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The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has asked county staff to assess the feasibility of pursuing a conference center in Tysons, beginning a review rather than approving a project.
The board issued the direction June 23. County Executive Bryan Hill was asked to revisit previous studies and conduct the assessment with Visit Fairfax and the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority. Board Chairman Jeff McKay set an end-of-2026 deadline for staff to return with findings.
“This is not approving this,” McKay said. “This is asking that we review the studies that have been done, look at the viability and come back and have a discussion about this.”
The review renews a decades-old county discussion about whether Fairfax needs a dedicated conference facility and whether Tysons is the right place for it. According to McKay, the idea of a conference center in Fairfax County dates to 1984. The county’s comprehensive plan envisions Tysons as a conference destination.
A county study completed in 2011 found demand for a conference center and identified Tysons as the most appropriate location in Fairfax County. More recently, a 2025 study by the Tysons Community Alliance recommended a full-service hotel paired with a midsized regional conference facility.
Monique Blyther, a spokeswoman for the alliance, said “a flexible events facility has the potential to strengthen the local economy while enhancing the experience for residents, workers and visitors alike.”
Supervisor Walter Alcorn also supported examining the concept. “This is, I think, very much an appropriate time to take a hard look at this and see where there might be an opportunity,” he said.
The county discussion has not identified or selected a site, nor does the supplied information include a financing plan, developer, construction schedule, capacity or projected economic impact. McKay said any conference center contemplated for Tysons would be smaller than both the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington and the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center at National Harbor in Maryland.
The new review follows a separate debate in Richmond over legislation that would have allowed voters to consider a casino and entertainment district in Tysons. Gov. Abigail Spanberger vetoed that measure during the 2026 legislative session. State officials had said the casino proposal would include a convention center.
During that debate, Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell identified two possible locations for the casino and entertainment-district proposal: one near the Spring Hill Metro station and another in a parking lot used for Cirque du Soleil performances. Neither location was reported as a selected or proposed site for the conference-center concept now being studied by Fairfax County.
That distinction also applies to the terminology surrounding the two proposals. The Board of Supervisors formally directed staff to assess a “conference center,” while the separate casino proposal was described by state officials as including a “convention center.”
For now, the county’s action is limited to gathering and evaluating information. Hill and the partner organizations are expected to examine the earlier work, assess the current viability of a Tysons facility and bring their conclusions back to the board by the end of the year. Any further discussion about whether to advance a project would follow that review.