On the Docket: Lake Anne, Crescent Apartments Plan

The Fairfax County Planning Commission is set to make a decision Thursday that will move forward the massive redevelopment plan at Crescent Apartment and the surrounding area.

Lake Anne Development Partners had a planning commission public hearing on Jan. 8. but the planning commission deferred decision due to several areas of concern.

Among them:

• How much money LADP should contribute to the Fairfax County Park Authority. The developer says $100,000. The planning commission says $893 per new resident, which totals about $1.4 million.
• How Village Road will be vacated during the time it is realigned to provide better exposure and sight lines through to Lake Anne.
• Square footage requirements for Land Units A and D. The county is concerned it will not reach its true mixed use goal.
• The planned grocery store. LADP wants to market it for one year; the county thinks it should be a three-year project.
• The county wants an $265,000 elevated walkway from the parking garage to the grocery store. LADP says it would provide minimum return on investment.
• LEED certification for the grocery store building. Strobel said it would be difficult to get certification for the grocery store, but if a grocery store ends up not being built  they are willing to comply.

Once the planning commission recommends the plan for approval, it moves on to the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors for final approval. It is slated to be on the Supervisors’ Jan. 27 agenda.

LADP, a division of Republic Land Development, was chosen by the county in the summer of 2013 to redevelop the county’s 16-acre Crescent Apartments site as well as areas adjacent to Lake Anne Plaza’s Historic District.

LADP’s plans for the area include 1,037 residential units, including replacement of the 181 affordable units at Crescent; 60,000 square feet of retail; a 15,800-square-foot grocery store; and 78,000 square feet of office space.

The project will also have a 1.1-acre central park, an outdoor amphitheater, a bike share station and 12 public art works, according to the staff report.

At the Jan. 8 hearing, a county rep said $100,000 is just 7 percent of what LADP should be offering for recreational amenities.

“It is the staff’s opinion that what LADP is providing enhances the quality [of the area], but does not provide active amenities such as basketball courts or athletic fields,” a county representative said.

Lynne Strobel, the attorney representing LADP at the Jan. 8 hearing, said the developer’s application “is providing significant and costly improvements to Washington Plaza. Those are not unlike parks; they are public areas that serve the community.”

Strobel said the improvements to Washington Plaza total $1.2 million, so an alternative formula for LADP’s contribution should be used. The developers also said new residents would be Reston Association members, so their added yearly assessments would be boosting coffers for recreational amenities in Reston.

See the entire county staff report on Fairfax County’s website.