An approved plan for massive development of the Commerce Executive Park near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station may be at a fork in the road, the Washington Business Journal reports.
According to the WBJ, JBG Smith is marketing the 12-acre property Commerce Executive Park to prospective buyers. JBG Smith took ownership of the property — south of the Dulles Toll Road and at the northwest corner of the Sunrise Valley Drive/Wiehle Avenue intersection — from Vornado Realty Trust earlier this year as part of the recent merger of JBG Cos. and Vornado’s D.C. business unit, Charles E. Smith.
The three existing six-story office buildings would remain in the redevelopment plan, but the rest would be transformed into a live-work-dine-shop destination for those who want to be close to Metro and Reston’s busy business corridor. The new buildup would include towering buildings that would be among the tallest in Reston:
- a 22-story, 275-foot-tall office building
- a 24-story, 255-foot-tall residential building with up to 300 dwelling units
- a 14-story, 165-foot-tall hotel with 175 rooms
- a 7-story, 100-foot-tall residential building with up to 200Â dwelling units
The plans also include a total of 1.5 acres of open space, with small parks, bicycle tracks and a promenade along the businesses, and would feature public art including a water feature.
According to the WBJ report, the fact that CBRE is marketing the properties for JBG Smith doesn’t necessarily mean a sale is imminent or will even happen at all.
The first phase of an eventual 1.5-million square-foot mixed-use development on the south side of the Wiehle-Reston East Metro was recommended for approval by the Fairfax County Planning Commission on Thursday.
The first phase of Vornado’s plan for Commerce Executive Park at Wiehle Avenue, Sunrise Vally Drive and Commerce Park Drive, calls for a 200-unit residential building, as well as interior roads, pedestrian paths and a cycle track.
The planning commission held a public hearing last week but deferred decision until Oct. 6 to iron out some development conditions. While those issues — when a bike lane on Wiehle will be built, as well as expected contributions to the Reston Road Fund, among others — are not completely settled, Hunter Mill Commissioner Frank de le Fe says he is confident the parties will work together as the development plan comes together. Read More
The Fairfax County Planning Commission deferred a decision until next week on the first phase of redevelopment of Commerce Executive Park on the south side of the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station.
The first phase of Vornado’s plan calls for a 200-unit residential building, as well as interior roads, pedestrian paths and a cycle track. Eventually, the plan is to redevelop the existing office buildings into 1.5 million square feet of mixed-use development at Wiehle Avnue Sunrise Valley Drive and the Dulles Toll Road.
The planning commission held a public hearing last night, but deferred decision until Oct. 6.
Only one person, John Hawthorne, an attorney representing IGS LLC, the owner of a nearby office building, testified at the public hearing. He said this development would cause undue hardship and injury to IGS because of the office park’s private roads and infringement on that owner’s private property. He also spoke out with the same issues last week at the public hearing on Lincoln Property’s residential project on the other side of his building.
Another plan to revamp a portion of Sunrise Valley Drive will go before the Fairfax County Planning Commission Sept. 28. This one asks for a giant-sized (1.5 million square feet) mixed-use development south of the Wiehle-Reston East Metro.
Vornado Realty Trust is seeking to rezone 12 acres at Wiehle Avenue, Sunrise Valley Drive and the Dulles Toll Road.
Vornado seeks to keep office buildings at the current Commerce Executive Park but replace open space and surface parking with a seven-story, 200-unit residential building; a 24-story, 300-unit residential building; a 22-story, 385,000-square-foot office building; and a 175-room hotel. There would also be retail in the first three floors of several buildings.
The 22- and 24-story towers will be about the same height as One Reston Town Center, the approved plan for redeveloping a five-story office building into Reston’s tallest building at 1760 Reston Parkway.
The staff report says the project would be developed in four phases, with the 200-unit largely brick residential building going up first along Sunrise Valley Drive and Wiehle Avenue. Next would be the residential tower at Wiehle and the Toll Road, followed by the office building adjacent to the Metro, and the hotel.
The plans also call for pedestrian paths to the Metro, bike lanes, pocket parks and a plaza. The staff report recommends approval.
Earlier this week, the planning commission approved rezoning an office building for 54 townhouses and began demolition of the 42-year-old former American Press Institute building. Both of those projects are on Sunrise Valley south of the Dulles Toll Road.
The second phase of JBG’s Reston Heights is also under construction, with a 385-unit apartment community and as well as 89,000 square feet of retail.
Renderings of Commerce Executive Park courtesy of Fairfax County.
