‘Lofts at Reston Station’ Rezoning Rescheduled for February

The rezoning for a new housing development a quarter-mile from the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station has been postponed until early next year.

“The Lofts at Reston Station,” first announced last spring, was slated to go before the Fairfax County Planning Commission Dec. 9, but has now been postponed to Feb. 18, Fairfax County documents show.

The project, by Pulte Home Corp., seeks to build 42 two-over-two townhomes on the site of what is now a one-story office area at 1825 Michael Faraday Ct.

The Pulte project would need to rezone the 1.58-acre parcel from the I-4, Medium Intensity Industrial to R-30 residential district. As part of the rezoning, Pulte is asking to modify the minimum R-30 district size from three to 1.58 acres to allow the “infill” project.

Pulte is also asking for waivers on the minimum front and side yard sizes (from 20 to 10 feet) and the amount of open space (from 40 percent to 23 percent).

The Michael Faraday location is surrounded by other office buildings, but is just past the office building at 1831 Wiehle Ave., where developer JBG is seeking to rezone an office building to construct 504 multifamily residential units and up to 61,000 square feet of retail.

Also nearby, the 540-unit BLVD Apartments are nearly completed, and Bozzuto is in the process of building more than 421 apartments in the 11400 block of Sunset Hills Road.

On Michael Faraday Court, the existing 11,000-square foot, one-story building has been owned by the Hardwood, Plywood & Veneer Association since 1976. Pulte would have to own the property before rezoning, and likely has a contract to buy conditional on the rezoning, commercial real estate sources said.

“The proposed development will replace a single-story office building with attractive and high-quality facades, enhance the mix of uses desired near the Wiehle Avenue East Metro Station, and facilitate the planned grid of streets for the Transit Station Area,” states the Pulte’s rezoning document.

Pulte’s plan includes residences that will be “distributed in two rows oriented east-west to align with the future grid of streets, with a central private street to provide access to the rear of the units.”

The plan will take advantage of additional pedestrian and vehicular access on new streets planned for the surrounding area. It also calls for eight-foot wide sidewalks and a pocket park in the northeast corner of the site.

Pulte has said that because the other new construction planned for Wiehle-Reston East is high-rise buildings, offering townhomes will serve a broader segment of housing needs.

Photo: 1825 Michael Faraday Dr. in Reston is currently an office building.