Residents are invited Give Herndon’s Town Council feedback on the redevelopment of historic downtown on Wednesday, June 8 or Tuesday, June 14, at Council Chambers. Photo by Ken Moore.
Stout and Teague envision a hotel on the corner of Center Street and Elden Street to go along with new residential condos in downtown Herndon.
“It is often said that new residences can cost more in services than they generate in taxes,” said Neel Teague, principal with Stout and Teague. “We feel this balance of commercial and residential density will generate net positive revenue.
“The hotel will bring many visitors in the heart of downtown and support the other businesses,” he said.
Stout and Teague call their possible redevelopment of Herndon’s downtown Herndon Town Commons.
Architects with Comstock Partners and Torti Gallas Partners planners envision 281 high quality apartments and 17,600 square feet of retail with walkways and plazas.
“This site is truly the heart of historic Herndon and is surrounded by wonderful, wonderful assets, buildings like the one we are in today,” Comstock and Torti Gallas architects as they described walkways and plazas they want to connect people “to and through the site.”
They call the 4.675 acres in historic downtown “dynamic and key,” and “a critical piece of your downtown.”
The two potential developers presented their proposals for the redevelopment of 4.675 acres in historic downtown last Wednesday, June 8 before a full Council Chamber audience at 765 Lynn Street.
Residents will give Herndon Town Council feedback on the two potential proposals at the Town Council hearing on Tuesday, June 14 and can also give the Council feedback online.
See the two proposals on the Town’s website at at www.herndon-va.gov/downtownrfp.
HERNDON’S COUNCIL voted in May 2015, to purchase 1.67 acres of land in Herndon’s historic downtown from Ashwell, LLC for $3.519 million that added to the three acres of downtown land it already owns.
The purchase clears the way for a comprehensive development project in the downtown, in accordance with the Downtown Master Plan adopted by the Town Council in 2011.
“The Town of Herndon has been envisioning a comprehensive redevelopment in our downtown for decades,” said Mayor Lisa Merkel, around the time of the purchase. “We made significant strides toward that vision by adopting our Downtown Master Plan.
“Until this purchase, however, we have been limited in our ability to effectively position downtown Herndon for comprehensive redevelopment, as much of the necessary land was under private ownership,” she said.
The Town of Herndon’s adopted master plan for the downtown envisions a mix of retail, office and residential development, to include four-story, mixed-use/residential structures; three-story mixed-use/commercial structures; a jointly-funded public/private parking structure; an arts center and more. The land is generally described as between Station Street to the east, Center Street to the west, south of the W&OD Trail, and north of Elden Street.
The Council is anticipated to select the top proposal in the summer, said Dennis Holste, the Town’s economic development manager.