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A plan to transform Inova Health System’s former Merrifield headquarters into 210 live-work units is no longer moving forward, clearing the way for a potential redevelopment with apartments and townhouses.
Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik announced the change during the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday, June 9. The decision leaves the two-building office conversion approved nearly three years ago with sharply different outcomes.
Construction continues nearby at 2990 Telestar Court, where another former Inova office building is becoming affordable housing. However, the planned reuse of the adjacent six-story building at 8110 Gatehouse Road has been abandoned.
Inova sold the vacant Gatehouse property for $13 million on Feb. 13 to Gatehouse Investment LLC. County property records list a mailing address matching the Bethesda, Maryland, headquarters of Buchanan Partners, a developer whose local holdings include Woodland Park offices in Herndon and Dulles Business Park in Chantilly.
The new owner has proposed replacing the Gatehouse office building with multifamily homes and townhouses, Palchik said. Details have not yet been released, and Buchanan did not respond to a request for comment.
That proposal cannot advance under the property’s current designation. The Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan recommends office and warehouse uses at the site, so the project would require both a plan amendment and a rezoning application accompanied by a development plan.
Palchik said her office has been working with county staff, who appear open to evaluating the idea. Supervisors voted without objection to authorize staff to consider the plan amendment.
Planning and Development Director Tracy Strunk emphasized that the authorization only begins a review. It does not signal whether supervisors will ultimately support a rezoning or development application.
Earlier conversion plan falls apart
Inova’s consolidation of administrative operations at its Center for Personalized Health, 8100 Innovation Park Drive, opened the door to the original reuse proposals.
Madison Highland filed rezoning applications in July 2022 to renovate the Telestar and Gatehouse buildings. Its plans called for 82 workforce-housing units at Telestar and 210 live-work units at Gatehouse.
Live-work units are designed to function as either residences or office spaces. Madison Highland used the concept at Three Collective in Bailey’s Crossroads, where it converted three office buildings into 675 apartments in 2024. The developer describes that project as the country’s largest live-work development.
Fairfax County supervisors also approved Madison Highland’s plan in February 2023 to convert two more vacant Skyline Center buildings into 510 live-work units. Construction had been expected to start in September 2024, but appears not to have begun. The developer’s website also continued to show an anticipated spring 2025 construction start for the Gatehouse project.
Supervisors approved the Telestar and Gatehouse conversion plans together on June 27, 2023. Combined, they included 86,500 square feet of open space, with publicly accessible parkland along Gatehouse Road. The Gatehouse concept featured a game-table community park, but that plan will not proceed. A public “community play zone” is still expected as part of the Telestar development.
Affordable apartments remain on schedule
Conifer Realty, working with the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority, began converting the four-story Telestar office building in June 2025.
The project now calls for 80 apartments serving households earning between 30% and 80% of the area median income. Completion remains scheduled for the end of this year.
Conifer Senior Development Manager Matt Ojala said the project is progressing toward that deadline and that the company looks forward to welcoming residents.
Although the Gatehouse proposal is still taking shape, Palchik said replacing an aging office property with housing would support county priorities as demand for older office space declines.
She said Fairfax County urgently needs both market-rate and affordable homes, particularly in locations near employment, public transportation and stores. Palchik said she plans to review the redevelopment application once it is formally submitted.