GAINSWave Therapy in West Falls Church, VA

A plan to transform the West Falls Church Metro station’s parking lot into a mixed-use neighborhood has gotten Fairfax County’s approval, but a requested parking reduction — perhaps the most contentious element of the project — won’t be settled until July.

After a public hearing on Tuesday (June 27), the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors gave its support to the proposal from developers EYA, Rushmark Properties, and Hoffman & Associates, known collectively as FGCP-Metro LLC.

Conceived to boost train ridership and revitalize a 24-acre site that Metro has described as “underutilized,” the redevelopment will bring up to 810 multifamily residential units, 85 single-family townhouses (including nine live/work units), a 110,000-square-foot office building and up to 10,000 square feet of retail, totaling over 1 million square feet of development.

The development team has also promised six publicly accessible parks and several transportation improvements, including a shared-use trail on Haycock Road over I-66 and a portion of the West Falls Station Blvd that will eventually link Route 7 (Leesburg Pike) to the West Falls development now under construction in Falls Church City.

“In my opinion, the project meets all the criteria for a mixed-use development option in the [West Falls Church Transit Station Area] comprehensive plan,” said Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust, who represents the area. “I’m excited about the benefits it will bring to the community, and it’s not just me. It’s the community residents who have also said [that].”

The board’s approval came three months after the Fairfax County Planning Commission first recommended the project in March. The application returned to the commission on June 7 as a precaution after the Virginia Supreme Court voided the county’s modernized zoning ordinance, which threw two years of land use decisions into question.

Following the commission’s original vote, the county and developers tweaked some of the conditions, or proffers, tied to the project. Notable changes to the agreement, which was finalized on April 13, include:

Walsh Colucci lawyer Andrew Painter, who has been representing FGCP-Metro, told the commission at its June 7 hearing that the developers are confident they won’t run into any issues.

“We are assuming all waivers and modifications will be granted, assuming no easements will be necessary,” he said. “That was a conservative design that we developed, and as a result, we are obligated to construct that road within 12 months of the first occupancy permit on the property.”

The redevelopment plan has generally gotten support from the surrounding community, including the three civic associations representing residents immediately adjacent to the site, according to Foust.

Sonya Breehey, an area resident and Northern Virginia advocacy manager for the Coalition for Smarter Growth, praised the inclusion of pedestrian and bicycle facilities, green spaces and workforce and affordable housing.

“Providing more homes and jobs in walkable communities at a Metro station is how we can accommodate future growth with more sustainable transportation options that help reduce vehicle miles traveled and slash our greenhouse gas emissions,” she told the Board of Supervisors, calling the project “a great opportunity” to create a community that’s “healthy, sustainable and inclusive.”

However, some residents remain concerned about the potential influx of traffic and whether local roads can support the 3.2 million square feet of development planned for the area, including the Falls Church project and a proposed expansion of Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia Center campus.

Ellison Heights-Mt. Daniel Civic Association president Adrianne Whyte argued that the county and developers are making “incorrect assumptions” about people’s ability to travel in Fairfax County without a car, calling the plan for parking “ludicrous.”

FGCP-Metro hopes to provide 1,053 parking spaces, a 34% reduction from the 1,599 spaces required under the zoning ordinance. While the existing five-level Metro parking garage will remain, the station will lose approximately 700 spots to the development.

“We are stuck with the overdevelopment on the three parcels on Haycock Road that will add thousands of new residents in total to our neighborhood without corresponding infrastructure to support them,” Whyte said. “Can you name another transportation-oriented development of its magnitude on a two-lane road with an already stressed school system?”

Painter disagreed about the Metro development being “over-dense,” noting that it will taper down from the Falls Church and Virginia Tech projects.

Remarking that “some people do want to live a car-free lifestyle,” Breehey urged the county to fund more recommendations from an active transportation study released in December, including a road diet on Haycock and flashing beacons at the Washington & Old Dominion Trail and Virginia Lane crossing.

“These are the types of investments the county should be making to support its transit-oriented development,” instead of funding road widenings, Breehey said.

The board deferred a vote on the parking reduction request to July 11 so the county and developers can work out “some issues…that came up late in the process,” Foust said.

Foust and Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay thanked community members who’ve provided input on the development, going back to a comprehensive plan task force that launched in 2019.

“I do think this will be an outstanding addition to the area,” McKay said. “…Properties adjacent to Metro stations, these are the prime pieces of property in the county, where we can accomplish so many goals, from workforce housing to parks and reductions in vehicle trips and encouraging people to use mass transit, certainly something that is needed with [Metro].”

Depending on who had the microphone, last week’s public hearing on the proposed redevelopment of Metro’s West Falls Church station suggested it will either overwhelm local roads or avert “climate arson,” to use one speaker’s phrase.

As they did earlier in the planning process, supporters of the project seemed to have an edge over skeptics at the Fairfax County Planning Commission’s meeting on Wednesday (Feb. 8), arguing that the over 1-million-square-foot development would deliver needed housing and amenities, while making the transit station area more accessible and vibrant than the parking lots that it would replace.

“It is not pleasant to go through an enormous parking lot to get to Metro,” said Aaron Wilkowitz, a resident of the Mount Daniel neighborhood. “I would absolutely love it if we replace that parking lot with dog parks and with playgrounds and all sorts of wonderful things that my family can enjoy and that neighbors can enjoy.”

Developers EYA, Rushmark Properties, and Hoffman & Associates (FGCP-Metro LLC) are seeking to rezone the nearly 24-acre site to allow 810 multifamily residential units, 85 townhouses, a 110,000-square-foot office building and up to 10,000 square feet of retail.

The development would also bring about 2.1 acres of park space and transportation improvements — most notably, a 10-foot-wide shared-use trail on Haycock Road over I-66, as recommended by a community advisory group late last year.

Even the more critical speakers praised the inclusion of the Haycock Metrorail Connector Trail, but they worried about whether the developers will deliver. County planner Bryan Botello noted that the design needs to be approved by the county and state transportation departments.

Some residents questioned whether the grid of streets and 1,095 parking spaces sought at the site — 40% fewer than the 1,781 spaces required by the county — will support traffic, especially with development also coming to the adjacent Virginia Tech campus and in nearby Falls Church.

Ellison Heights-Mt. Daniel Civic Association president Adrianne Whyte warned that, if the parking and loading space is inadequate, “existing roads will become dysfunctional.”

“If this rezoning is approved, the development envisioned by all three parcels combined will dramatically change the stability of our neighborhood, increase the traffic on the roads within and around our neighborhood, and probably negatively impact the quality of life of the residents and other surrounding neighborhoods,” Whyte said.

Resident Cheryl Sim expressed skepticism that the future West Falls Station Blvd linking all three properties will mitigate traffic on Haycock, noting that the Falls Church and Virginia Tech developers have said the road will be closed “on occasion” for events.

A resident of the Pavillion Condominiums next to the site countered that he would welcome street closures if it means he no longer has to travel to Falls Church to find “vibrant community life.”

FGCP-Metro LLC will construct the project in phases, with much of the transportation infrastructure coming first to maintain access to the Metro station and bus stops — a condition of its agreement with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority.

That includes the on-site segment of West Falls Church Blvd and other planned internal streets. The developers will also be required to complete the Haycock trail before the county permits 40 residents.

“The impetus of this project is really to achieve WMATA’s twin aims of boosting ridership and upgrading its aging infrastructure, so we are providing a lot of infrastructure up front, about $30 million worth,” Walsh Colucci lawyer Andrew Painter said for the applicant.

Proponents argued that putting housing at transit stations alleviates traffic by giving residents direct access to transportation options other than cars, suggesting that, if anything, the development should be more dense than what’s proposed.

“People have to live somewhere,” said Joseph Schiarizzi, who chairs Falls Church’s Environmental Sustainability Council but spoke as an individual. “And they’re either going to drive through our neighborhoods, through Leesburg Pike and completely block it up, or they can live near where they work…Literally on top of a Metro, obviously that’s where the most possible people should live. It just makes sense, and to do anything else is really climate arson, I believe.”

While the planning commission deferred a decision to March 8, Dranesville District Commissioner John Ulfelder observed that the most enthusiastic about the project tended to be younger, including a mother who testified at 11:20 p.m. despite having “a 2 a.m. wake-up call waiting for me at home” in the form of a 4-month-old kid.

The woman said she and her husband moved into the Gates at Westfalls Condominiums so they could be in walking distance of Metro, which they both use for their work commutes.

“If we had it our way, we would never drive our cars, but that can be hard to do in this area, so we are very excited and grateful to have more options to walk to in the near future,” she said.

Rendering via EYA

The development now under construction on Falls Church City’s former high school site has landed its first retail tenants.

Hoffman & Associates, the developer behind the nearly 10-acre West Falls neighborhood, announced yesterday (Thursday) that the restaurants SEOULSPICE, BurgerFi and Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls will all open in fall 2024, along with the Spanish immersion preschool Tierra Encantada.

“West Falls will serve as a dynamic destination and vibrant community in the heart of West Falls Church,” Hoffman & Associates President Shawn Seaman said in a press release. “Each of these new businesses will bring something unique to the neighborhood, and we look forward to sharing more additions to this community in the near future.”

Tierra Encantada will occupy 10,000 square feet of space at 7131 Magnolia Street in the development’s retail corridor, which will be in the median of a new street called West Falls Station Blvd bisecting the neighborhood.

This will be the second of 15 locations that the early childhood education provider has planned for Northern Virginia. The first school opened in Alexandria last year, and a third one has been proposed near Ballston in Arlington.

“This early education and preschool program focuses on promoting early cognitive development and respect for diversity with a fully Spanish curriculum, a play-based learning model, and daily scratch-made meals from organic ingredients,” Hoffman & Associates said.

Here’s more on the three restaurants from the press release:

SEOULSPICE, a quick service restaurant known for its Korean comfort food, plans to open a new, over 2,000-square-foot location at 150 West Falls Station Boulevard. This will be SEOULSPICE’s eighth location in the DMV, expanding further into the Northern Virginia market and reinforcing the company’s commitment to serving delicious and nutritious gluten-free Korean cuisine.

BurgerFi, a popular fast-casual burger concept, will open a new over 2,000-square-foot location at 170 West Falls Station Blvd. With over 125 restaurants domestically and internationally, BurgerFi is a chef-founded concept offering a casual dining atmosphere with award-winning American cuisine. BurgerFi uses 100% natural American Angus beef with no steroids, antibiotics, growth hormones, chemicals or additives and offers a diverse menu including their award-winning vegetarian VegeFi® Burger, Wagyu Beef, Cage-Free “Fi’ed” Chicken Tenders and Sandwiches, Fresh-Cut Fries and Beer-Battered Onion Rings, Frozen Custard Desserts, beer, wine, and more.

Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls will open at 235 West Falls Station Blvd with 1,375 square feet – its largest location yet. Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls is the largest lobster roll brand in the U.S., bringing the luxury of lobster to all at an affordable price point and casual environment. Mason’s uses simple recipes and the highest-quality lobster sustainably sourced directly from Maine.

Planned for 1.2 million square feet of construction, West Falls is the biggest development project in Falls Church’s history.

In addition to 142,100 square feet of retail, it will include about 647 apartment and condominium units, 217 units of senior housing, a 146-room hotel, 326,100 square feet of office space, about 14,000 square feet of civic space, and an 18,000-square-foot community gathering space called The Commons.

The project broke ground in May 2022, and the first buildings are on track to be finished in fall 2024, though the senior living facility may be delayed after developer Trammel Crow dropped out of that part of project.

Hoffman & Associates told the Falls Church City Council in June that the first phase is expected to be substantially complete in January 2025. That includes the hotel, a multifamily condominium building, a medical office building, two parking garages, and an apartment building with a still-unidentified grocery store.

West Falls constitutes the city’s portion of a massive effort to revitalize the 40-acre West Falls Church Transit Station Area. The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors recently approved plans to overhaul both the Metro station property in Idylwood and Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia Center campus.

“This larger development is intended to add an active and pedestrian-friendly area to the vibrant neighborhood that fosters community, sustainability and innovation,” Hoffman & Associates said.

The nearly 24-acre, mixed-use development planned for the West Falls Church Metro station will come with at least a few upgrades to the surrounding transportation network in Idylwood, if it’s approved.

Developers EYA, Rushmark Properties, and Hoffman & Associates — known collectively as FGCP-Metro LLC — have agreed to construct a shared-use trail along the north side of Haycock Road over I-66, according to a draft proffer agreement in Fairfax County’s Jan. 24 staff report on the development plans.

The proposed trail would replace the road’s existing asphalt sidewalk and one of its westbound lanes. It would be at least 10 feet wide — exceeding the 8 feet recommended by a county study of the area’s pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure.

A concept plan shows the trail being separated from the road by a 3-foot-wide jersey barrier on the I-66 bridge and a guardrail and buffer strip to the east of the bridge. With the trail, the developers would also add a crosswalk across Turner Avenue, where the trail would begin.

Under the proffers, which are conditions tied to the development, the Haycock Metrorail Connector Trail must open before the county issues a 40th residential-use permit for the townhouses planned on the Metro station site, though the deadline can be deferred if needed to get required approvals and easements.

Other improvements that the developers say they’ll provide include:

The developers have also agreed to conduct a traffic signal timing analysis and contribute $20,000 that the county can use to install traffic signal preemption devices on traffic lights within a 5-mile radius of the development site.

The development’s traffic impacts have been a top concern for many in the community, who argue that the existing infrastructure is insufficient even without the over 1 million square feet of residential, office and retail space that FGCP-Metro hopes to build on the Metro station’s parking lots at 7040 Haycock Road.

Another 820,000 square feet of development has been proposed on Virginia Tech’s adjacent Northern Virginia Center campus.

Metro’s West Falls Church redevelopment will bring up to 810 multifamily units, 90 townhomes, and a 110,000 square feet office building with up to 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.

The developers intend to build the project’s eight blocks in four phases. Individual plans have been submitted for the grid of streets, townhouses, the office building and one multifamily building, along with two proposed parks, but the blocks could be completed in any order under the proffer agreement.

Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust’s office will hold a virtual community meeting on the project at 7 p.m. today (Tuesday). The application is set to go to the Fairfax County Planning Commission for a public hearing on Wednesday, Feb. 8.

If you're heading to Falls Church's fireworks event, there are locations you can and cannot park.

FALLS CHURCH, VA — If your family likes to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday by viewing fireworks, the City of Falls Church's Independence Day celebration is scheduled for Sunday, prompting traffic and parking impacts.

In the past few years, Fourth of July celebrations were not held amid COVID-19 and construction of the new Meridian High School. But now the event returns to Meridian High School with viewing in the high school's stadium. Overflow seating will also be available in the Virginia Tech parking lot.

The event begins at 6 p.m. with fireworks around 9:20 p.m. Attendees can bring small bags, coolers, food, beverages not in glass containers, blankets, and camping or stadium style chairs. Snacks will be available for purchase. Alcohol, smoking, glass containers, all fireworks, pets, and chairs with sharp or pointed legs are not allowed.

Before heading to the event, know where you're allowed to park. The city recommends parking in the West Falls Church Metro's parking garage, which is free on weekends. However, tailgating is not allowed in the parking garage.

Meridian High School and Mary Ellen Henderson parking lots will be limited to event personnel and accessible parking attendees. Handicap accessible parking will be provided first come, first served at Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School via Leesburg Pike. Drivers should show their accessible parking placard at the parking lot.

Find out what's happening in Falls Churchwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Attendees may not park in the Virginia Tech parking lot, which will be a fireworks viewing area. Event parking is not allowed at the Falls Church Birch & Broad shopping center at 1200 W. Broad Street, except for customers visiting the businesses. Vehicles may be towed if you park and leave the shopping center.

From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday, parking will also be restricted in the City of Falls Church near Meridian High School for emergency vehicle use. Parking will only be available on one side of the street on Grove Avenue, Birch Street, Spruce Street, Offut Drive and Falls Avenue.

Along with parking restrictions, the city expects traffic delays at the end of the event. Lane closures will be in place to provide pedestrian walkways at the end of the event.