Kalista Diamantopolous
On July 14, the Fairfax County Planning Commission will look at yet another proposal to redevelop the site of the former TopGolf and Ruby Tuesday restaurant at the intersection of Kingstowne Village Parkway and South Van Dorn Street.
The Kingstowne Topgolf — the first Topgolf in the nation — has been closed since January 2020, when a new location of the sports entertainment chain was opened at National Harbor in 2019. The Ruby Tuesday was closed around the same time when the restaurant chain closed 150 locations around the country.
Developers has been attempting to find new uses for the site since 2016 when a mix of townhomes, multifamily units and 70,000 square feet of retail space were proposed. The community and County staff were concerned about the viability of the retail space, traffic impacts, stormwater management and compatibility of the plan with the surrounding area. Additionally, the Topgolf and Ruby Tuesday sites were owned by separate entities and uniform consolidation of the two parcels was stumbling block.
In 2019, developers came forward with a different plan that included 70 townhomes, 142 back-to-back townhomes and 20,000 square feet of retail. The reduction in retail was viewed favorably by the community and staff, but many of the same concerns from the previous proposal remained.
In April of this year, developers submitted a third proposal to the County that eliminated the retail component entirely, and instead suggests the construction of 164 townhomes and 44 stacked townhomes on the site. According to a the staff report, “the proposed density of 12 dwelling units per acre would be triple the maximum planned density of the subject area and the surrounding area , which is planned for 3-4 du/ac.”
The proposal will need to include plans for increased pedestrian and bicycle safety on site, open space and affordable housing. The proposal would also have to consider any affects on nearby Edison High School, Twain Middle School and Lane Elementary School, since the new community is projected to bring 80-89 new students.
The Planning Commission will consider this latest proposal at its next meeting, which will be July 14 at 7:30 p.m. The meeting will be televised on Channel 16 and streamed live online here.
