BREAKING: Redevelopment plan for new Reston library, affordable housing scrapped

(Updated at 4:15 p.m.) Developer Foulger-Pratt‘s unsolicited proposal to redevelop Bowman Towne Court in Reston has been scrapped, Fairfax County announced today.

In a termination letter, the developer cited “significantly higher construction costs and recent interest rate hikes” as the primary reason for ending the agreement. The team also stated that a 24% increase in the project’s overall costs — which would have delayed the completion of the site.

The Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority had approved an interim agreement with the developer in October to build up to 350 affordable apartments and a 40,000-square-foot Reston Regional Library on FCRHA-owned property at the intersection of Bowman Towne Drive and Town Center Parkway.

That leaves the county’s existing affordable housing at Bowman Towne Court in limbo. The construction of a new Reston Regional Library will also be delayed by several years, according to the county. Both facilities are at the end of their useful life.

Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said the withdrawal offers the public sector a chance to lead the redevelopment process in the future.

“The withdrawal of the unsolicited proposal under PPEA provides an opportunity for the public sector to better define the redevelopment approach for this site — instead of reacting to a developer’s ideas for highest and best use,” Alcorn wrote in a statement. “Our pressing public needs have not changed — starting with a new regional library, a new shelter, updated and more affordable housing.”

Until a future redevelopment plan is identified, the county’s housing authority will maintain its units on the site. Fairfax County Public Library is also evaluating how to meet the immediate challenges of its aging building.

“It is anticipated that a new library would be built through a public-private partnership in order to leverage a $10 million bond that voters approved in 2012. The existing library is at the end of its useful life, and a new building is urgently needed,” the county says.

Fougler-Pratt was the first to offer up the proposal to the county — a process that was publicly questioned by developer Norton Scott, which hoped to submit a competing proposal for consideration.

County housing officials anticipate that the location’s redevelopment is “inevitable,” given its proximity to the Reston Town Center Metro Station.

FCHRA will now prepare to seek redevelopment proposals for the project.

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