Metro ridership might be plummeting overall, but ridership in the Tysons area is continuing to increase.
All four stations in the Tysons area saw increased ridership in the spring of 2019 as compared to the year before, continuing an upward trend this year.
The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission’s new stats compared ridership in April, May and June of 2019 with the same period in 2018.
Ridership at the McLean Metro station by the new Capital One headquarters has continued to spike. Out of the four, the McLean station saw the largest increase in ridership during the three-month period, rising 25% over the last year.
On the other side of Tysons, the Greensboro Metro station spiked to 18%.
Meanwhile, ridership at the Spring Hill station increased 7% and Tysons Corner station increased 5%.
“Ridership at the McLean station has now gone up dramatically for three quarters in a row: first by 18.6%, then 20.6% and now 25%,” Tysons Partnership tweeted, thanking Capital One and The MITRE Corporation.
As for Greensboro, the partnership pointed to Meridian Group’s The Boro development.
“Ridership at the Greensboro station has now gone up dramatically for two quarters in a row: first by 18.4% and now by 18%,” Tysons Partnership tweeted.
Graph via Tysons Partnership/Twitter
The shopping center near Walmart is finally starting to come together.
According to a contractor working at the scene, construction on the initial buildings of Tysons West Phase III is expected to wrap up within the next month or so.
There are four buildings under construction between the Walmart and Leesburg Pike just west of the Spring Hill Metro station.
In contrast to the towering heights planned to the east, the offerings at Tysons West Phase III are more typical of strip malls like the Pike 7 Plaza a few blocks south. The new shopping is set to include a Smoothie King, Jersey Mike’s, COX and Dunkin’ Donuts.
The contractor said construction at the retail buildings closest to the Walmart was going to be the soonest to open, while the two closer to Leesburg Pike will open later.
The opening is slightly later than the spring opening.
Like the rest of Tysons near the Spring Hill Metro station, the McDonald’s at 8512 Leesburg Pike is getting a facelift.
The restaurant is temporarily closed for renovations as the store is converted from its more traditional blue-sloped roof to a more modern design, like the one at 8111 Leesburg Pike.
Workers at the project said construction is expected to last two or three more weeks, though they declined to say what the new renovations entail.
A sweeping redesign is in the works for McDonald’s nationwide, though the efforts have been with met with some resistance from franchise owners.
Photo via Google Maps
CollabraLink has decided to move to larger office space at the Highline near the Spring Hill Metro station in Tysons.
Started in 2003, CollabraLink provides IT services to federal and commercial clients.
The technology company will move to 22,000 square feet of office space at its current home (8405 Greensboro Drive), according to Newmark Knight Frank, a commercial real estate advisory firm.
“CollabraLink wanted to stay in Tysons but needed a long-term home with the option to grow,” NKF’s Senior Managing Director Chethan Rao said in the press release.
The Highline is a two-building office complex with more than 400,000 rentable square feet on 7.5 acres. The complex includes retail, an outdoor plaza, daycare facility and a fitness center for tenants.
“Location and continuity were extremely important to our firm and the NKF team had a clear understanding of our desire to stay in Tysons,” Rahul Pandhi, CollabraLink’s chief executive officer, said in the press release.
Image via Google Maps
The large affordable housing project near the Spring Hill Metro station is on hold, according to the developer.
The Clemente Development Company is currently busy with The View, a 3 million-square-foot redevelopment project planning on being a new residential, retail and arts hub for Tysons. The project includes The Iconic, a 600-foot tall tower that has the potential to shape the Tysons skyline.
The Evolution, a residential development planned just south of The View, popped up again yesterday (Monday) in Fairfax County permitting, but Antonio Calabrese, a lawyer representing Clemente, said there have been no new plans submitted for the project since it was initially proposed in 2017.
The eventual plan is to include 1,400 multi-family units in a high-rise building that would replace the existing commercial building. All units would be workforce dwelling units.
Calabrese said The Evolution is a separate project from The View and is not part of a proffer related to that project.
Meanwhile, Calabrese said Clemente is moving forward with plans to resubmit The View to Fairfax County staff on Friday (June 14) with hopes to have final approval in the fall.
An upcoming meeting this week will help select improvements for the intersection of Lewinsville and Spring Hill roads in McLean.
The Fairfax County Department of Transportation (FCDOT) has two options for revamping the intersection.
The first alternative was chosen from alternatives discussed at a public meeting last May, while the second was developed after further review and considering community feedback, according to FCDOT.
FCDOT identified the intersection’s need for improvements during the Tysons Neighborhood Study.
“The intersection has a significant skew and experiences peak hour congestion, significant cut-through traffic, long queues and has a documented crash history,” according to FCDOT, adding that the intersection’s proximity to Spring Hill Elementary School also contributes to the recurring congestion.
A community meeting on Wednesday (June 5) will inform the community of the study background and status, along with seeking feedback on the two preferred alternative concepts.
The meeting will take start at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria of Spring Hill Elementary School (8201 Lewinsville Road).
Image via Google Maps
Fairfax County Police say two employees at an unnamed business near the Spring Hill Metro station were threatened at gunpoint, and one was robbed.
The report says the robbery took place on the 8400 block of Broad Street — the block behind The Ascent residential building — around 2 p.m. on Tuesday (April 23), according to the police report.
According to the report:
Two employees overheard a commotion in the stairwell and saw two men walking away. The employees were then approached by the men and one of them displayed a black handgun. One employee ran away while the second was assaulted and his property was taken. The men left the area in a black sedan. They are described as black, about 6′ and wearing dark clothing.
File photo
After a weather-related delay in February, the new half-mile Vesper Trail connecting Vienna and the Spring Hill Metro station is now open.
The new trail runs through the Old Courthouse Spring Branch Stream Valley Park, sometimes called “Tysons’ Last Forest.”
The trail is part of a series of necessary transportation improvements identified in the Tysons Metrorail Station Access Management Study. The trail is federally funded.
At the grand opening this morning (Tuesday), Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova and Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins spoke at the grand opening and emphasized the new trail’s crucial role in connecting Vienna residents to Tysons transit and retail.
New Vesper Trail makes it easier for residents to walk and bike to Spring Hill Metro and other shops in Tysons! @ffxconnector pic.twitter.com/gcjOLBHJg1
— Sharon Bulova (@SharonBulova) April 16, 2019
Photo via Twitter
(Updated 9 a.m.) — Metro ridership may be in free fall overall, but at least in the Tysons area ridership is continuing to climb.
Three of the four stations in the Tysons area saw increased ridership in the last few months of 2018 as compared to the year before.
The McLean Metro station saw the largest increase in ridership, rising 18.6 percent over the last year. The station is located close to the Capital One headquarters, which opened late last year.
The Greensboro Metro station, meanwhile, saw an increase of 10.8 percent, while ridership at the Tysons Corner station increased 3.9 percent. The stats, compiled by the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission, compare ridership in October, November and December of 2018 with the same period in 2017.
The Wiehle-Reston East Metro station saw the highest overall ridership among Silver Line-only stations, with over 1 million rides during the three-month period. The station is the furthest point west on the Silver Line.
The only Tysons stop with a decline in ridership was the Spring Hill station, which declined 2.9 percent. There is very little in walkable proximity to the Spring Hill station, though plans are in the works for several new developments east of the site and a few to the west.
Stations on the Orange Line did not fare as well. While the West Falls Church Metro station saw a 4.1 percent increase in late 2018 as compared to late 2017, Dunn Loring and the Vienna Metro stations saw a 1.1 and 1.4 percent respective decrease in ridership.
Professor Frank Shafroth, director of the Center for State and Local Leadership at George Mason University, told Tysons Reporter earlier that the high Metro ridership in Tysons is likely a result of the area’s notorious traffic, though car remains the more popular for commutes than Metro.
Photo via Twitter
A new development plan could bring new housing, hotel rooms, office space and retail to the area around the Spring Hill Metro station in Tysons.
The plan, which calls for between 775 and 1,225 residential units, some 700,000 square feet of office space, and perhaps a 350-room hotel, would be located down the street from the proposed View at Tysons project, the Washington Business Journal reports.
More from WBJ:
There’s a new proposal for a 5.24-acre site just down the street, at the corner of Leesburg Pike and Spring Hill Road, that would bring an additional 2 million square feet to the Spring Hill Metro area. And this one features a 2-acre piazza.
“The Piazza at Tysons is more than just another high-quality redevelopment in Tysons, with a mix of uses that will permit people to live, work and play in Tysons,” per the application, submitted to Fairfax County by Michelle Rosati, a partner in Holland & Knight LLP’s Tysons’ office. “It is a vision for an inclusive, welcoming and aesthetically exquisite neighborhood where people will interact and thrive — where the pedestrian realm is at the center of the concept, both literally and philosophically.” [ …]
The Piazza at Tysons would replace Schmitz Exxon and a neighboring retail development currently home to a Starbucks, Tile Shop and Ethan Allen furniture store.
