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The PARC at Tysons will close at the end of June, ending a nearly five-year run that turned an empty retail building on Leesburg Pike into a hub for community events, artists and local organizations.

The June 17 announcement came as an unwelcome development for Celebrate Fairfax, the nonprofit events organizer that has operated from the PARC since its 2021 debut. The organization said it neither planned nor requested the closure.

“We are very proud of what we were able to create for the community, and we are deeply grateful for all the support, collaboration and contributions of everyone involved,” Celebrate Fairfax said.

Fairfax County decided to close the building after determining that it had reached the end of its useful life and would need significant investment to continue operating.

The county purchased the former Container Store property at 8508 Leesburg Pike for $16.6 million in October 2019. Celebrate Fairfax, the county and the Tysons Partnership—which was later replaced by the Tysons Community Alliance—subsequently developed the concept for a gathering and events space there.

Before welcoming community programming, the 19,260-square-foot building stored personal protective equipment during the early COVID-19 pandemic and operated as a hypothermia shelter.

The venue formally opened with a block party on Sept. 17, 2021. Its name, selected through an online poll, stands for People, Art, Recreation and Community.

The launch coincided with a major shift for Celebrate Fairfax. Once best known for producing the annual Celebrate Fairfax! Festival, the nonprofit announced in April 2022 that it would discontinue that tradition after the pandemic and concentrate on smaller events in communities around the county.

Many of those activities found a home at the PARC. The building hosted block parties, winter markets, live performances, art exhibitions and temporary installations. It also offered a traffic garden for safety education and has served as a voting precinct since 2023.

Celebrate Fairfax estimates that the free, accessible space saved artists, makers, entrepreneurs and community groups more than $350,000 in expenses.

“More than a venue, The PARC became a living example of placemaking in action,” the nonprofit said in its farewell announcement. It described the site as an incubator for creative businesses, a boost to efforts to establish an arts and culture district in Tysons and a possible model for future community-focused destinations.

Built in 1973, the property was occupied by the Container Store until October 2018, when the retailer moved across Leesburg Pike to 8459 Leesburg Pike. That location is now undergoing a merger with Bed Bath and Beyond.

A JBG Smith affiliate had acquired the original site for $15.25 million in 2013 with development in mind. The company abandoned that prospect before the Container Store departed and later sold the property to Fairfax County.

Celebrate Fairfax faces an uncertain future

The closure arrives as the county considers broader changes affecting Celebrate Fairfax and other organizations involved in tourism, events and placemaking.

Fairfax County has not disclosed what it plans to do with the PARC property. Meanwhile, the fiscal year 2027 budget adopted by the Board of Supervisors on May 5 eliminated a $750,000 contribution to Celebrate Fairfax.

The county has proposed integrating the nonprofit with Visit Fairfax, its official tourism marketing agency, to reduce expenses and streamline tourism and event operations. In a Feb. 3 directive, supervisors also asked county staff to consider the Tysons Community Alliance and Volunteer Fairfax while reviewing potential restructuring among placemaking organizations.

As of June 18, Celebrate Fairfax said it had received no information from the county about how the nonprofit or the PARC would fit into that wider review. It also had no details about the building’s future.

“Celebrate Fairfax remains an active, independent 501©(3) nonprofit organization,” the organization said. “Our Board of Directors are currently evaluating our path forward.”

Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik, whose district includes most of Tysons, said she was disappointed that the community would lose a facility that had provided substantial support to local organizations.

“Tysons has a clear need for community space,” Palchik said. She noted that several approved public facilities have yet to be built and pledged to push those projects forward by reducing delays and holding developers to their commitments.

New facilities remain years or months away

Private developments across Tysons frequently host public events, but dedicated community facilities remain limited.

The Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services partnered with the Mather apartment complex to open a senior center last year. That center is smaller than the PARC and primarily offers programming for people ages 50 and older.

A broader community center is expected to arrive with the Exchange at Spring Hill apartments. Scheduled to open in summer 2027, the planned 30,000-square-foot facility will include flexible multipurpose areas intended for the wider community.

Another possible source of public space remains uncertain. A Tysons Central development plan approved in 2013 reserved 14,500 square feet for public or community use, but only two proposed buildings—the Lumen Apartments and the Boro Central office building—have been completed.

In January, the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority and Lincoln Avenue Communities acquired 1.7 acres in that development area with plans to pursue affordable housing. The authority has said the project will contain nonresidential space, but it has not detailed the amenities or clarified whether they would be open to the public or reserved for residents.