Dulles area’s Discovery Square swaps final piece of office space for residential

RestonNow.com October 23, 2023 at 3:32pm

In what has become a common theme in local real estate, the developer of Discovery Square in the Dulles area is seeking to shift the final piece of its development from office space to mixed-use residential.

Potomac Land Group III LLC is seeking Fairfax County’s permission to build townhouses and retail instead of offices, retail and surface parking.

Called Discovery Square South, the project is located in the northwest corner of Centreville and Wall roads as part of Lincoln Property Co.’s redevelopment of the area east of Route 28 and Dulles International Airport.

The remaining 8 acres of the 67-acre project have been vacant for 16 years due to “market changes and economic conditions,” according to the Oct. 16 application.

“The proposal will allow for contextually appropriate development that will fit into the fabric of the existing community, reduce impacts from the currently approved development, provide additional housing options in this part of Fairfax County, and deliver a quality, retail component to serve the surrounding community,” a statement of justification for the application states.

According to the application, the developer proposes to build 43 townhouses, four live/work units, and 29,000 square feet of retail on the site.

An existing 50-foot buffer along Centreville Road will remain, and the streetscape along Yeager Drive would be continued. Usable open spaces for events and gatherings are also planned, taking up approximately 32% of the property.

The county originally approved the Discovery Square development in 2007, allowing up to 1,159 multi-family residential units, 107,350 square feet of retail and 650,600 square feet of office use across 66.9 acres.

According to the Washington Business Journal, which first reported the new application, the development plan was previously tweaked in 2015 to replace three office buildings with townhomes and what would become the Sully Community Center.

The proposal is in the early stages of the county’s approval process and has not yet been accepted for review.

Image via Google Maps