Fairfax County officials are opening the Site Specific Plan Amendment process for multiple sites in the county — and opening the door to new development ideas.
For Southeast Fairfax County, that could include a new use for the property where the Moon Inn sits on Richmond Highway, big changes to the Rose Hill Shopping Center and Frontier Plaza, and hundreds of new residences, including dedicated affordable units.
The process is one of the ways that officials seek out and vet proposals to change land use recommendations in the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan. Changing the land use recommendations or zoning often precedes redevelopment of a property.
The nominations that were accepted into this screening phase by the Board of Supervisors on Dec. 6, 2022 in Southeast Fairfax County are listed below. Dozens of other nominations were accepted county-wide.
Now through April 2023, nominations from across the County are being reviewed by staff and the community. The Planning Commission will hold a public workshop on the nominations in February 2023, during which staff and the nominators will provide presentations and the public may comment.
All projects are presented on an interactive map available here.
Van Dorn Transit Station Area – Vine Street
According to county documents: The nomination proposes to make changes that would better align land use and transportation planning in the Vine Street corridor, which is located south of the Van Dorn Metro Station. The SSPA area includes light industrial or vacant properties. Surrounding properties are similar in use at limited density and “have minimal synergy with the nearby Van Dorn Metro Station.” Possible uses include office or residential development, including a new roadway connection across the Beltway between Vine Street and Oakwood Road, and each of these roadways could be expanded to four lanes. It’s possible that Vine Street could disconnect from South Van Dorn Avenue as a result of this development. Learn more here.
Cityside Huntington, Vista Residential and the Moon Inn
Three separate SSPA areas adjacent to one another along Richmond Highway are on the map. Cityside Exchange owns almost 15 acres of land on the west side (southbound side) of Richmond Highway about 0.1 miles south of Huntington Avenue. Right now, the property has four high-rise residential buildings, called the Cityside Huntington Metro Apartments. The nominator purchased the property in December 2021 with financing that included an investment from Amazon for affordable housing. “The Nominator seeks an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan to expand the potential of the property to provide additional, high-quality affordable housing in the community,” according to county documents. Learn more here.
Just south of the Cityside Exchange property, on the same side of Richmond Highway, is 6100 and 6130 Richmond Hwy. Currently, the Days Inn Motel and the Hawaiian Pool & Spa company are on the property.” The Nominator proposes to completely redevelop the Property with an upscale multifamily building that contains approximately 400 units, configured in a six-story structure (taking advantage of the significant drop in elevation between the Fairhaven community and Richmond Highway), that is oriented toward Richmond Highway, with structured parking in the rear and a robust vegetated buffer for the adjacent single-family community,” according to county documents. Learn more here.
Just south of that is the Moon Inn property at 6140 Richmond Hwy. The nominator, Michaels Development Company I, is seeking to retain the existing plan which recommends office use and allows for the existing hotel use, but proposes adding an option the nominator will prioritize “to allow multifamily or independent living facility up to 102 units with building heights up to 70 feet.” The facility would be aimed at seniors in need of affordable housing. Learn more here.
West Ford Manor
Further down Richmond Highway, in the Gum Springs area, a proposal calls for converting a variety of uses across properties between Sherwood Hall Lane and Douglas Street on the east side of the highway. “Replanning the property for residential use at 8 to 12 dwelling units per acre will provide an appropriate transition between the office and commercial establishments across Richmond Highway (and the future planned mixed use densities in that area) and the existing lower density residential uses to the south of the Property. Given the Property’s prominent location at the future and currently named Gum Springs BRT station, this replanning and redevelopment proposal will serve as a much improved ‘gateway to Gum Springs’,” according to the nominator. Learn more here.
IMP Building
Further south, at the northwest corner of the intersection of Jeff Todd Way, is 8850 Richmond Highway. An underused office building is on the site now, and the nominator is proposing tearing down that building to develop 245 residential units, possibly with retail on the ground floor of the buildings. The buildings would top out at three stories high. Learn more here.
Rose Hill Shopping Center
The Rose Hill Shopping Center is one of the larger neighborhood-focused shopping centers in the area. Combined Properties believes the shopping center can be a better service to the community as a mixed-use development. “The existing single-story retail structure presents as an outdated, auto-oriented concept that contradicts Fairfax County’s goals and objectives that favor community based, mixed-use development as a means to combat the County’s housing shortage and revitalize the local economy,” the company wrote in its letter to Fairfax County officials. “This nomination request provides the opportunity to advance a number of well-settled planning objectives that include the provision of housing, reducing impervious surface, providing new open space areas and amenities, and creating a more engaged streetscape that will ultimately reposition the shopping center as a modern mixed-use anchor for the neighborhood.” Construction would start in 2027, when the current leases expire. Learn more here.
Beulah Street and Grovedale Drive
The nominator is proposing residential development — a mix of multifamily and attached single-family homes — on this site, but did not indicate the number of total units. The property is just south of Fire Station 5 and at the intersection of Grovedale Drive and Beaulah Street. The surrounding area is primarily residential. Learn more here. Across the street, at 6320 Grovedale Drive, a single-family home could be razed to make room for a new child care center for 140 to 160 children. Learn more here.
Frontier Plaza
Frontier Plaza is a single-story retail plaza surrounding a large parking lot. The nominator sees “the future of this site is as a residential mixed-use neighborhood with a robust retail and restaurant presence along a central, walkable street.” The new development would taper from high-rise (12 stories) to single-story residential to the east, which borders a single-family residential area. Access would be from Frontier Drive and most parking would be underground. Learn more here.
Springfield Center Drive
The property in the 6700 block of Springfield Center Drive is adjacent to the Northern Virginia Community College Medical Campus. The nominator, Inova, writes “to better reflect current planning and development in proximity to the Property, including the Property’s location within a half-mile radius of the Joe Alexander Transportation Center, Inova proposes another option for development up to 1.5 FAR (326,700 sf) that could include residential and/or continuing care uses with potential ancillary ground floor retail,” according to county documents. Learn more here.
Sheridonna Lane
The privately-owned properties and older single-family homes along Sheridonna Lane could be purchased by Carr to create space for a large independent living facility on 20 acres. The development would be geared toward residents ages
