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Comstock Companies says its Northern Virginia casino ambitions have always centered on Tysons, rejecting reports and speculation that the developer considered sites in Herndon or Reston.
The company issued the unusual public statement after a report claimed a casino had been proposed near Herndon’s Metro corridor.
“Comstock has not proposed, pursued, or supported casino development anywhere in Herndon,” the developer said. It also denied pursuing the approvals needed for a casino in Reston or anywhere else along the Silver Line outside Tysons.
The statement followed a May 4 Herndon Planning Commission work session on a proposed zoning amendment that would have established strict conditions for a casino. Any such project would have needed to be part of a mixed-use development featuring a hotel, conference space, grocery store and other components.
Potential sites would have been confined to the roughly 38-acre Herndon Transit-Oriented Core immediately north of the Herndon Metro station. A developer also would have needed plan and special-exception approvals involving public hearings and votes by the Planning Commission and Town Council.
The Town Council requested the amendment in March after the Virginia General Assembly passed Senate Bill 756, which would have made Fairfax County eligible to host a casino.
Gov. Abigail Spanberger later vetoed the measure. Mayor Keven LeBlanc said he plans to withdraw the zoning proposal when it returns to the council later this month.
LeBlanc said the amendment was intended to prevent casino development in Herndon, either through an explicit ban or requirements so restrictive that no proposal could satisfy them.
Downtown Herndon property remains tied up in court
Confusion about Comstock’s casino plans may have become entangled with the company’s abandoned redevelopment of about five acres in downtown Herndon.
The property, bounded by Center, Elden and Station streets and the Washington & Old Dominion Trail, remains under Comstock’s ownership for now. However, it is outside the transit-oriented zoning district where the proposed amendment would have allowed a casino under specified conditions.
Comstock’s redevelopment project had been in progress since 2017 and was expected to include housing, retail, an arts center and a parking garage. Zoning appeals, pandemic-era economic uncertainty and other obstacles delayed the effort for years.
The project formally collapsed in December 2024, when Comstock notified the town that it would not proceed with construction.
The largely cleared property, which still includes a building occupied by Arts Herndon, has remained in limbo for more than a year. Herndon sued Comstock in an effort to reclaim ownership.
Following a Feb. 27 hearing in Fairfax County Circuit Court, town officials are awaiting a ruling. LeBlanc said on May 5 that the judge had estimated a decision would take about 10 weeks and that the case had reached that point. Any ruling could still be appealed.
Comstock says Tysons was always the target
Comstock also pushed back against a 2023 report that linked its casino effort to the area surrounding the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station.
The developer said its concept for a large destination project would not be compatible with a residential neighborhood, making Tysons a more practical location.
Efforts to authorize a Fairfax County casino first surfaced during the General Assembly’s 2023 session. Bills introduced by Sen. David Marsden and Del. Wren Williams were quickly withdrawn.
Marsden later identified Tysons as a better location for a casino anchoring a broader entertainment district. In 2024, he introduced legislation restricting eligible sites to the Silver Line corridor in Tysons outside the Capital Beltway.
Marsden said Comstock was focused on the former Exclusive Automotive Group property at 8546 Leesburg Pike near the Spring Hill Metro station. Clemente Development Company and Khaled Juffali Co. own the vacant site, where a mixed-use project called The View at Tysons received approval in 2019 but has not been built.
Comstock has not confirmed plans to acquire the property. Labor unions nevertheless held a March rally there urging Spanberger to sign SB 756.
Michael O’Connell, the editor behind the 2023 account that correctly identified Comstock as the developer involved in the casino push, said reliable sources had initially named Reston as one location discussed in Richmond. He said reporting shifted to Tysons after Marsden confirmed that location.
Marsden’s 2024 proposal stalled in a state Senate committee. Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell subsequently led casino legislation during the next two sessions that preserved criteria restricting any Fairfax County site to Tysons. Surovell has said he plans to revive the measure next year.
Comstock argues that Tysons is Northern Virginia’s most appropriate location for the project it envisions. Materials distributed to state lawmakers during the 2025 General Assembly session described a mixed-use development combining housing, a convention center, hotel, performing arts venue and retail with a casino.
The company said it had largely avoided public discussion while legislation was pending, preferring to wait until lawmakers authorized a casino and a formal competitive process began.
Even if future legislation makes Fairfax County eligible, a casino would not be automatic. The county would need to select a preferred operator and location through competitive bidding, and local voters would have to approve casino gambling in a referendum.
Comstock said a properly designed project could generate thousands of jobs and significant economic benefits, with the casino serving as only a small part of a much larger development.