Northern Virginia Development News

[seldomseen]

I was in Reston this past weekend. The town is looking better and better every year. It's changed tremendously. RTC just needs more people out walking and shopping...to give the center more life. Nonetheless, it's a nice project.

[shakman]

Originally Posted by seldomseen

I was in Reston this past weekend. The town is looking better and better every year. It's changed tremendously. RTC just needs more people out walking and shopping...to give the center more life. Nonetheless, it's a nice project.

If you want to see more people, take a walk around RTC on a Friday and Saturday evening during the late spring to early fall months.

[seldomseen]

Fairfax Corner is another very impressive development and was jammed packed too!

[shakman]

Originally Posted by seldomseen

Fairfax Corner is another very impressive development and was jammed packed too!

I have been to that development. A very well done development.
http://fairfaxcorner.com/homepage.cfm?id=6#

[shakman]

Fairfax County Board of Supervisors have approved the names of both phases of the Silver Line Stations within Fairfax County. WMATA will give the final approval later this year.

Published: Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Fairfax tries out new Silver Line station names By Kali Schumitz
Staff Writer
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has recommended a new set of names for the eight new Metrorail stations that will be opening in the county over the next few years as part of the Silver Line.

The new proposed names are, from east to west: McLean, Tysons Corner, Greensboro, Spring Hill, Wiehle-Reston East, Reston Town Center, Herndon and Innovation Center.

“This is not a trivial exercise of naming stations and I think we’ve come up with some really good ones here,” said Supervisor Jeff McKay (D-Lee).

The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority board rejected the county’s first set of station name proposals because they were too similar. The first proposal included four stations with the name “Tysons” in them and three that included “Reston.”

Fairfax County and Metro then conducted an online survey that garnered more than 16,000 responses. County staff used the survey results to propose new names that they say both have public support and meet Metro’s station naming criteria.

Metro says that station names must be relevant to the surrounding area, brief, unique among station names and evocative, evoking imagery in the mind of the patron.

“What the policy wants us to do is to find a name that helps the rider arrive at the right station,” said Supervisor Cathy Hudgins (D-Hunter Mill).

Supervisor Linda Smyth (D-Providence) said she had some concerns that the proposed name Greensboro Park was not clear enough, because it refers to a nearby office campus that is slated for redevelopment.

“We know what Tysons is going to become, and some of these names reflect what Tysons has been, which is an office park,” Smyth said. She suggested naming the station after nearby roads, Westpark and Gosnell, but her motion failed. The board ultimately compromised and selected the name “Greensboro.”

Other supervisors said they believe the station names will help guide the names of new developments in Tysons as it redevelops because property owners will want people to know that it is located near a certain Metro station.

The WMATA board still gets the final say on the station names later this year.

kschumitz@fairfaxtimes.com


© 2012 Post-Newsweek Media, Inc./FairfaxTimes.com

[manjazz123]

Now that Accenture is moving into their new beautiful building in Ballston, who's going to take their old building in Reston?

[seldomseen]

Originally Posted by manjazz123

Now that Accenture is moving into their new beautiful building in Ballston, who's going to take their old building in Reston?

I'm surprised Accenture is moving to Ballston. Has Ballston evolved into a dot com city?

[jam5]

Originally Posted by seldomseen

I'm surprised Accenture is moving to Ballston. Has Ballston evolved into a dot com city?

It might if it tears down the current Ballston Commons Mall and replaces it with a bigger, more upscale 21st century version.

[NovaWolverine]

Originally Posted by seldomseen

I'm surprised Accenture is moving to Ballston. Has Ballston evolved into a dot com city?

Ballston has a small tech footprint, but Arlington as a whole definitely has an emerging tech/internet presence. I think Clarendon could be the hub for this kind of thing in Arlington with activity spreading out along Wilson Blvd. OPower is headed in Clarendon, and Living Social may move to Arlington, depending on how much money the DC gov't gives them and how long they can survive. Ballston has more of a traditional 9-5 gov't worker kind of vibe, but there's some potential for the entire corridor.

[manjazz123]

I want to get some more activity going on in here.


Widening I-66 achieves little vs. cheaper alternatives

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/...-alternatives/

I sit in I-66 traffic every day driving to Reston and back. Wish there was a quick solution (Silver line can't open soon enough)

[seldomseen]

Originally Posted by NovaWolverine

Ballston has a small tech footprint, but Arlington as a whole definitely has an emerging tech/internet presence. I think Clarendon could be the hub for this kind of thing in Arlington with activity spreading out along Wilson Blvd. OPower is headed in Clarendon, and Living Social may move to Arlington, depending on how much money the DC gov't gives them and how long they can survive. Ballston has more of a traditional 9-5 gov't worker kind of vibe, but there's some potential for the entire corridor.

Decentralization can be a good thing. The whole Dulles Technology Corridor and Loudon County has a nice feel if you're looking for a nice family oriented feel.

[seldomseen]

Originally Posted by jam5

It might if it tears down the current Ballston Commons Mall and replaces it with a bigger, more upscale 21st century version.

Probably won't ever happen because Pentagon City mall has already capitalized as a high-end mall within this particular area of NOVA. Some sort of high density and SF open air concept would probably be even better idea.

[jam5]

Originally Posted by seldomseen

Probably won't ever happen because Pentagon City mall has already capitalized as a high-end mall within this particular area of NOVA. Some sort of high density and SF open air concept would probably be even better idea.

Do you mean something like Clarendon? Or do you have some other example in mind? I have never been to San Francisco so I don't really have any visuals of what you are thinking.

[desertpunk]

Work Begins On Founders Square Residential Building

Construction of The Place (left) is underway. An office building (right) also is planned for the site.

April 27, 2012

Excavation has begun for the 17-story, mixed-use residential and retail building at Founders Square called The Place.

Crews are digging at 4000 Wilson Blvd. in Ballston to prepare the lot for construction, said Kevin Shooshan, leasing and marketing director at the Shooshan Company. Preparation work for the proposed LEED Silver building includes cleansing the soil at the former brownfield site.

KBR Building Group received the construction contract last month and began work soon after, a spokeswoman for the company said. She said construction would be completed by early 2014, but Shooshan said the building would be finished at the end of next year.

[...]

Shooshan closed in February on a $71.1 million loan from SunTrust to build The Place, one of four buildings slated for the company's mixed-use development designed by RTKL that includes residential, office and hotel space with about 25,000 s.f. of retail spread throughout.

A few months ago, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) moved into a 13-story, 350,000-square-foot, LEED Gold office building completed in the first phase of development.

The Donohoe Companies is working on an 11-story, 182-room, LEED Silver Residence Inn by Marriott just to the south, crews have already built up to the sixth floor.

The fourth building, just east of The Place at 4040 Wilson Blvd., is planned as a 20-story, 400,000 s.f., LEED Gold office building. Work has not started on the last building.


---

[seldomseen]

Nice looking rendition...should be nice when it's finished.

[jam5]

Originally Posted by jam5

Do you mean something like Clarendon? Or do you have some other example in mind? I have never been to San Francisco so I don't really have any visuals of what you are thinking.

To reiterate, seldomseen:

by 'open air' are you referring to something like Clarendon, or something like this:

[seldomseen]

I was referring to something along the lines of a modified, high density Village at Shirlington, Reston Town Center, Fairfax Corner et cetera as "open air".

[NovaWolverine]

I don't really think Ballston is limited in what it can do as a retail destination. It shouldn't be going for the high-end market or try to mimic Pentagon City or Tysons Corner, but the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor doesn't have a very good retail scene.

Short of bulldozing the mall, I don't think Reston Town Center, Clarendon Commons, Shirlington, Fairfax Corner, etc. are realistic. I think what Jam5 showed is more realistic, but they need to get another couple major anchor tenants, improve the dining experience, better incorporate or expand the movie theatre, along with major architectural enhancements.

[seldomseen]

Originally Posted by NovaWolverine

I don't really think Ballston is limited in what it can do as a retail destination. It shouldn't be going for the high-end market or try to mimic Pentagon City or Tysons Corner, but the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor doesn't have a very good retail scene.

Short of bulldozing the mall, I don't think Reston Town Center, Clarendon Commons, Shirlington, Fairfax Corner, etc. are realistic. I think what Jam5 showed is more realistic, but they need to get another couple major anchor tenants, improve the dining experience, better incorporate or expand the movie theatre, along with major architectural enhancements.

What Jam5 showed is basically a fancy looking mall and will very likely experience the same fate that many malls have experienced in the United States. The Reston Town Center, Fairfax Corner, et cetera concept would probably be a better approach and better integrate and enhance the surrounding urbanized area.

However, the limitation in lot size would probably lead to a "no go" in doing so. The money certainly exists within the city to cater to the high end clientele, but with Pentagon City and Tyson's Corner only being a hop, skip and jump away, trying to penetrate into the high end market would likely be an effort made in vain.

[NovaWolverine]

I think we agree about what's feasible versus what's preferable. The county also has to come to grips with how corporate it wants to be in certain places. There's no doubt in my mind that a Target, Best Buy, or small format Home Depot could thrive in the mall. Ballston already feels more corporate than Clarendon and Courthouse, so I don't think anything would be ruined.

But, I don't think the fate of the mall would need to follow the path that some have. We have a number of issues in the country with respect to retail and malls, and one of them is that we have too much of them. The orange line corridor is a bit different though because there's lots of people with disposable income and probably not enough of certain kinds of retail. The mall is a dump, but I think there are options besides starting completely from the ground up, even if that's what I'd prefer they do.