Future Town Center at MetroWest

Thank you for your continued interest in the Vienna MetroWest project. We would like to share information about an upcoming public meeting that the Fairfax County Planning Commission will be hosting tomorrow, Wednesday, October 19^th at 7:30 PM.

This meeting will facilitate discussion regarding a proposed Proffer Condition Amendment (PCA) associated with RZ 2003-PR-022. The proposed PCA is focused on phasing of the remaining Town Center development. It does not alter the planned uses (such as amount of retail or office space) of MetroWest. If approved, the PCA would remove a phasing hurdle from the remaining mixed-use retail and residential buildings planned. A PCA, which included similar phasing adjustments, was approved earlier this year for the adjacent undeveloped parcels owned by others. At the upcoming meeting, County Staff will present an overview of the Staff Report and its recommendation for approval. The Planning Commission will hear public comments, discuss the PCA, and make its recommendation.

There will be an opportunity for community members and other stakeholders to participate. Additional information regarding the County Staff Report and proposed PCA can be found in the link below to the Planning Commission meeting agenda. This also includes instructions on how to view, listen, and/or participate in the meeting.

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/planningcommission/sites/planningcommission/files/assets/calendar/2022/10.19.22.pdf

Thank you for your continued engagement in the Town Center at MetroWest. We hope to see you at the meeting!

If you live in or near MetroWest, you likely recently received a certified letter notifying you that several plans and applications have been submitted to Fairfax County concerning the development of MetroWest Buildings 6 and 10 within the Town Center area. More specifically, the notice references submission of a Site Plan, Soils Report and Record Plat. This notification (distributed by the project's civil engineer, VIKA Virginia) is a standard step in the County's process for land development and reflects CRC's continued progression towards construction on the first phase of the Town Center.

Included with the mailing (which can be downloaded in the Project Documents section of this site) is a basic site plan showing the Town Center elements that will be approved with this phase of development. This phase includes two mixed-use apartment buildings (Buildings 6 and 10) that will each have 270+ residential units and ground-floor retail. From an infrastructure standpoint, Royal Victoria Drive will be extended north from Sprague Avenue, running between Buildings 6 and 10, and intersect with a new east-west street that will connect the two existing traffic circles on Saintsbury Drive. Finally, temporary improvements will be made to the NW corner of the site to create an interim open space where MetroWest residents and visitors will be able to exercise, walk their pets and enjoy flexible green space.

As we approach construction commencement this fall, please continue to check this site for additional updates on our plans for the Town Center as well as construction logistics.

Good news! After hearing from various neighbors that the solar lights along the walking path to the Metro from Sprague Avenue to Saintsbury Drive have not been functioning properly, we investigated a couple of options for repair. Our landscape maintenance crew inspected the lights and cleaned the solar panels and photocell sensors. Since this was not an adequate remedy, we reached out to the manufacturer for further guidance. They recommended that we replace the batteries and upgrade the software.

The replacement batteries finally arrived this week and will be installed as soon as possible next week. We hope these efforts will resolve the issue. Happy Thanksgiving!

In addition to working through the Site Plan review and approval process with the County for mixed use Buildings 6 and 10, we have submitted a Proffer Condition Amendment (PCA) request to enable the development of mixed use Building 7. This amendment would be consistent with the phasing adjustments approved by the County on January 25, 2022 in the PCA application filed by the owners of the adjacent property containing Buildings 14-18.

As shown by the Site Plan submission for Buildings 6 and 10 and shared with the community in a public meeting hosted by the County in September 2021, we are proceeding with development plans to deliver on the mixed-use vision of the Urban Core Area. The mixed-use residential buildings with ground floor retail are consistent with the plan originally envisioned. We are excited to deliver neighborhood-serving retail, building out open space amenities and removing obstacles to development progress. The single issue PCA addresses those goals by accelerating the delivery of the town center vision.

The PCA does not change the requirement for office, alter the retail requirements or change the open space plans. It simply enables the build out of the town center area with its retail and permanent open space to happen faster (but consistent with the uses, density and other proffer requirements).

Please stay tuned for updates on the PCA process via our website and the County’s publicly available information.

Thanks to everyone who joined the webinar on September 27 and a special thanks to Supervisor Palchik and County Staff for hosting! We were impressed to see 130+ attendees and appreciate all of the thoughtful questions as we get closer to the planned groundbreaking in 2022.

As mentioned in the meeting, the County is currently reviewing the site plan application for Buildings 6 and 10, which are the mixed-use multifamily buildings on the southwest and southeast parcels of the Town Center. We continue to make progress on the building architectural plans as well as ideas for interim park programming. Additionally, we have submitted a parking reduction request for review and approval by Fairfax County. This reduction from the parking ratios approved in 2006 (which far exceed current metro-adjacent ratios in the County) will only apply to the residential apartments in the Town Center. Residents of these apartments will be required to park in the dedicated structured garages for each multifamily building. Parking ratios for the ground-floor retail in each of the apartment buildings will match the current transit-station area (TSA) ratios in effect across Fairfax County. Appropriate parking ratios are one of the many aspects that will help the Town Center become a well-designed, transit-oriented development with a significant emphasis on the pedestrian experience.

https://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/providence/metrowest-development

Following submission of the site plan application in early August 2021, CRC is excited to share more information regarding a special component of the first phase of development of the Town Center. In conjunction with delivery of the first mixed-use multifamily building, which will include approximately 280 units and 7,000 SF of neighborhood-serving retail, an interim park will be constructed on a portion of the site across Saintsbury Drive from the WMATA South Parking Garage.

The interim park is envisioned to be open to the public and maintained by CRC. Check out the conceptual sketch below for a preview of the types of programming that could be included in the park. We look forward to providing the existing neighborhood and visitors with a new outdoor area to relax, walk their dogs, fly kites, and more! Additional information on the final park design will be released as it is available.

This new community engagement platform will be the official information hub for everything related to the future town center at MetroWest. As a locally-based company, we are dedicated to fostering meaningful dialogue with all stakeholders throughout the development process. This site is designed to complement our traditional means of outreach because we want the future town center to be a valuable addition to the existing community.

We look forward to hearing from the people who already live nearby as well as the people who will live, work, and visit these new spaces. If our new project excites you too, we encourage you to register to receive automatic updates. Here's to creating an inspiring community development together!