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After more than a decade of delays, the developer behind Westpark Plaza believes a sweeping redesign could finally make the mixed-use Tysons project feasible to build.
Dittmar Company is seeking Fairfax County’s approval to revise plans for the roughly 5.2-acre former Best Western Hotel site at Westpark Drive and Route 7, just south of The Boro.
The new proposal eliminates connectors that would have tied the residential buildings and hotel together. Dittmar determined that the previously approved, interdependent design was neither economically viable nor practical to construct, according to a rezoning application submitted Wednesday.
Land use attorney Lynne Strobel said the redesign would allow each building and its parking to be constructed and operated independently. She said the approved gross floor area would not increase and argued that the project’s overall quality would be enhanced.
A long-stalled plan
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the original Westpark Plaza proposal in November 2014. It called for as much as 1.48 million square feet of development, including two residential high-rises and a hotel of up to 14 stories.
The three buildings were expected to contain ground-floor retail and service space totaling up to 24,500 square feet. The plan allowed a maximum of 1,300 homes, including as many as 260 workforce dwelling units, along with 300 hotel rooms.
The Best Western at 8401 Westpark Drive was demolished in 2016, but construction never began. The land later served as a staging area for construction at The Boro.
Fairfax County authorized a temporary public park and surface parking on the property in January 2021. Tysons Tales Park opened that summer with a book-inspired theme, seating, Little Free Libraries, landscaping, artwork, a large “READ” sign and oversized lawn chairs.
Four towers that can rise separately
Dittmar’s revised plan calls for four buildings: two residential towers with ground-floor retail, one residential-only tower and a 300-room hotel.
The residential buildings would rise 32 to 33 stories and provide up to 1,681 units in total. The hotel would reach 19 stories, taller than the maximum contemplated in the 2014 plan.
Although the application places the hotel on the site identified as D3, Dittmar wants flexibility to move it to any of the four building locations in response to future market demand.
The same flexibility would apply to construction order. Any of the four buildings could be developed first, with the remaining towers following as market conditions permit.
More visible public space
The proposal includes 94,242 square feet of open space, combining private amenities with publicly accessible areas such as a neighborhood park, civic square and gateway plaza.
The civic square would sit at Silver Hill Drive and the proposed Broad Street, next to Boro Park. A gateway plaza would occupy the prominent corner of Westpark Drive and Leesburg Pike.
A public neighborhood park would connect the two spaces. Potential features include large lawns, a plaza, varied seating, a meadow walk, two full pickleball courts, two half-court multipurpose areas, a shade structure and other placemaking elements.
Strobel said the redesigned parks would be more visible and accessible than those in the original plan. Portions of the open space would be completed as each building is constructed.
Dittmar is seeking to retain the property’s PTC District zoning, which supports Fairfax County’s effort to transform Tysons from an office-park-and-shopping-center suburb into a denser, mixed-use urban community.
The application also requests several waivers involving fencing and screening height limits, tree-preservation standards and a planned paved trail along Leesburg Pike and Westpark Drive. The filing says the tree waiver is warranted because the property has little existing vegetation.
Strobel said the central benefit of the redesign is greater economic feasibility, which could allow construction to begin sooner and bring the long-delayed project into the Tysons skyline.