Government reviews Reston land development

By Gene Powell, staff writer

The American Dream Way project shortly after groundbreaking in 2024. The upscale housing project was set to be completed by the end of 2026. Land development is a hot topic in Reston, with major projects underway and proposals for more on the rise. Photo by Benjamin Burgess

Several major proposed Reston-residential and commercial developments moved forward in June through government reviews.

Reston National Golf Course: Developers are proceeding to seek county approval to develop a 14-plus acre portion of the 166-acre course, to build 308 townhouses along the property’s northwest and west sides. The owners also propose renovating existing facilities and adding features such as a multi-story lighted driving range facility and a second restaurant on the remaining 152 acres of the 56-year-old course. The next step in review of the proposal is a Sept. 23 hearing by the county planning commission.

The course owners maintain the small tract is already zoned for such residential housing, having been left outside 1971 rezoning that covers the remaining course. County officials have expressed skepticism about the claim. Officials last year rejected a proposal involving the entire course, in which as many as 800 residences would have been built on part of the land, and the remaining acreage would be a “linear” public park space donated to either Fairfax County or Reston Association (RA).

The association’s board solicited comments in June from residents on RA’s next steps and voted at a June meeting to continue its opposition to development of the course. At an April RA board meeting, Michele Hudnall, president of the Whitney Park East Homeowners Association and a Realtor, said she had conducted a study that shows $47 million in combined property equity would be immediately lost by 441 adjacent homeowners if the course is developed.

Lofts II at Reston Station: A planned June 23 public hearing by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors was deferred to a later date on a plan by Pulte Group for a second phase to the existing Lofts residential development. The project, east of Wiehle Blvd. and south of Sunrise Valley Drive, would replace three existing low-rise office buildings with about 160 homes –condominiums and stacked townhouses and some underground parking.

On June 10, the Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended approval of a rezoning application for the project, but the advisory Reston Planning and Zoning Committee on June 15 voted not to recommend the plan. Residents in the existing Lofts development continue to raise questions about parking, traffic, promised retail development and development of a new north-south street along the west edge of the proposed development.

Reston Town Center North: County officials on June 16 held the latest public hearings on the 47-acre proposed development bounded by Baron Cameron Drive, Town Center Parkway, Fountain Drive and New Dominion Parkway. The next step for the project is a July 22 review by the county planning commission, and a Sept. 15 public hearing by the board of supervisors.

In what is expected to be a decade-or-more series of projects, the area is projected to contain a new Fairfax County elementary school, a county recreation center, and athletic field. Relocation of both the existing Reston Regional Library and the Embry Rucker Shelter are included – and funded - in the tentative outline for the overall project, along with a central 3.6-acre green space and public performance area.

Citizens attending the hearing inquired about parking, pedestrian safety and the potential for a new school on the site. A representative of Inova said there are no plans to relocate its long-standing health care facility at the northeast corner of the project’s acreage but also said there is no commitment for permanent presence.

Isacc Newton Square: The county planning commission advanced a plan for 143 new townhouses in the northern portion of the square, a second step in changing the existing 36-acre office park into a total of 2,100 residences. The entire project gained general approval in 2019. The next step for the proposal is an Aug. 25 review by the county Board of Supervisors.

The full project envisions several types of townhomes and a seven-story, 345-unit multifamily building, according to planning commissions records.

Lake Anne Comprehensive Plan Amendment – Crescent development

Fairfax County Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn hosted a town hall meeting June 25 on updating the Lake Anne Comprehensive Plan to allow the option to include the Reston Community Center in the redevelopment of the Crescent Apartments.

The complex was purchased by the county several years ago. If approved as part of redevelopment to add additional affordable housing, the community center would be relocated from its current location at Lake Anne’s Washington Plaza. The new complex will contain as many as 750 multi-family residences.

At the meeting, Alcorn noted a major consideration is that the current community center is in a long-term lease through 2039 on private property, while relocating to the Crescent site would place it on publicly owned land. Attendees at the program asked about the future of existing art and other programs at the existing center, expansion of current and new programs, and the time it would take to build a new center. Alcorn said it’s likely a new center will not be built for at least 5-6 years, at the earliest, if approved by the Board of Supervisors.