A housing company is looking to transform wooded land near Route 28 in McNair with townhomes, part of a years-old vision to bring an elementary school and additional housing to the area.

Van Metre Homes at Sunrise Valley, tied to the Van Metre real estate companies, acquired the property in December 2020 for $26.1 million. The developer submitted an application in August to build 157 traditional townhomes and 36 stacked townhomes, Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust’s office confirmed.

The company declined to discuss the project.

The property runs along Frying Pan Road and Sunrise Valley Drive in McNair, near office parks and residential neighborhoods, including the Towns at Carters Grove development that’s currently under construction.

Van Metre will need site and building approvals for the project from the county, which said yesterday (Thursday) that it is still reviewing the application.

In 2019, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors rezoned the nearly 44-acre parcel from an industrial zone to a residential area with mixed-use commercial possibilities. The vote required the developer to dedicate 5.5 acres of land to a planned Silver Line elementary school.

Fairfax County Public Schools’ current proposed capital improvement program has planning and design work on the school slated to begin in fiscal year 2024, which runs from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024.

Pomeroy/Clark, a joint venture between Bethesda investment firm Clark Enterprises and Fairfax’s Pomeroy Development Company, submitted the original rezoning plan in 2016.

Plans showed a new road being extended under overhead transmission lines from Frying Pan Road to River Birch Road.

Van Metre already owns the Woodland Park apartment complex that takes up nearly 27 acres a few miles up the road.

Photo via Google Maps