The Fairfax County Board of Supervisor's voted to allow a townhouse development to move forward in Kingstowne — which means the end is coming for Rudy's Golf and Sports Bar at 6625 S. Van Dorn St.
The first TopGolf in the United States opened at that location in 2005, and it closed when a new TopGolf opened at nearby National Harbor. The owner of Rudy’s opened a similar concept with TopGolf’s technology in the same spot in 2022. Rudy's also had a sports bar and miniature golf course.
Back in October 2015 — nearly 8 years ago — the Board of Supervisors authorized the consideration of an amendment to allow development on the then-TopGolf site of up to 275 residential units and additional retail. That plan never moved forward, but several other plans and variations appeared over the years. Another new proposal came forward in September 2023 for townhome development with no retail or other use.
Specifically, the proposal calls for "residential use at a density of 10 dwelling units per acre or a maximum of 174 dwelling units, inclusive of affordable housing bonuses, and no non-residential uses."
As of September 2023, property was under contract to be sold to EYA, a residential developer. That sales contract has not closed yet. EYA has no projects in the Alexandria area of Southeast Fairfax County, but the company has several completed projects in the city of Alexandria, including Robinson’s Landing along the Old Town Alexandria waterfront.
Close to 800 Kingstowne residents had signed a Change.org petition in opposition to the new townhome development, concerned about losing an entertainment venue and community gathering space. Local residents Ethan and Alyssandra Behle started the petition — Ethan had learned to golf at the TopGolf at that site in his youth. "With the support of KROC, the adjacent Kingstowne neighbors and pro-housing groups, the owner and developer had all the support they needed. We'll miss Rudy's, probably the only unique feature of our Kingstowne neighborhood, and we'll miss seeing you folks there," Ken Behle (Ethan and Alyssandra's parents) wrote on Nextdoor.
Fairfax County must go through additional zoning, design and permitting approvals before construction starts, and a timeline is not yet avaialble.
