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Fairfax County has opened the door to significantly denser redevelopment beside the Mosaic District, approving a plan amendment that could allow nearly 360 homes on a 3.2-acre Merrifield property.

The Board of Supervisors approved the change on Jan. 14 for the Alliance Center office condominiums at 2929 and 2931 Eskridge Court. No redevelopment application has been filed, but the revised comprehensive plan permits up to 60,000 square feet of ground-floor uses alongside the residential units.

The site currently contains two aging buildings with 24 commercial condominium units and surrounding surface parking. Townhouses, mixed-use development and a Cox Communications facility border the parcel, while regional U.S. Postal Service facilities sit across Eskridge Road.

The amendment more than doubles the residential density permitted on the property, raising its floor-area ratio from 1.25 to 3.0. FAR compares a development’s total floor space with the size of its lot.

Steve Teets, a land-use consultant hired by Alliance Center Condominiums, said the site is well suited for greater density because it is near Mosaic, Merrifield Town Center and the Dunn Loring Metro station.

“This is really where this type of density should be,” Teets told supervisors.

The owner nominated the property for a comprehensive plan amendment in 2022 and submitted an initial concept featuring two multifamily residential buildings. Teets stressed that the concept has not become a specific proposal.

“We do not have any plans right now,” he said. “We right now are just trying to make sense for where additional development should be.”

Teets was the only speaker at the board’s public hearing. However, when the amendment reached the Fairfax County Planning Commission in December, residents of the nearby Mosaic District Townhouses raised concerns about building size, insufficient park space and traffic congestion.

County staff responded by revising the amendment to require road and pedestrian improvements along Eskridge Road, including at its intersection with Strawberry Lane.

Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik noted that considering a comprehensive plan amendment without a related development application is unusual. She said she expects “a lot of community conversations” once an actual redevelopment proposal is submitted.

Any future project could help advance the county’s housing goals while supporting transportation and pedestrian-safety upgrades in the area.

“We’ve spent a lot of time over the past six years looking at Eskridge Road, trying to make improvements,” Palchik said.