Relocating is a part of office culture. But when the company moves just a few blocks away, some experts say it could be the sign of a healthy office market.

One of the most notable moves in Tysons was auditing giant KPMG LLP’s announcement last October that it would be moving from 1676 International Drive to the Boro, a project nearing the final phase of development.

On the surface, a move like that would have a minimal economic impact. Some local experts who spoke to Tysons Reporter said that moves like this allow companies to obtain relatively prime office space at low costs.

KPMG LLP not only got a newer, larger office out of the move, but also a $1 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Development Opportunity Fund and other tax credits.

The move also pushed Brandywine Realty Trust — the owners of 1676 International Drive — into a $20 million renovation that currently includes plans for a new flexible office space

Professor Frank Shafroth, director of the Center for State and Local Leadership at George Mason University, said the move could also be a positive sign that the region has a strong standing in the competitive Northern Virginia race to fill office vacancies.

“If they are moving in the same community, it means the community has the right amenities,” said Shafroth, “so I would guess there are certain unique benefits to them — and no harm to the community, because, clearly, in considering a relocation, they would have considered Arlington or other spots.”

Photo courtesy Brandywine Realty Trust

The long-awaited Tysons Technology Park near Leesburg Pike is about a month away from opening.

The athletic field just south of the intersection of Leesburg Pike and the Beltway will replace a surface parking lot with a five-level parking garage and a full-sized athletic field. The athletic field includes amenities like LED lighting, bleachers and bicycle racks.

The project was built as part of a proffer — an accommodation from a developer to qualify for zoning exemptions — from the Meridian Group for the nearby Boro project. Once opened, the field will be operated and maintained by the Fairfax County Park Authority.

Mike Killelea, a communications manager with construction contractor L.F. Jennings, said the project is a few weeks from completion.

“We should be turning it over to the Park Authority by the middle of May,” said Killelea “We should be done with construction by May 1.”

Killelea said after the handover to the Park Authority, the project will likely have to go through some paperwork and review before the it opens. Staff at the Park Authority said that until the park is handed over, it would be difficult to determine exactly how long that process will take, but that ribbon-cutting for the park is still tentatively planned for mid-late May.

Image courtesy L.F. Jennings

There’s already been a substantial amount of digging and preliminary work at the Monarch, a 20-story condominium tower northeast of Tysons Galleria, but last week the project officially broke ground.

The tower at 7887 Jones Branch Drive is now under construction with an opening scheduled for late 2020.

The site is planned to have 94 residences with a dozen floor plans, from 880 to 3,4000 square feet, meaning the building will have a range of two to six units per floor. Designs show that all residents will have floor-to-ceiling windows and outdoor balconies.

Prices range from $600,000 to just over $3 million.

The project is part of the Arbor Row development, a 19-acre stretch of mixed-use buildings along Westpark Drive. The first building of the project, the residential Nouvelle, was completed in 2015 and the next phase, senior living facility The Mather, is going to the Fairfax County Planning Commission next week.

“Arbor Row is the new Tysons’ most livable neighborhood,” Albert H. Small Jr., founder of developer Renaissance, said in a press release. “There already are pedestrian pathways that lead to enticing restaurants and shops, and more green space than you will find anywhere else in Tysons. With both Wegmans and Whole Foods opening soon in the immediate area, Arbor Row will offer extensive options to support a healthy lifestyle.”

While the project is planned to be walkable in the long-run, locals should be aware that construction activity has temporarily closed the sidewalk along Westpark Drive.

If Tysons is going to become a destination, it’s going to need an Eiffel Tower — and slower, more pedestrian-friendly streets.

On the “Connect with County Leaders” podcast run by the Fairfax County Government, Deputy County Executive Rachel Flynn talked about the increasing importance of establishing a “destination” feeling with urban design to draw in a younger crowd.

“Millennials are deciding where they want to live before they get the job, then they move there and get the job,” Flynn said. “That’s the sign of a robust economy. So what can Fairfax do to say ‘we attracted that person?’ We don’t have an Eiffel Tower or a Chrysler building, but I think Tysons is the start of that.”

On its quest to become America’s next great city, Flynn said the area will have to be notable for something — presumably other than the historic Toilet Bowl building. Flynn referenced the example of San Francisco, noting that icons like the Golden Gate Bridge come to mind before any other details about the city.

But the other side of the coin to draw businesses and residents to Tysons, Flynn said, will be making the streets more walkable.

“We’re hearing that people want to walk more,” Flynn said. “They don’t want to be as car-dependent.”

But sometimes, Flynn noted, good pedestrian design can come at the cost of car-focused improvements, like more turn lanes. While Fairfax County has traditionally been built on its highways, Flynn said Tysons is going to need to continue switching to a more urban style street grid — specifically referencing Old Town Alexandria as a model for pedestrian-friendly design.

“Every time you add an extra right turn lane, someone is paying for that,” Flynn said. “Someone has to maintain that… and you just made a wider intersection for a pedestrian or cyclist, so maybe they don’t cross that street… Pedestrians know where they’re wanted, and that’s where they want to stay. So we need to slow down traffic and get more people out of their cars.”

For Tysons, Flynn said people should expect narrower lanes and slower traffic than they’d find in other parts of the county. Slower traffic, Flynn said, will not only add to pedestrian friendliness but will make retailers more likely to set up shop nearby.

“People are really drawn to a sense of place, that’s why Mosaic has been such a big hit and Tysons is becoming that way,” Flynn said. “People want to be at a place that feels good you have lots of choices of what to do.”

Photo via Fairfax County Government

With the Nouvelle residential building open and The Monarch under construction, Cityline Partners LLC is hoping for Fairfax County’s permission to move forward with the next step of the Arbor Row project near Tysons Galleria.

The overarching plan is to transform the back end of Tysons Galleria along Westpark Drive into a suite of mixed-use buildings. Block E is the Nouvelle, and Block D is the under-construction Monarch hotel.

On April 24, Block C of the project will go to the Planning Commission to try and amend the change the two approved office buildings planned at the site into a two-tower senior living complex called The Mather.

The towers are proposed to be 18 and 27 stories tall with a podium connecting the towers on the lower levels. The site would contain 300 independent living units, 78 assisted living units, and 18,000 square feet of retail and restaurants on the lower floors.

“The quasi-public use of the Mather community will complement the mix of residential, office and retail uses within and surrounding Arbor Row,” the project developers said in the application. “In addition, this Mather community will bring an attractive senior living use to Tysons, addressing a need that currently is not being met.”

Following the Planning Commission hearing, the project is scheduled to go to the Board of Supervisors on May 7. If approved, tentative opening for The Mather is planned for 2022.

A hotel planned near Leesburg Pike has been nixed by the developers in favor of a new athletic field.

The field is proposed for 8229 Boone Blvd, a street parallel to Leesburg Pike and halfway between Chain Bridge Road and Gallows Road. P.S. Business Parks owns the property.

The athletic field is part of fulfilling requirements associated with the developer’s The Mile project northeast of Tysons Galleria.

The application notes that the field will include synthetic turf, field lighting, bleachers and other equipment. Parking for the field will be located in the Tycon II and Tycon III office buildings next door.

According to the application:

The proposed athletic field will serve the growing needs of the Tysons community. It is consistent with the Comprehensive Plan, which calls for developers to provide athletic fields in Tysons… The proposed soccer field will satisfy the field expectation associated with the rezoning and development of The Mile, a residential mixed use development in the North Central District.

It’s a move that will likely be popular with local citizens groups, which have called for more athletic fields to be added throughout Tysons.

(Updated April 8) As Sunrise Senior Living haggles through the approval process in Vienna, the assisted living franchise also filed permits earlier this week for a new facility in downtown McLean.

On March 11, Sunrise Development filed a special exception application to allow a senior living facility at 1515 Chain Bridge Road, replacing the existing McLean Medical Building.

In the application, the business noted that the need for assisted living facilities is high in Vienna.

Despite immense need, the McLean CBC does not currently contain any assisted living facilities. Per Fairfax County’s compiled demographics for the McLean Census Designated Plant , 92% of households in McLean have one or more people over the age of 60, which is more than double the 43% of households for the rest of the County.

Sunrise isn’t wrong on that count. McLean is disproportionately elderly and has struggled to create housing that allows local residents to age in place. Sunrise Senior Living isn’t cheap, so it probably doesn’t hurt that McLean is also one of the wealthiest places in the United States.

The proposal for a Sunrise facility in McLean also comes at that area is in the middle of a planning process to reshape the center of town.

The application notes that the new facility would be located within Subarea Two of the McLean Commercial Business Center, an area outside of the main downtown and planned to have very little change. The Sunrise facility would be replacing an existing medical office building, which it argues is in keeping with the intent of the plan.

While the Vienna location is locked in a struggle with the Vienna Town Council over whether or not the building fits within local height parameters, the McLean facility is half the size allowed by-right on the property and 10 feet shorter than the existing building.

The project is tentatively scheduled for a Planning Commission hearing on Sept. 11 and a Board of Supervisors hearing on Sept. 24.

Developers of a distinctive curved-glass tower called One Tysons East have promised to make peace with the local bird population and improve nearby roads.

With an endorsement from both the McLean Citizens Association and the Planning Commission at last night’s (Wednesday) meeting, approval of rezoning for the project at a Board of Supervisors meeting next Tuesday (April 9) seems likely.

But while the project seems to have had a relatively smooth development track so far, Providence District Planning Commissioner Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner noted that it raises issues in the air and on the ground that will need to be addressed as more of Tysons East is developed.

There are 27 pages of proffers — accommodations on the part of the developers offered to Fairfax County to get a development approved — associated with the project. Among them are a series of transportation improvements for Old Meadow Road, including new street lanes and a potential bike lane.

But Niedzielski-Eichner noted that new developments planned throughout Tysons East are going to put a considerable strain on the four-lane street.

“There are existing traffic issues on Old Meadow Road today, and will be as future already entitled developments are constructed that are significant and beyond the scope of this single zoning application,” said Niedzielski-Eichner. “Solutions will require all stakeholders on Old Meadow Road to resolve. I recommend staff identify concrete steps to help mitigate traffic and queuing on Old Meadow Road.”

Niedzielski-Eichner also said problems with how the glass building might impact birds came up during the development process. The proffers included an obligation on the developer to make changes to the building design to deter bird-strikes.

According to the proffers:

In an effort to reduce bird injury and death due to in- flight collisions with buildings, the Applicant will include one or more bird friendly design elements, as determined by the Applicant, in the design plans of the building. The bird friendly design elements may include, but not be limited to, the use of color, texture, opacity, fritting, frosting, patterns, louvers, screens, interior window treatments, or ultraviolet materials that are visible to birds, the angling of outside lights, curbing of excessive or unnecessary night-time illumination in commercial buildings, reduction of bird attracting vegetation, the use of decoys, and breaking of glass swaths.

It’s estimated that between 365 million and 988 million birds are killed in the United States each year from crashing into windows, with an average 24 expected to die annually at a single skyscraper.

“There was a request for clarification of how we intended to meet bird-friendly design guidelines in the proffer commitment,” said Scott Adams, representing the developers. “We’re happy to commit to work with staff to ensure the goals of bird-friendly design are met with the design of this building.”

Image via Akridge

Earlier this week we detailed Tysons’ eight districts and the fact that its 3.3 square miles is larger than the area between the Lincoln Memorial, Union Station, and the Wharf in D.C.

Thanks to a tweet from commercial real estate researcher Michael Rodríguez, below, we can now also compare the size of Tysons to Manhattan.

Rotated 90 degrees, the borders of Tysons stretch from the tip of lower Manhattan to 22nd Street, while its top and bottom reach from the Hudson to the East River.

Tysons, with its 30 million square feet of office space, still has a ways to go to catch up to New York City’s 544 million, but already Tysons has more office space than cities like Minneapolis, Baltimore, Tampa and St. Louis, according to the Tysons Partnership. And plenty of additional development is on the way.

https://twitter.com/MRodDC/status/1110998851085840386

https://twitter.com/MRodDC/status/1110985713829511171

A new mixed-use residential and commercial development called Hanover Tysons has been approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors.

The 420-unit project in Tysons’ North Central district was unanimously approved at the Board’s meeting on March 19, the Sun Gazette reported, with Supervisor Linda Smyth (D-Providence) lauding the project for its street grid improvements and its incorporation of a 1.13-acre public park.

As we reported, it had gotten the green light from the Planning Commission five days prior. From that article:

The Hanover Company’s plan is to demolish the vacant seven-story office building that was built in 1983 and replace it with a new residential development.

The new residential building would be between five to seven stories with up to 420 dwelling units and include ground-level retail and nearby park space.

In keeping with Fairfax County’s efforts to promote more affordable housing around Tysons, workforce housing will make up 20 percent of the total units, according to the staff report.

Located just west of Jones Branch Park at 1500 Westbranch Drive, Hanover Tysons is a little under one mile from the Tysons Corner Station.

The county’s Board of Supervisors is set to take up the proposal with a public hearing next Tuesday (March 19).