If all goes as planned, EYA Development will be building 190 homes along West Ox and Legato roads in Fair Oaks. Proposed on a 7.85-acre site is a multi-family building containing 99 condominiums, plus 91 townhouses.
Attorney Elizabeth Baker and Matthew Birenbaum, EYA senior vice president, explained what's planned during Tuesday night's meeting of the Springfield District/Fairfax Center Land-Use Committee.
"The buildings have a contemporary architectural style — four-story townhouses with roof decks," said Birenbaum. "It's a more expensive, higher-end product." He said home sizes will range from 800 square feet for the smallest condo to 2,900 square feet for the largest townhouse, "so prices will range from $300,000 to close to a million."
The site is adjacent to Centerpoint Church and near the Ragan Oaks and Monument Place by Camden residential communities. It's also across the street from commercial office buildings and the Fairfax Towne Center.
"We originally planned 170 units — all single-family, attached homes," said Baker. "But [Fairfax] county staff asked us to have multi-family, as well."
The four-story condo building, at the corner of West Ox and Legato, will have two levels of parking underneath. Guests will be able to park along the internal streets, and the townhouses will have two-car garages.
"We have a great streetscape, with front doors addressing the street and a clear path for pedestrians to take," said Baker. "And we created a pocket park at the southern end of the site and a substantial tree-save area and two pocket parks adjacent to the church property — and these are the best trees on the site."
EYA also envisions a street wall with trees along Legato Road. The community's two entrances would line up with the nearby office buildings' entrance, and a plaza/park area would be opposite the offices' plaza/park.
The condo building would include a fitness area and place for gatherings, plus 16 affordable dwelling units (ADUs). Baker said EYA will also contribute some $330,000 to the school system because 44 school-age children are projected to live in the new community.
Added Birenbaum: "We're also proffering a bus shelter along West Ox Road in this vicinity and pedestrian connections across the street to [the Fairfax Towne Center]."
EYA needs the county's permission to build a residential project there, because offices were originally earmarked for that spot. But Baker said the new homes will generate only 1/5 the amount of morning, rush-hour traffic as the offices would have, and 1/4 the amount of evening, rush-hour vehicles. She said offices would yield 3,900 vehicle trips per day, compared to 1,400 from the homes.
Land-use committee members Fred Bailey and Mark Cummings thought the projected number of schoolchildren was too low, and Claudette Ward suggested a game room for children be included in the condo building. The commitee approved the proposal, subject to a play area being added and EYA trying to save two, 24-inch-wide oak trees near the church that could be harmed by the construction.