Metro and a private builder are planning to redevelop the area surrounding the West Falls Church station to include more than 1 million square feet of homes, offices and retail spaces, the transit agency announced.
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Metro said Thursday it has reached an agreement with Falls Church Gateway Partners-Metro — a company formed by real estate developers EYA, Hoffman and Associates, and Rushmark Properties — on a 99-year lease that calls for the developer to build and manage the Metro-owned property. Metro would receive rent and sales payments from the developer, and the agency said the development also would create new fare-paying riders from residents, workers and shoppers it expects to draw.
“Building transit-oriented development is an important strategy for managing many of this region’s most pressing challenges, such as traffic congestion, sustainability, housing production, and transit ridership recovery,” Metro General Manager Paul J. Wiedefeld said in a statement.
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Construction could begin next year for a project being designed as a “walkable, bikeable” complex, according to Evan Goldman, vice president of Acquisition and Development. The West Falls Church station is in the median of Interstate 66 on Haycock Road in Fairfax County and is served by the Orange Line.
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The development has been planned since at least January 2019, when Metro began a search for a builder to redevelop 24 acres it owns next to the station. Metro staff selected FCGP-Metro in December, a deal that will provide the transit agency with money — such as from sales of townhouses and annual rent for office spaces — over the duration of the lease, according to a Metro staff report.
Metro did not disclose estimates or projections for how much the transit agency would earn from sales or rent. Agency spokeswoman Sherri Ly said those figures are subject to future negotiations.
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Development plans call for 657 apartments, 75 townhouses, 125,000 square feet of offices and 10,000 square feet of retail space, according to Metro’s report. Transit officials estimated the development could generate 600 train boardings daily at the station, or about $1.3 million a year in fare revenue.
Much of the new construction would be on station parking lots used by commuters. The station would lose nearly 800 park-and-ride spaces, going from 2,009 parking spots to about 1,200, according to Metro. Metered spaces would be cut from 64 to 20, and the number of Metrobus bays would be cut from eight to four, although no decisions have been made about any service changes. Metro officials said more spaces could be built, if needed, on a north lot that will remain.
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Before construction can begin, Fairfax County would need to approve the rezoning of Metro’s parking lots. Metro said it will hold public hearings in the coming months on proposed changes to commuter parking and bus bays at the West Falls Church station.
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The project required Fairfax County to amend its Comprehensive Plan, which the county Board of Supervisors did on July 13. County officials said the proposed development would fit with the campus of the new Meridian High School and includes a multipurpose community building on the former George Mason High School campus and nearly eight acres belonging to Virginia Tech.
“I am pleased that [the planned Metro campus] envisions a vibrant mixed-use, pedestrian friendly environment and attractive public spaces, while respecting nearby established residential communities,” Fairfax County Supervisor John W. Foust (D-Dranesville) said in a statement.