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New towers continue to rise in Tysons, including Indigo at McLean Station, Exchange at Spring Hill and Flats at Tysons. But 16 years into Fairfax County’s plan to transform the area into a downtown community by 2050, established developments are increasingly investing in what they already have instead of pursuing major expansions.

That shift was a central theme at the Tysons Community Alliance’s Vision Tysons summit, held March 12 at Capital One Hall. Developers and economic officials described a market where entertainment, public spaces and property upgrades are driving growth while many new high-rise projects remain financially difficult.

Tysons Corner Center has increasingly turned to permanent attractions such as Level99 and the Escape Game, along with temporary experiences including the delayed Hershey Super Sweet Adventure.

The mall welcomed about 15 million visitors in 2025, up 10% from 2024 and above its 2019 pre-pandemic traffic, according to the alliance’s 2025 market report.

Jesse Benites, Macerich’s assistant vice president of national operations, said the shopping center is evolving. Although he did not address Macerich’s plans for additional offices and housing at the property, the recently announced arrival of Dick’s House of Sport in the former Lord & Taylor space indicates that retail and recreation are taking priority.

Macerich and the mall’s tenants have continued spending on the property despite the lack of recent ground-up construction. Existing businesses completed 32 remodels or relocations over the past several years, including Barnes & Noble, Uniqlo, Apple and American Girl.

The mall owner has also committed millions of dollars to renovations of common areas, restrooms and parking garages, adding fresh paint and murals throughout the property.

“All of these developments, while they might not be ground-up projects, it’s really an investment into what’s already working for us,” Benites said.

Capital One Center is following a similar strategy. Hotel bookings at the Watermark and ticket sales at Capital One Hall have shown what Capital One Vice President Erin Mical described as slow, steady growth in interest.

The development began with a single office tower that opened in 2001. As Metro’s Silver Line approached, Capital One expanded its headquarters with collaborative areas and employee amenities while also responding to Northern Virginia’s demand for cultural venues and green space.

The Perch, an elevated park anchored by Starr Hill Biergarten, became the development’s first major community attraction when the beer garden opened in August 2021. Food trucks and a miniature golf course were later added, followed by the Watermark Hotel and Capital One Hall.

Capital One Center is now concentrating on street-level activity. It expects to add several retailers by March 2027, including the newly announced Mediterranean restaurant La Omri. Pickleball courts are also scheduled to replace the ice rink at Metro Park near the McLean Metro station.

Mical said the Metro connection makes the development more accessible to both nearby residents and visitors.

The Boro has likewise relied on programming to attract residents, workers and visitors, offering more than 100 events annually, Meridian Group Chief Investment Officer Gary Block said.

The mixed-use development completed construction in March 2020, just as the pandemic temporarily closed its new movie theater and retailers. Despite that timing, Boro Tower quickly secured tenants, and the Verse condominiums sold out.

Block said the combination of office workers and residents has supported restaurants and other experience-oriented businesses. Fava Pot and Game Show Battle Rooms are expected to open later in March.

“Retail benefits from a robust daytime and nighttime population,” Block said, adding that The Boro gave people in Tysons a place outside the mall to shop and find entertainment.

Older offices face a tougher market

Demand at Boro Tower remains strong enough that the Meridian Group bought the struggling Tysons Central office building in summer 2025 and renamed it Boro Central. However, Block said a major shift by tenants toward newer, higher-quality offices is creating problems for aging properties.

Tysons ended 2025 with an overall office vacancy rate of 20%, approximately matching the national average and remaining steady for a fifth consecutive quarter. Vacancy among trophy-class offices was lower at 14%.

The area has about 92,000 workers, including 65,000 office users, making it the Washington region’s second-largest employment center behind downtown D.C.

With almost no new offices under construction, companies are competing for flexible, modern workplaces near transit, restaurants and other amenities. Alex Iams, executive vice president of the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, said those features have become increasingly important as employers try to bring workers back to the office.

The competitive threat became clear in November 2025, when Booz Allen Hamilton announced plans to leave its longtime headquarters at 8283 Greensboro Drive in EastBoro. The consulting company will relocate to Comstock Companies’ Reston Row development near the Wiehle Metro station in fall 2027.

“Reston is formidable, no doubt about it,” Block said.

He described Booz Allen’s departure as an opportunity to reconsider the EastBoro buildings, which also house Alarm.com and 22nd Century Technologies. Meridian approached Fairfax County in 2022 about permitting housing there, but no formal development proposal has emerged.

Housing demand collides with construction costs

Block said immediate development is unlikely at EastBoro or in The Boro’s expansion area north of Westpark Drive. Activity in that area has largely stopped since the Trillium senior living community opened in 2024.

Investors have become cautious about multifamily development, while the economics of high-rise construction have deteriorated.

“To be totally frank, very few construction projects pencil at all,” Block said. “High-rise office construction doesn’t pencil. High-rise residential construction doesn’t pencil, but wood-frame, lower-density housing does potentially pencil.”

He argued that Tysons needs more residents to support additional retailers, which could in turn help attract more office tenants.

That approach could conflict with the Tysons Comprehensive Plan, which calls for concentrating the area’s greatest density near Metro stations. It remains uncertain whether Fairfax County officials would permit townhouses or other lower-density housing on valuable sites such as The Boro, even if those projects are currently more financially feasible.

A Tysons Community Alliance study released in December estimated that the area will require more than 10,000 additional homes by 2040 to handle its projected population growth.

Indigo and Exchange are expected to provide 972 committed-affordable homes. More affordable housing could follow after the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority acquired a Tysons Central property just outside The Boro.

Block praised those projects but cautioned that many residents will not meet the income requirements for their units. He said Tysons also needs attainable market-rate housing, including lower-rise construction, to maintain its momentum.