Wednesday: See What Bozzuto Plans for St. Johns Wood

St. Johns Wood Apartments near North Point might more than double in size in the next few years.

Developer Bozzuto has plans to turn the 250-unit garden apartment complex into 511 multi-family units and 51 townhomes.

Bozzuto and Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins will present a revised proposal for St. Johns Wood Apartments at a community meeting on Wednesday, May 4.

The meeting is at 7 p.m. at the Hunter Mill District Office, 1801 Cameron Glen Dr. in Reston.

St. Johns Wood’s 14.3 acres have been through a couple of changes since first plans were shown to community members more than a year ago.

Bozzuto first submitted an application to Fairfax County in 2014, proposing to redevelop the property with three mid-rise residential buildings containing 625 multi-family units and 34 townhomes.

But based on meetings with Fairfax County, the Reston Association Design Review Board, and members of the Reston Planning & Zoning Committee, the developer revised the plan to reduce the scale and scope of the multi-family residential buildings.

Bozzuto eliminated one of the previously proposed multi-family buildings, adjusted the massing of the two remaining residential buildings to improve their compatibility with surrounding uses, and is making an effort to preserve more wooded area on the property.

Some of the other details:

An additional traffic entrance/exit from the community located at Reston Parkway and Center Harbor Road. An exit on Center Harbor has been added to the current one at North Village Road.

Twelve percent of the units will be set aside for affordable housing, as required by law.

The townhomes will be located along Center Harbor Road. The two five-story buildings will be located along the north end of the property.

The developers expect the planning phase will take about two years and construction another two years.

No word yet on what would happen to current residents during redevelopment.

There have been community concerns about a development of this size — and the increase in residents — more than a mile from the Reston Town Center Metro station. That station is slated to open in 2020.

The proposal is expected to have a Fairfax County Planning Commission public hearing on June 23.

See more of the plan, including landscaping, tree preservation, a traffic study and pedestrian access on Reston Association’s website.

Rendering of St. John’s Wood/Credit: Bozzuto Group