After an unsolicited redevelopment proposal was pulled by a developer, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors is charting a new future for the Bowman Towne Court site in Reston.
At a board meeting yesterday (Tuesday), the board approved a motion by Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn to procure the 4.5-acre site and direct the RTC North task force to help plan its future.
“There is a pressing need for new and updated public facilities and affordable housing, including a new regional library and emergency shelter for our homeless population, as those facilities are at or near the end of their functional life,” the board matter states.
The move comes just a month after Foulger-Pratt withdrew its proposal to redevelop the property with 350 affordable housings units and a new Reston Regional Library, citing increasing construction costs. The proposal had been processed through the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act.
The Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority owns a little over half of the property, along with a nearly 1.6-acre parking lot for the Reston District Police Station.
Alcorn directed the Fairfax County Department of Public Works and Environmental Services to develop a plan for health and human services in the RTC North area.
“This motion will, I think, really help with the process forward as the community starts to basically get its arms around what needs to happen in RTCN,” Alcorn said.
The motion also asks FCRHA to create a procurement strategy for the development of the property.
Alcorn created a task force last spring to make recommendations on the redevelopment of the 47-acre RTC North property, which is composed of several parts of land at the intersection of Bowman Towne Drive and Town Center Parkway.
The task force has been meeting this year and will also make recommendations about replacing the Embry Rucker Community Shelter and building a new county health and human services facility.
Meetings have been ongoing by the task force, which is chaired by former board chair Kate Hanley.
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