Article Text

Fairfax County’s long-running effort to redevelop the Crescent Apartments entered another phase on Jan. 14, 2025, when Supervisor Walter Alcorn presented a board matter aimed at securing a better future for the Reston property.

“Preserving and increasing the supply of affordable housing continues to be a high priority in Fairfax County,” Alcorn said before outlining directives intended to move the Crescent effort forward.

The moment followed nearly two decades of plans, approvals and setbacks surrounding the county-owned apartment community near Lake Anne Plaza.

Fairfax County purchased the Crescent property in 2006 to preserve and create affordable workforce housing while helping revitalize the Lake Anne Village Center.

In February 2012, the county sought a qualified firm to redevelop the 16.5-acre Crescent Apartments site, which is within walking distance of Lake Anne Plaza in Reston.

The county selected Lake Anne Development Partners, a division of Republic Land Development, in 2013. Two years later, the Board of Supervisors approved an ambitious 1.7-million-square-foot revitalization plan covering the Crescent Apartments and Lake Anne Plaza area.

The proposal included an outdoor amphitheater, offices, retail space, a grocery store and a realignment of Village Road. It also required 185 replacement affordable apartments, with 20 percent of the remaining units designated as affordable and workforce housing.

But the project unraveled in December 2015, when the development partner told the county it was no longer economically viable.

Then-Hunter Mill Supervisor Cathy Hudgins informed Crescent residents that the county could not predict when or how redevelopment would proceed. The collapse dealt a major setback to the county, residents and the surrounding community.

Fairfax County later reinforced its broader housing goals in 2021 by adopting the Housing Section of its Comprehensive Plan Policy Plan. The policy calls for annual affordable-housing production equal to at least 12 percent of the county’s total housing production during the previous year. It also says those homes should serve households across the range of incomes needing affordable housing, including people with disabilities.

Alcorn’s 2025 board matter marks the latest attempt to advance the Crescent property after years of uncertainty. Whether it finally produces a lasting redevelopment remains unresolved.