5 NoVa Projects to Watch
IDI Group was just cleared to start an 80-unit condo project in the City of Fairfax. It’s one of several big projects heating up in Northern Virginia. Here are five to watch.
Enclave, Fairfax
The company that built the Watergate and Leisure World breaks ground on the 120k SF Enclave, on Pickett Road, next spring and delivers in fall 2017. IDI VP Enrico Cecchi (above) says the condos will be one-, two- and three-bedroom units ranging from $200k to the upper $500k's. There’s been a dearth of condos in Fairfax, he tells us, with the last one being Providence Square in 2003. The company, which focuses on multifamily and mixed-use, is encouraged by other successful condo projects in Vienna and Merrifield. The Enclave is IDI’s first investment in Fairfax, and Enrico says there's potential to do more.
Condos, Downtown Fairfax
Fairfax Mayor Scott Silverthorne, cutting the ribbon last month for Duck Donuts, says more condos are coming to Fairfax. The city council also approved demolition of 110 garden apartments, circa late '50s, to make way for 160 condos and townhomes near downtown Fairfax. The big unknown in Fairfax is what will become of the nearly 20-acre home of Paul VI private school, which is moving from Fairfax to Loudoun County.
Tysons Central
Foulger-Pratt will soon submit its final development plan for the parcel it put under contract with NV Commercial earlier this year. (The transaction literally took place at Bisnow’s Tysons event, above.) The plan is to build a 25-story, 350k SF office building with 25k SF of retail. Foulger-Pratt development director Nicole Morrill says the Gensler-designed building includes efficient and different sized floor plates to attract a variety of tenants, including law firms, tech companies and professional services. Nicole says there’s 5.2M SF of pre-'80s office space in Tysons, and Foulger-Pratt's building could be an attractive option. The building, 60 feet from the Greensboro Metro stop, sits at one of the highest points in NoVa. The 290-foot building will reach 770 feet above sea level, Nicole says.
The Commons of McLean
LCOR owns 557 garden-style units in Tysons and just demolished 127 of them for the first phase of the Commons of McLean. The project is entitled for 2,600 units and LCOR started construction on Phase 1, which is 319 units in two towers. At least 20% of them will be slated as workforce dwelling units. The two towers will be connected by a sky bridge on the ninth floor and the ground floor will be connected with various amenities, including a club and game room, a fitness center that spills out onto a courtyard, and grilling stations and a pool. LCOR SVP Harmar Thompson (right), with development associate Josh White, says younger families will be drawn to the units, which include up to three bedrooms. The first phase delivers Q2 2017.
The Altaire, Crystal City/Pentagon City
Crystal City and Pentagon City are slowly coming together as one market with current residential and retail developments underway, including LCOR's The Altaire–450 units in two towers. One tower will be 300 apartments and the other will be 150 units. The 150-unit building is being designed to go either condos or apartments. With two separate towers, LCOR expects interest from luxury renters and buyers. They'll also be drawn to the Whole Foods across the street and the views of the Potomac River and DC landmarks. The company will start demolition in November of the 235k SF office building on the site and expects to deliver the project Q2 2018.
The Boro, Tysons
Gensler is in the home stretch of its design of The Boro's block C. The entire project is a multi-block 4.2M SF mixed-use project in Tysons that will include a 19-story, 475k SF office building with parking garage and retail at the base, an adjacent movie theater and potentially a 200-key hotel, all surrounding a park. The Meridian Group, the project developer, just agreed to pay $100M for the remaining land for the project. Next will be to getting final development approvals from Fairfax County before permitting. Gensler managing director Jordan Goldstein says the groundbreaking could be next summer for block C.
