Article Text
The Fairfax County Planning Commission unanimously recommended a comprehensive plan amendment July 22 that would allow the phased redevelopment of the 35-acre Merrifield at Dunn Loring Station Apartments property near the Dunn Loring Metro station.
The proposal would replace 706 existing garden apartments at 8130 Prescott Drive with as many as 2,975 apartments in high-rise and mid-rise buildings. It also allows up to 25,000 square feet of retail space and would raise the site’s maximum permitted building height from 115 feet to 150 feet. At full buildout, the property would have a floor-area ratio of 1.9.
The commission’s action was a recommendation, not final approval of the redevelopment or its related rezoning application. The Board of Supervisors is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the plan amendment Sept. 15. The related rezoning remains pending, and no hearing dates had been scheduled as of July 29, according to the supplied source.
The plan also calls for deeding between two and three acres in the property’s southeast portion to the Fairfax County Park Authority for eventual incorporation into Hartland Green Park. Commissioners added a request that supervisors require a 75-foot setback along the parcel’s northwest side, comparable to the planned setback on the south side.
Malkin Properties, which has owned the garden-apartment complex since its construction in the late 1960s, has said it intends to retain ownership during redevelopment. Kelly Posusney, an attorney representing the company, said the treatment of current tenants remains under discussion.
“We don’t have all the answers yet, but we do plan to be respectful about it. It is top of mind,” Posusney said.
Residents and housing advocates have asked for a robust tenant-relocation package as existing homes are replaced. Becca Dedert of the Coalition for Smarter Growth said, “These longtime residents deserve those protections.”
The source describes approximately 250 units, or about 8% of the proposed total, as the workforce-housing amount typically required by county officials. Advocates sought more committed-affordable units during the rezoning process, but the final number of committed units and tenant-relocation protections have not been established.
Planning commissioners also raised concerns about traffic, pedestrian access to the Metro station, additional student enrollment and the treatment of existing tenants. Neil Hamlett, a Merrifield resident, said, “As it is right now, crossing Gallows can be harrowing.” The property is in the Merrifield Suburban Center, with Gallows Road to the west, Hartland Road frontage to the east and the I-495/I-66 interchange to the northeast.
Evelyn Spain, the Sully District planning commissioner, said, “These are families. There’s an emotional component that’s going to be associated with tearing down a home where one has lived for a period of time.” Providence District planning commissioner Jeremy Hancock added, “There’s going to be a lot of details to be worked through.”
The development team anticipates votes on the rezoning application in 2027, site-plan review in 2028 and 2029, and the first construction phase in 2030. It said roadway and park work would occur during early construction phases. The source also described construction as potentially beginning in three or four years, a projection that does not exactly match the detailed 2030 schedule. Buildout could continue beyond 2030.