Virginia Tech Expansion Near West Falls Church Metro Needs County Plan Change

Less than two years after revising its site plan for the West Falls Church Metro Station in Idlewood to allow for more development, Fairfax County must make a relatively limited but critical revision.

At its meeting last Tuesday (March 21), the Board of Supervisors approved a comprehensive plan update study for the West Falls Church Transit Station Area (TSA) for additional office space at Virginia Tech’s Northern Virginia Center at 7054 Haycock Road. .

The rezoning reduces the size of the proposed institutional space for the 7.5-acre property, reflecting changes in plans by developer Rushmark Properties and construction company HITT Contracting to expand the campus.

“The offset application by HT Contracting and Rushmark Properties proposes to reduce the proposed institutional use by 120,000 square feet and increase the total office use by approximately 62,000 square feet,” Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust said in requesting the board approve the study.

Plans to redevelop Virginia Tech’s Idlewood campus have been floundering since 2018, when the university received an unsolicited bid from Rushmark. HITT sought to relocate its headquarters to the site a year later.

That original field called for a new academic building and design and construction research center, along with an additional 250,000 square feet of office space, 500 residential units and 50,000 square feet of retail.

However, Virginia Tech announced on February 28, 2021 that it and HITT had agreed not to proceed with the project. Although that was discontinued, the proposed development is still included in the new West Falls Church TSA plan, which was approved by the Board of Supervisors on July 12, 2021.

The plan allows for 1,720 residential units, 301,000 square feet of office use, 48,000 square feet of retail and 160,000 square feet of institutional use around TSA, including the adjacent Metro station property.

Rushmark and HITT submitted new redevelopment plans last fall that would replace the existing Northern Virginia center with a 283,000-square-foot office building, up to 440 residential units and a 2,000-square-foot retail pavilion.

The newly requested plan amendment will be considered at the same time as the zoning application, which is scheduled for a public hearing on June 7 before the Fairfax County Planning Commission.

According to Faust, the changes in use will not affect the 2.5 story ratio currently allowed at the Virginia Tech site or the TSA’s overall growth restrictions.