Tweaks to The View project proposed in Tysons include plans for a new performing arts center, according to the Washington Business Journal.
The development, which would include the region’s tallest building, is part of a sweeping series of new developments planned to transform Tysons east of the Spring Hill Metro station.
According to the Business Journal, the new proposal includes ground-floor retail beneath a 199-seat black box theater. Above the theater would be an outdoor amphitheater, and three floors of office space above that.
A previously proposed 500-seat theater is not part of the project.
Image via Gensler
The Vesper Trail, a new half-mile bike and pedestrian trail between Vesper Street in Vienna and the Spring Hill Metro station, officially opens Friday (March 1).
The trail links the residential neighborhoods in northeast Vienna to the area around the Metro station, which is the site of several redevelopments with significant new retail and residential planned for the area.
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.
The trail passes through Raglan Road Park, a small forested area separating Vienna and Tysons.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for 10 a.m. at the Vienna entrance to the trail.
The Fairfax Alliance for Better Bicycling will be hosting a ride from the Vienna Community Center (120 Cherry St) at 9:30 a.m. to the trail in time for the opening. After the event, light refreshments will be served and a bike mechanic is scheduled to be available for free tune-ups.
Photo via Fairfax County Department of Transportation
The Walmart near the Spring Hill Metro station in Tysons is going through a lot of changes, but if there’s a source of stability in the store, it’s Dambar and Subhdra.
The couple was featured on the store’s weekly “Meet the Team Tuesday”post on Facebook, which said that the couple is one month away from celebrating their 53rd anniversary.
According to the Walmart 5936 page:
Dambar joined our team in January 2014 and is a proud hardlines sales associate. Subhdra joined in April 2015 as an apparel associate. They are both into food and will be celebrating 53 years of marriage this March!
The Walmart also recently hosted a “Stuff the Bus” event to benefit the Committee for Helping Others in Vienna.
Photo via Facebook
It’s not as high profile as Clemente Development Company’s The View development planned for the Spring Hill Metro area, but the nearby Evolution development could be exciting for affordable housing advocates.
According to the application overview, the building would include 1,400 multi-family units in a high-rise building. All of the housing in the building would be workforce dwelling units — defined by Fairfax County as housing affordable to people making from 70 to 100 percent of the area median income.
The contact phone number listed for the project is inactive, but the housing is likely part of a requirement from Fairfax County that residential developments set aside 14 percent of units in a residential development as affordable, or 16 percent if the units are being constructed off-site.
According to Fairfax County Public School documents, the new building could add as many as 157 students to Spring Hill Elementary School.
Details on the project are still scarce. The application was submitted in late 2017, but staff at Fairfax County Planning and Zoning say little progress has been made since then, as the developer remains mostly focused on The View.
Photo via Fairfax County Planning and Zoning
Work is coming along on the latest addition to the growing development around the Spring Hill Metro station.
A project dubbed “Tysons West Phase III” is set to transform the under-utilized lot across from Walmart and create a mixed-use development.
“Tysons West Phase III builds on the success of the Walmart and 24 Hour Fitness [that] anchored Tysons West Phase I and provides an interim development of in-line retail buildings organized around surface parking,” construction contractor L.F. Jennings said in a press release. “These retail buildings will provide dining and service retail options that take advantage of the vehicular hub nature of the location as well as proximity to the metro station, local residents, and nearby offices.”
The development will contain four single-story buildings, with a combined 22,800 square feet of retail space.
Construction on the project started last July and is scheduled to be completed in the spring.
Plans from developer JBG Smith show Dunkin’ Donuts, Smoothie King, Jersey Mike’s and COX listed among the new retailers coming to the development.
Future Tysons West development is planned north of the site, and some of the car dealerships to the south are on sale with plans to be redeveloped as mixed-use buildings.
After two months of a “soft-opening,” Club Pilates in Tysons is finally ready for its grand opening this weekend.
The new workout studio is in the Adaire apartment building at 1521 Boyd Pointe Way, near the Spring Hill Metro station.
On Saturday (Jan. 19) and Sunday (Jan. 20), attendees will get to try out a complimentary 30-minute Pilates class. Booking for the free class is available online.
Pilates is a type of full-body workout aimed at building balance, strength, mobility and flexibility. The workout utilizes specialized equipment, like springboards, that often aren’t available at Pilates classes offered at other gyms. Club Pilates in Tysons offers four ranges of classes aimed at various levels of experience with a variety of membership packages, ranging from one workout per week to an unlimited annual membership.
In addition to the free classes, the new Tysons location will also have raffles and item giveaways with various vendors. All merchandise in the store will be discounted 20 percent all week.
Parking at the location is free in the Adaire building garage.
Photos via Facebook
Building Near Spring Hill Metro Purchased — “Transwestern today announces it brokered the sale of Tysons Pond II, a 67,151-square-foot, free-standing office building located at 1604 Spring Hill Road in Tysons… A private investor purchased the 70 percent leased asset for $10 million.” [Citybizlist]
Nantucket Bay Scallops Season in Tysons — “Nantucket Bay scallops are in season and Eddie V’s of Tysons Corner has a special scallop dishes that are available for a limited time.” [WUSA 9]
Jerry Gordon Reflects on Retirement — “Jerry Gordon has two weeks left on his job as the president and CEO of the Fairfax County Economic Authority, and his office is so empty it echoes… After 31 years on the job, Gordon is transitioning out of a role that led Fairfax to become a superstar in economic development.” [Washington Business Journal]
More Silver Line Phase 2 Problems — “Hundreds of concrete rail ties installed at track crossovers along the second phase of the Silver Line are flawed, officials say, a problem that could further delay the multibillion-dollar rail project that is already 13 months behind schedule.” [Washington Post]
While Dominion Square starts to heat up development prospects west of the Spring Hill Metro station in Tysons, a series of developments are proposed to transform the area to the north and east of the station.
The most attention-getting of the proposed developments is the 600-foot tall skyscraper “Iconic Tower”, part of a redevelopment of the block south of Tyco Road into a complex called The View. Developer Clemente Development Co. announced in August that the tower would be switching to all-office rather than residential. It is set to break ground next year.
But just to the north across Tyco Road, two developments proposed earlier this year could pick up the residential demand dropped by Iconic Tower.
The Audi Tysons Corner and Tesla dealerships along the north side of Tyco Road are proposed by developer Georgelas LLC to be redeveloped as West Spring Hill Station and North Spring Hill Station respectively.
Like The Adaire located on the southern side of Tyco Road, these developments are proposed to become mixed-use developments with office, retail, hotel and residential areas.
The proposed North Spring Hill Station would replace the existing low-rise Tesla dealership with new high-rise buildings.
One tower is planned to be either a residential tower at 300 feet tall with 385 units or a commercial building with 350,000 square feet of office use and a maximum height of 230 feet.
The two other towers are planned residential, with one being 300 feet tall with 400 residential units and the other being 270 feet tall with 270-360 units.
Meanwhile at West Spring Hill Station, a series of towers are planned to mix residential units with a 170,000 square-foot hotel and retail space, replacing the Audi dealership.
The plans for North and West Spring Hill Station were submitted in September and are scheduled to begin a county staff review in late November. The exact construction timeline after that is unclear.
Professor Frank Shafroth, director of the Center for State and Local Leadership at George Mason University, said that crowding around the other Metro stations in Tysons is driving up real estate values and property taxes, which makes outlying areas like Spring Hill Road Metro station more fiscally attractive to developers.
But some changes won’t be as dramatic and the auto dealerships that define the area today won’t completely disappear.
Crown Tysons Properties has an application under review at the Department of Planning and Zoning for 8600 Leesburg Pike, currently a warehouse and automobile storage facility. This is a rezoning and special exception application to allow the building to be converted into a new automobile dealership just south of Koons Tysons Toyota and Koons Collision Repair Center.
The new dealership is proposed to fall under the same ownership as the Koons dealership to the north, although no changes are proposed for that site.
Photo (2) via Google Maps
Developers seeking an alternative to the increasingly built-up Greensboro Metro station might be looking one stop north.
Dominion Square, an 18-acre site adjacent to the Spring Hill Metro station, is for sale, as first reported by the Washington Business Journal. The site, which encompasses portions of two existing redevelopment plans, has already been approved for 3.6 million square feet of mixed-use development, according to a press release (below).
Newmark Knight Frank, a real estate advisory firm, has been selected to help market the site.
The land is currently occupied by auto showrooms and sale lots, including Sheehy Infiniti of Tysons, Honda of Tysons Corner, Priority Mazda and Priority Nissan. The dealerships currently have leases that can be terminated to make way for the development when the project is ready to start construction.
More from the press release:
Newmark Knight Frank (NKF) has announced it has been selected as the exclusive advisor for the sale of Dominion Square in Tysons, VA. The 18-acre site is located directly adjacent to the Spring Hill Metro Station, currently the first eastbound stop on the Silver Line.
The site is approved for 3.6 million square feet of mixed-use development, comprises three separate parcels and is unaffiliated with a specific developer. The property includes terminable leases for four existing car dealership sites, offering built-in income and flexibility allowing investors to react strategically to demand.
Dominion Square represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape one of the DC metro area’s premier submarkets. Located at the intersection of the I-495 Beltway and the Dulles Toll Road, Tysons is a major economic and employment hub,” explained Mark Anstine, executive managing director of land services at NKF. “With the ongoing construction of the Silver Line slated to connect Dulles Airport to downtown Washington, DC in 2020, the area boasts a perfect combination of mass transit, new urbanized residential and retail development, drawing significant interest from regional and national companies.”
With approval now in place for more than 2 million square feet of office, 1.1 million square feet of residential, 185,000 square feet of retail and a 205,000-square-foot hotel, Dominion Square is poised to become an urbanized and amenitized scene where employees can live and play where they work. Since Tysons is the 12th largest office market in the United States headquartering numerous companies–including many of the Fortune 500, it boasts one of the country’s most highly-educated and diverse workforces.
Map via Google Maps
