A number of commercial, residential developments are on the drawing board for the Fair Lakes, Fair Oaks and Fairfax Corner area.
* Mixed-Use Project: The Peterson Cos. is building a 10-story, multi-family building, a six-story office building and a four-level parking garage in Fair Lakes. Work has not yet begun, but construction is expected to take a year.
The 10-story condominium building will be the first, high-rise residential building in Fair Lakes. In its 150,000 square feet will be some 125 residential units with underground parking. It will arise between the Hyatt Fair Lakes and an existing, 10-story office building, and two-bedroom units are expected to sell for $350,000 to $450,000.
Situated so close to the hotel, condo residents would be able to avail themselves of the Hyatt's restaurant, coffee shop and bar. The condo building will have a swimming pool on the roof, plus a health club and exercise room inside.
The new office building will be 113,000 square feet on a spot that's now surface parking. The four-story parking deck will replace the existing parking and will also house the parking for the new office building. The project also includes the creation of a plaza between the residential area and the existing office building. Another plaza, between the new and old office buildings, may possibly accommodate outdoor dining.
* Ridgewood: This huge, new project featuring shops, restaurants, homes and offices will come to fruition at the northwest intersection of Waples Mill Road and Lee Highway, near Ridge Top Road in Fairfax. Developer KSI Services Inc. of Vienna will create an active, mixed-use community balanced with retail and office uses, plus landscaped open space for community use.
Planned on an 18-acre site are 152,400 square feet of offices — with an option to add 50,000 square feet more, 32,100 square feet of retail and 500 residential units. The homes will be high-quality condominiums for purchase, rather than rent, and will be about 1,300 square feet each.
One residential building will be seven or eight stories high, and another will feature some 20,000 square feet of the retail uses, with condos on the second floor. The project will also contain some ADUs (affordable dwelling units), plus workforce housing to accommodate people making about $74,000/year — higher than what's required to qualify for an ADU.
Parking for the offices will be in a parking garage, and residential parking will be under a central plaza so none of the vehicles will be visible from the outside. The developer will also extend Government Center Parkway between Monument Drive and Waples Mill Road. It'll be four lanes, median-divided and will help with traffic flow in the Lee Highway Corridor.
* East Market: Part retail, part residential, East Market at Fair Lakes is currently springing up on 34 acres between Dick's Sporting Goods and West Ox Road, in the southwest corner of the Fair Lakes Parkway and West Ox. Developing it is The Peterson Cos. of Fair Lakes. It's a three-part project, consisting of a retail center oriented to a tree-lined street, with parking behind it. Just off of Fair Lakes Parkway and Fair Lakes Circle (near the Kohl's department store) will be a Whole Foods grocery store, expected to open in January 2007. At 64,000 square feet, it will be one of the chain's largest stores in Virginia and will also seat 70-80 people for in-store meals.
There'll also be small, supporting shops including a Chevy Chase Bank, Maggie Moo's ice cream parlor and an upscale stationery store called Blue Tulip, all anticipated to open in late fall. In addition, Pei Wei Asian Diner is slated to open there in August. It's a quick-serve restaurant associated with P.F. Chang's.
A pedestrian-oriented area with a Main Street feel, these businesses front on a new street called East Market Drive — connecting from the front of Dick's to Fair Lakes Parkway. Also part of this shopping area is a plaza where people may sit and relax.
Élan at East Market will be an eight-story, residential condo building with elevators and underground parking. The approximately 200 units will come with one, two or three bedrooms. It will arise across from Whole Foods; construction is now beginning.
Some 200 "stacked townhouses" — which are actually two-story condos built above other two-story condos. The project will also include 13 affordable dwelling units (ADUs). Construction is almost complete on the units closest to the corner of West Ox and Fair Lakes Parkway, and work on the others is also well underway. They're billed as "townhome-style, garage condominiums" and are anticipated to sell from the upper $300,000s.
Peterson is also making some needed road improvements. It's adding a second, left-turn lane on Fair Lakes Parkway, eastbound, for motorists going north on West Ox. At the same location, it's lengthening the right-turn lane.
A traffic light will be installed at the project's entrance from Fair Lakes Parkway, and several other turn lanes around the property's frontage will either get lengthened or be added. Peterson will also construct a large, noise barrier on I-66 to shield its project from highway sounds.
* Pender Campus: A new, mixed-use development is being proposed for Fair Oaks. To be called Pender Campus, it would contain offices and retail in an upscale, village square/town center-type concept. The nearly 35 1/2-acre site is at Route 50 and Fair Ridge Drive, on the Dominion Virginia Power site, just west of the Exxon station and the Hilton Garden Inn.
The project is envisioned as being two-thirds office use and one-third retail. Commercial tenants will include a Harris Teeter grocery store, a Coldstone Creamery and a restaurant. The idea is that residents in the surrounding neighborhoods and people working in the offices could walk to the retail uses.
* Fairfax Towne Center: When more retail stores, plus condos, are added to the Fairfax Towne Center, this popular shopping center off West Ox Road in Fair Oaks will have a dramatic new look. Lincoln Property Co. is constructing a new, five-story building on what's now a parking lot between the movie theater and Baja Fresh.
The 203,800-square-foot structure will contain 184,000 square feet of residential use — 169 condos and eight affordable dwelling units (ADUs) — on four floors, over 19,800 square feet of ground-floor retail. A pool, gym, terraces, walkways, seating areas, underground parking and landscaping are also planned.
Lincoln will erect a sign along Monument Court directing shoppers, as well as residents of the new building, toward the residential garage, the retail garage or the retail surface parking lot. Lincoln has also agreed to build an 8-foot-wide trail along the northern portion of the site and paint a new crosswalk to connect with an existing crosswalk at Bed, Bath and Beyond. And it will contribute money for additional trails in the Springfield District.
* Camden Monument Place: A four-story apartment complex with a plaza and some small retail businesses is well under construction in Fair Oaks. Called Camden Monument Place, it's at the corner of Monument Drive and Fair Lakes Parkway, near Fair Oaks Mall.
Texas-based developer Camden is building 372 units on the 7 1/2-acre site; 60 percent of the apartments will be one-bedroom, and 40 percent, two-bedroom. The buildings will have elevators and will front on Monument and Fair Lakes, with a trail along Monument. Virtually all the parking will be contained inside one of the buildings, on the back side. And a swimming pool, gym and rec center will be on site for the residents' enjoyment.
* EYA Residential Community: EYA Development is building 210 homes along West Ox and Legato roads in Fair Oaks. They will arise on a 7.85-acre site within a multi-family building containing 120 condominiums, plus 90 townhouses. Home sizes will range from 800 square feet for the smallest condo to 2,900 square feet for the largest townhouse, with prices ranging from $300,000 to close to a million dollars.
The property is adjacent to Centerpoint Church and near the Ragan Oaks and Monument Place by Camden residential communities. It's also right across the street from commercial office buildings and the Fairfax Towne Center. Intended as a classy, upscale product, the homes will have a contemporary architectural style.
The four-story townhouses will even feature roof decks. And the four-story condo building, at the corner of West Ox and Legato, will have two levels of parking underneath. Guests will park along the internal streets, and the townhouses will have two-car garages.
An attractive streetscape is planned, with front doors addressing the street, plus a clear path for pedestrians. A pocket park will be created at the southern end of the site, and there'll be a substantial tree-save area, as well as two more pocket parks next to the church property. The developer has also agreed to save two, 24-inch-wide oak trees near the church.
In addition, EYA envisions a street wall with trees along Legato Road. The two entrances to the community will line up with the entrance to the nearby office buildings, and a plaza/park area will be directly opposite the offices' plaza/park. The condo building will include a fitness area and place for gatherings, as well as 16 affordable dwelling units (ADUs).
* The Katherine K. Hanley Family Shelter will be the fourth such facility in Fairfax County — and the first in its western part. It will predominantly serve single mothers with children, mainly elementary-school age and younger — providing a safe haven for Centreville, Chantilly and Fairfax City parents who have no place to stay.
It's being constructed on 5.7 acres just west of Meadows Farms Nursery in Centreville, between the Hampton Forest and Stringfellow Road intersections on Route 29. Groundbreaking was in April, building completion should be in late spring 2007, with occupancy and operation following in early summer 2007.
The 16,931-square-foot shelter will be mostly two stories, with a residential appearance to blend in with its neighborhood. It's planned to house up to 20 families — 60 people total.
The two-story wing will contain bedrooms, with two bedrooms on each floor. The living room and dining room will face the back where the outdoor play area will be. The part of the building that's 1 1/2 stories will be toward Route 29 and will provide spaces for offices and classes upstairs.
The shelter will have a brick entrance and base, plus siding, and a shingled roof. In the rear, facing west on the site, will be a playground and outdoor sitting area. As part of the project, the county will construct a pedestrian trail along the shelter's property frontage on Route 29. It will also build the two missing sections of the trail system between the shelter and Stringfellow Road.
Entry will be via a service-road stub coming from the adjacent Estates of Fairfax subdivision built by Equity Homes. And there'll be a loop for cars, school buses and trucks, plus 42 parking spaces.
A pair of two-story, transitional housing units — each 3,000 square feet and serving three families — is planned for the future. These buildings will have shingle roofs and siding with brick accents to fit in with nearby homes and will be behind the shelter. So far, though, they're only partially funded. In April, the Board of Supervisors appropriated $1 million for them from the county's General Fund. And Housing and Community Development is seeking funding sources for the $1 million more that's needed to fully fund them.
However, the county does have the approximately $6.6 million it needs to construct the shelter, itself, courtesy of its own General Fund and previous budget carry-over, the Housing Trust Fund and a $1 million proffer from a Tysons Corner developer, The West Group.
Fairfax County's three existing family shelters are in the northern, southern and eastern parts of the county — with 60-70 families on the waiting list, at all times — so a shelter in western Fairfax is sorely needed. And now, at long last, it's finally on its way.