spaces — two levels of parking would be underground, while three would be above the lobby. Above the parking, the tower would have 11 floors of office space totaling 24,500 square feet.
The tower also plans to have a landscaped outdoor terrace with a bocce court on the fifth floor, which would also include a client-only cafe, coffee bar, conference room, fitness center and yoga space.
The developers are looking to increase the floor area ratio and receive approval for their plans.
The Planning Commission recommended approval for the rezoning last April after discussion on how the distinctive curved-glass tower could potentially kill birds.
Now, county documents indicate that the Board of Supervisors will hold a hearing on March 24.
Images via One Tysons East
Cranes and crews are busy working on a new office tower near the Greensboro Metro station in Tysons.
Tysons Biergarten’s former site will soon become a 383,000-square-foot office tower with 20 floors and a penthouse, according to the project’s website.
Named Tysons Central, the tower is set to open in the first quarter of 2022, according to signs along Leesburg Pike.
The building will include 365,000 square feet of office space and 19,000 square feet of retail space, the signs say.
The plans show that the office space will be atop parking decks, which will be above the retail and plaza area, according to the project’s website.
The building will also have a sky lobby with an outdoor terrace on the eighth floor and a private terrace on the 12th floor.
“Additionally, the exclusive 6,362 sf Penthouse floor offers a unique opportunity to create a private C-Suite, conference center or tenant lounge for a lead tenant,” according to the website.
At full build-out, the office tower will be a part of a mixed-use development that was approved in 2014 with 1,100 residential units, 200 hotel rooms and 135,000 square feet of retail, according to the website.
Here are renderings of what Tysons Central plans to look like when it’s finished:
Renderings and map via Tysons Central
A new redevelopment of condos and townhomes is set to replace the Commons of McLean apartment complex behind the Mitre Corporation.
Toll Brothers’ Union Park will include The Brownstones, brownstone-style townhomes, and The Lofts, townhome-style condos.
The Lofts, which start in the low $700,000s, will include one-car garages, optional private elevators, open floor plans and oversized windows.
One plan is 2,763 square feet, while another is 1,587 square feet. Both have three bedrooms, two bathrooms and one half-bath.
Meanwhile, The Brownstones are priced in the upper $900,000s and will have optional private elevators and expanded rooftop terraces.
There are five different home designs for The Brownstones, ranging from 2,168-2,644 square feet. All of the designs have three bedrooms and two bathrooms. Some of the designs have two half-baths, while others have three half-baths.
Union Park is expected to come this spring, according to the Toll Brothers website.
Image (1) via Google Maps, other images via Toll Brothers
Hat tip to Timothy B.
A developer wants a proposed retail building in Falls Church to house a kids’ play center.
Bob Young, the developer, told the Falls Church Planning Commission Monday night that Scramble, a self-described “European-style play center” in Alexandria, would be a tenant.
“It’s what I would call a high-end, indoor children’s playground,” he said. “It will have a cafe. It will have an area for parents to work on their computers.”
Fairfax One LLC wants to redevelop the lot, which is across from the Protestant Episcopal Church and currently being used as a surface parking lot for the church, under a land lease agreement with the church, according to city documents.
Called Southgate II, the development would add a 12,000-square-foot retail building at 130 E. Fairfax Street. (Southgate I is at 116 E. Jefferson Street.)
While the redevelopment would remove parking spaces, the developers told the commissioners that churchgoers will be able to use the parking at the redevelopment and at an adjacent property on Sunday mornings.
“[The church] would have exclusive use of parking 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. on Sundays,” Young said. “Scramble would be closed.”
The project includes solar panels on the roof, which would provide roughly 25-30% of the electricity use, Young said.
Discussion of the proposed building and kids’ play center was mostly limited to comments from a handful of commissioners.
Vice-Chair Brent Krasner was the most vocal with his concerns, calling building a “very suburban, strip mall feel.”
Krasner also questioned if Scramble would be the best tenant, saying that the kids’ center seems to be better suited to “industrial” areas.
“I’m not saying there’s no use for it here,” Krasner said, adding that he doesn’t know if the space would “translate” well to a future tenant if Scramble were to close.
In response to Kranser’s comments, Young said that the building is “probably a step in the right direction,” emphasizing that the “filthy parking lot” could add tax revenue to the city as a commercial building.
“There’s good and then there’s best,” Krasner quipped back.
Not all of the feedback from the commissioners focused on concerns. Commissioner Cory Weiss, who described herself as a “semi-young mother,” called the building “a great opportunity.”
When Weiss asked the developer if the project could be more pedestrian-friendly, Young said that constraints on the site, like being “dense with underground utilities,” would make that difficult.
The site also has some restrictions from the church, although Young did not elaborate much on what those restrictions entail.
“We have a lot of constraints that are put on us by the church itself,” Young said. “We had to work through a lot of issues with the church.”
A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for March 2, according to the documents.
Image via Google Maps
Tomorrow (Feb. 4), the Fairfax County’s Transportation Committee will meet to discuss upcoming projects around the area.
Board members will kick off the meeting, which begins at 3 p.m. in the Fairfax County Government Center, with updates and progress regarding the I-495 Express Lanes Northern Expansion project.
According to the documents posted ahead of the meeting, the I-495 project will include expansion of express lanes to George Washington Memorial Parkway, replacement of existing overpasses, implementation of a shared-use path and addition of new noise barrier walls.
Upgrades could save drivers up to 25 minutes during their peak-hour commute, especially with ease cut-through traffic congestion in local communities, according to the documents.
Other items on the agenda include bus and Metrorail improvements and the Bicycle Master Plan.
For people who bike to work, a shared-use bike path behind the noise wall will connect the American Legion Bridge to Maryland, the presentation said.
Meanwhile, an ongoing I-495 Regional Transit Study is expected to become public sometime this year.
A public forum to discuss the discuss environmental and technical reports from the project is set for March 12 at Langley High School (6520 Georgetown Pike) from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Staff photo by Jay Westcott
Falls Church officials are set to review a proposed retail building directly across from the Protestant Episcopal Church.
Fairfax One LLC wants to redevelop the lot for a future commercial tenant under a land lease agreement with the church, according to city documents.
Called Southgate II, the development would add a 12,000-square-foot retail building on an existing surface parking lot at 130 E. Fairfax Street, the documents say.
More from the documents:
The proposed height for the new building is approximately 28.5 Feet, and appears to be one and half stories with the mezzanine level. The adjacent property at 116 East Jefferson known as Southgate I was renovated under a building permit application in 2016, also by Fairfax One LLC under a similar lease agreement.
The current development on this property contains a commercial building with several retail and service tenants and surface parking.
The developer is proposing to add a curb cut on Douglass Avenue near E. Fairfax Street and new access to the alley that connects to Fairfax Street.
“The proposed building will remove 47 parking spaces from the existing lot. The parking tabulation shows that 40 spaces are provided around the new building and that 52 spaces are provided on adjacent property,” according to the documents.
The Falls Church Planning Commission is scheduled to review the application during a work session on Monday (Feb. 3).
A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for March 2, according to the documents.
Image via City of Falls Church; map via Google Maps
Two Orange Line Metro stations will be closed this weekend due to preparations for the upcoming summer shutdown, according to the WMATA website.
Both the Vienna and Dunn Loring-Merrifield Metro stops will be closed on Saturday and Sunday (Jan. 25-26) to let crews prepare for the Summer Platform Improvement Project, the website said.
The summer project will include the addition of slip-resistant tiles, updated LED lighting, charging ports and lit handrails.
This weekend, travelers can expect buses to replace trains between the Vienna and West Falls Church stops.
Besides those two stops, the Metro is scheduled to run trains every 12 to 15 minutes.
The Silver Line will not be affected by the work this weekend and will run on a normal schedule, according to WMATA.
A new beer garden in a sky park plans to open next year atop Capital One Hall.
Construction is underway on the Capital One Center — the second phase of Capital One’s campus in Tysons, which is set to be completed in 2021.
Called “The Perch,” the outdoor space on top of the parking podium and Capital One Hall — 10 stories above the ground — plans to offer interactive art sculptures, a park, activities like yoga and beer at The Perch Biergarten, according to the website.
The Perch is set to open in the fall of 2021.
The “serene village green” will join Capital One’s planned additions for the Tysons East urban campus:
- an 80,000-square-foot Wegmans grocery store
- a performing arts center with a 1,500-seat main hall and a 250-seat black box theatre
- Davio’s, a Northern Italian restaurant
- more retail in the second half of 2021
In addition to the upcoming beer hall, Capital One is looking to change a previously approved — yet unbuilt — hotel into a new office building, according to Fairfax County documents.
Capital One says that the change would allow for more open space, jobs and retailers:
Consistent with well settled planning and economic development objectives, this application presents an opportunity to further add employment opportunities and vitality at the headquarters campus in a location immediately adjacent to the McLean Metro station…
A lower level lobby and retail uses along Capital One Drive North and Scotts Crossing Road will wrap the parking garage. The approved drop-off area for the previously contemplated hotel use will be removed and replaced with public open space to enhance and activate these ground floor uses…
Additional retail use is proposed for Building 3 in the location of the previously approved garage entrance that will be shifting eastward.
Image via Capital One Center
Hat tip to Chris H.
How young people live, work and play in Tysons dominated two panels at a Bisnow event earlier today.
The Bisnow event was held at Boro Tower, bringing together real estate professionals to talk about the future of Tysons. When thinking about what will make Tysons appealing now and several years from now, developers and real estate investors said they want to make decisions that will encourage young professionals to come to the area and stay.
The first panel kicked off a discussion of office space, with panelists lamenting that people who come to work in Tysons leave in the late afternoon and don’t stick around.
“Millennials do not want to be in a nondescript office building that is hard to get to,” Mukang Cho, the CEO of Morning Calm Management, said.
As far as nightlife goes, Gary Block, the chief investment officer of The Meridian Group — the developers of The Boro, said that innovative concepts with bars and restaurants can bring people together when the sun goes down.
“You wouldn’t think the second story of a grocery store would be a destination for a bar,” Block said, referring to the popular High Point bar in The Boro’s Whole Foods.
Block said that people who live, work or arrive at The Boro can expect activities in public spaces throughout the week.
The combination of walkability, entertainment options, shopping, apartments, office spaces and fitness opportunities make The Boro a neighborhood, Block said. Or, as a sign on a window in the Boro Tower said, “Tysons’ First Neighborhood.”
Deirdre Johnson, the vice president of Federal Realty, agreed, calling The Boro the “new Tysons downtown.”
While Tysons’ identity has long rested on its malls — especially Tysons Corner Center, Johnson said that residents are moving away from being “mall-centric.”
Outside The Boro, Block said that Eddie V’s Prime Seafood (7900 Tysons One Place) is “packed” on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights.
Juliann Clemente, the president of Clemente Development, said that the new members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors recognize that Tysons will appeal to millennials.
Clemente urged the audience to reach out to the new board and share their dreams, desires and concerns about how to improve Tysons.
Christopher Auth, the divisional vice president of PS Business Parks, said that walkability and green space help attract people. Thinking big, Auth said that he would like to see a university in Tysons — an idea that several other panelists agreed with.
While walkability might sound like simply an infrastructure issue, Johnson said that planners “have to give someone a reason to walk across the street.”
The panelists mentioned how a new grid of streets in Tysons facilitate walkability and connect communities.
“When little neighborhoods pop up, it creates a sense of place,” Cho said.
