What's New at Reston Town Center?

Don't blink or you might miss something—it's happening so fast.Boston Properties just delivered a high-end apartment building at Reston Town Center, and a big TOD may be on the way. Last week, we headed out on the Toll Road to take a look.

On top of The Avant, a new apartment complex in the southeast corner of the town center (which we'll tell you about in a second), we snapped Boston Properties' Rich Ellis and Pete Otteni. Just over Pete's shoulder is Reston Gateway—a 22-acre site he tells us could eventually be turned into a 3M to 4M SF mixed-use development—right where the future Reston Town Center Metro stop will be.

Pete says lots of zoning and entitlement is in order (the Fairfax Co. Board of Supervisors will vote soon to include the site in its comprehensive plan), but that if all clicks, something could open by 2018, right as the Metro arrives. (If there are delays, Metro will deliver by 2018... plus 15 minutes.) The guys say the retail portions might include entertainment, or "something to do after dinner in the Town Center," says Rich.

Back to The Avant: Boston Properties delivered some units in November, with the remainder coming in March, Rich says. The 27k SF of ground-floor retail is 100% spoken for, he tells us, including a CVS (the town center's first), Bartaco, and second local locations for Barcelona Wine Bar and Restaurant and World of Beer.

Here's the building's cozy clubhouse, which tenants can rent for parties and events. Elsewhere in the town center, the firm's got the 4.5-acre "signature" site it purchased from Beacon Capital last spring for $27M, which they tell us could be developed as 500 more residential units. And there are no complaints as far as RTC's office space goes—it's fully leased and commands rents 25% above market.