Rumor: Renovated for a new Whole Foods?
“This is nice,” said one shopper going down the Giant aisle.
The other two parts of the equation involve the Whole Foods which is in the Keene Mill Center about two miles west of Springfield Plaza, and the Trader Joe’s which is now in a spot between Giant and the construction site. It may be going to the Whole Foods location in Keene Mill Center. The construction workers at the renovation site are tight lipped, and one employee in Trader Joe’s isn’t convinced. “No, we’re not moving, to the best of my knowledge,” he said.
The Springfield Plaza shopping center is right in the middle of the Springfield Commercial Revitalization District on the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Development website. It is one of 11 revitalization regions in the county. All this revitalization work aligns with the community’s vision and improves the economic vitality, function, and appearance of those areas, the county revitalization office said.
Rumors have a way of getting a life of their own though. Next door in the Verizon store, they’ve heard it too. “Rumored to be a Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s is going to Whole Foods,” a clerk said. A manager named “Brian,” in one of the stores wants it to be over. “All that construction is getting in the way of walking and driving,” he said.
When’s this all going to happen? A staffer at the Treasure Trove store said they will be moving to another location in the same shopping center this winter. A pedestrian bridge is under construction to link the plaza with the new transportation center lot on the other side of Old Keene Mill Road and is expected to be completed in spring 2023.
East of I-95 near Kingstowne, a wooded lot is labeled as a “health care hub,” by the revitalization officials. This is next to the existing Inova Healthplex, and it will include a hospital, an outpatient center and parking garage, the revitalization documents stated.