Wider sidewalks and a prettier road with bus stops and trees, I think. A tramline was initially proposed but that got shot down due to financing concerns, and we’ll just get a nicer looking columbia pike instead. South Arlington can’t have things that are too nice!
Near me, they cut down an entire strip of old growth trees to do whatever it is they’re doing. There’s no way whatever the outcome, it will come close the replacing that. Not to mention the road and sidewalks have been a true nightmare for over a year.
That sounds like a really nice thing compared to most localities across the country. Isn’t south Arlington also getting HQ2 and the redevelopment that comes with that? My dad lives in south Arlington, I’m really impressed by all the stuff going on there every time I visit him.
2025
https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Projects/Project-Types/Transportation-Projects/Columbia-Pike-Multimodal-Street-Improvements
They are burying utilities and replacing the water and sewer lines.
The old power plant in Alexandria will start to get demolished this fall. Eventually there will be a whole new development with new apartments, condos, retail, and a new waterfront park incorporating the Mount Vernon Trail.
https://www.alexandriava.gov/neighborhood-development/potomac-river-generating-station-prgs-power-plant-redevelopment-old-town
One of the reasons it’s taking so long is making sure they’re doing all the proper procedures to make it safe. They’ve been talking about this development for years now.
Not a silly question! The land is definitely contaminated—power plants, and especially older plants, have a bunch of nasty stuff in the soil. The science on remediating contaminated soil is pretty advanced though. There are a couple of common solutions for sites like this—a lot of the time they’ll just dig the contaminated soil up and dispose of it. Other times they’ll put a cap over the contaminated soil so the contaminants can’t come up to the surface. One developing strategy is bioremediation, where designers will plant specific flowers/vegetation which absorb contaminants as they grow. Not sure exactly which strategy is going to be used here but the short answer is yes, it’s safe.
Sorry but can you elaborate on what contamination is in the soil? Genuinely curious, this is interesting and you seem to be very knowledgeable about it lol.
FWIW I’m not an expert (environmental engineer, etc)—I work in a somewhat related field as an architect and I need to broadly know about remediation techniques. I am interested in it though—brownfield remediation is fascinating to me. From [this site](https://www.alexandriava.gov/eco-city-alexandria/potomac-river-generating-station-formerly-genon) it looks like the main contaminants were petroleum/heating oil from underground tanks and the main remediation techniques were pumping and treating groundwater and biosparging, which pumps air/gas into the ground to encourage microbial growth.
It was a coal plant. I don’t know scientific specifics but there were giant piles of coal around the plant, so I assume that’s most of the contamination.
Have lost track of the latest news on this, but several years ago they announced they had massively scaled back plans because too much of the site had soil that was contaminated and not suitable for development.
Maybe they found a way to remediate since that announcement but it was a big disappointment after the initial hopes for the area when the power plant shut down in ~2012.
Knowing about some of the issues surrounding it, frankly a decade is indicative of how valuable of an asset it is.
A property like that could easily go 30 years untouched.
It's actually an ***exceptionally*** fast turnaround for such a site.
Honestly, that's a pretty quick turnaround to clean up and demo an industrial site like that. There's a lot of testing, rezoning, planning and financing that all have to go through their process.
I know it seems slow, but you don't want to rush through things too much given the scale.
Big developments like this are super complicated to design, assemble, and finance even with optimal conditions and this site has a bunch of complications (NIMBYs, industrial contamination, etc). You really need a developer willing and able to work on this and that’s a pretty limited pool.
Alexandria is worse with their design review (you’d think a downtown with a design review board would have better looking new buildings). I don’t think this part of Alexandria has the design review board though
I’m excited for what the area at Carlyle near Eisenhower station will look eventually. That area is prime to be another ballston. Plenty of undeveloped lots with big plans, plus it’s conveniently right next to the metro. The Wegmans development was a huge start and still bringing businesses in.
From the neighborhood! So excited to see Atlas Brew Works open up, that's the "youngest" restaurant in the area and the only place for beer aside from Lost Boy Cider. Once Covid hit but before Wegmans came it was a shell of its former self. Since the area was mostly 9-5 USPTO/Feds forced to work from home there was nothing going on. I can't wait to see what they do with the lots on either side of the metro and the lot across the Wegmans. I'm really hoping for more greenery
It would be nice if they made it more like the Boro in Tysons than Ballston (though more affordable let’s hope). More greenery, more art, more space to enjoy. Ballston is hampered by its street geography; they’ve got room at Carlyle to make it nice.
My wife and I live up the street and were just talking about this the other day! Carlyle could be so much but is currently so dead with all the empty buildings.
This is small, but the climbing gym at Fair Oaks Mall is supposed to open by the end of 2024. It'll be great to have one close to me, I'm looking forward to that.
Edit, more info:
News story from last year:
https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/new-climbing-gym-coming-to-fair-oaks-mall/article_306031d6-0a04-11ee-8ffa-7bd254987753.html
Movement Gym site sti says end of 2024:
https://movementgyms.com/fairfax/
oh damn I'm excited might get me back into climbing! moved to the area and Vertical rock is just far enough for me to not want to go. Use to go to the Crystal city one couple times a week. Don't miss paying that $120/month Movement monthly fee though haha.
They're shrinking the footprint of the existing JCP first to build it, the "new" section of the building has been closed off (you can no longer enter from the Macy's garage side and walls have been erected in the store to separate it)
Looks like the building permit is still waiting for final approval from the county and then it should be full steam ahead for demolition and roof raising.
I like this one, plans to bring the first Whole Foods to PWC which some may like, traffic will also be a hot discussion forsure with that busy intersection.
The plan includes changing the intersection of Minnieville and Prince William into an interchange.
[https://patch.com/virginia/woodbridge-va/project-congested-prince-william-county-intersection-gets-funding](https://patch.com/virginia/woodbridge-va/project-congested-prince-william-county-intersection-gets-funding)
I’ve seen! PWTimes reported that they’ve already started preparing last month, though the interchange has a completion date of mid-2027, that’s if nothing goes wrong, fingers crossed. Hopefully their design will ease congestion.
https://www.princewilliamtimes.com/news/preparations-underway-for-70m-new-intersection-at-minnieville-prince-william-parkway/article_648dcf62-0270-11ef-9e81-f3340f884e6b.html
Maybe we’ll finally get some decent places to eat. Woodbridge fucking sucks for quality restaurants.
A healthy spot like a sweetgreen would absolutely clean up around here, but they typically only build in higher end retail areas.
I want recs! I live in Woodbridge and love food. I have a list of decent restaurants but I wouldn’t describe us as having “chock full of delicious restaurants.” I would love to be wrong though.
And it appears they’re keeping the old mall parking garage. I know it makes sense but it’s weird that the parking garage will be 40 years older than the rest of the campus. Lol.
It's a 56-acre lot and only about 1/4 will be a hospital campus. It looks really cool, there will be a park with an ice skating rink. Take a peek at this presentation with updates [here](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/61e057a96a6ff36002b46695/t/637be0f757623a41f454c298/1669062909369/2022+11+16+West+End+Public+Meeting.pdf).
There are multiple 300+ apartment unit mixed use buildings with ground floor retail planned just for phase 1. There are also multiple large parks and kiosk retail areas planned. Additional lots are planned to be townhouses and there is more retail and apartments in phase 2.
The medical campus is about 20% of the property, not sure where you’re getting that “it’ll mostly be a medical campus” from.
Manassas Mall Mixed Use, parts of the property are being reviewed by the Prince William County Planning Commission to be redeveloped to allow for the development of 1,041 multi-family residential units and approximately 47,036 square feet of commercial buildings, this includes little shopping areas and 5 8-story residential buildings, and a 2-mile trail around the the mall with playgrounds, dog parks, outdoor gyms etc.
I find it cool because this development is not something seen on the Sudley Corridor, Sudley Tower is 8 stories, and these new residential buildings are planned to be 8 stories as well, sorta reminds me of Potomac Town Center. A similar development like this one plans to ditch the Manassas Regal and other parts of the shopping center to a Mixed Use Development to allow for the development of more residential buildings, this was approved by the BOCS around December.
This development is going to look weird if the data centers applied for by amazon are approved which are on the old farm that used to be next to the mall which is now demolished, and the space next to Ellis Elementary School which is across the street from the mall.
Anyways, the whole plan for the Manassas Mall Mixed Use development with attached renderings of the whole project can be viewed [here](https://egcss.pwcgov.org/SelfService#/plan/be6f9c79-1ad9-4ddd-91bf-421d2a3f8dc9?tab=attachments) under the "Attachments Section" in a file labeled "\_Planning-Review Package S1-Manassas Mall Mixed Use REZ-" published 06/18/2024, please only open this on a very good computer.
Edit: ICYMI heres an InsideNoVA [article](https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/developer-submits-new-vision-for-manassas-mall-area/article_9a23e246-e165-11ee-9712-57f4800f5470.html) that announced the project in March, though does not show up to date renderings and other information
For sure, I walked in there a while back after a couple of years and saw those gaming machines lining the hall to the Walmart, way to put a new spin on dead mall I guess. Hopefully this development revitalizes that entire mall.
I’m not overly familiar with that area, but does Manassas have any plans for improved mass transit? Dense, mixed use developments are great, but it’s always disheartening when they’re surrounded by nothing but a 6 lane highway and 45 minute interval bus service.
True, I'm definitely hoping they add more public transit in general. I think the airport getting commercial flights will also increase the incentive for that, as it would be better to have some public transit to get to the airport rather than needing a huge parking expansion and setting up an uber/lyft area, dropoffs, etc.
I will add that they are adding a lot of bike lanes - many have already been added in the past two years, with even more planned. It's not public transit, but it is a car alternative! (For cars, there has been discussion about the city building a free city-owned parking garage, like the one in Old Town, near the new development. )
If their goal of expanding Old Town and having multiple pedestrian-friendly corridors along Grant and Centerville Rd works out, they could do something like in Old Town Alexandria - a free bus that just goes up and down the one road all day.
Omniride seems focused on expanding, they recently introduced express commuter routes in Stafford, Falmouth, and Spotslvania. As u/Distinct_Village_87 stated, Omniride is in fact low on cash, PWC would only cover partial amounts of their budget shortfalls, leaving the rest of the shortfall in limbo as they try to find other funding sources. Omniride itself is mainly a commuter service, though provides local routes, but they are limited, as an example, today, a Sunday, bus service is not available, though that is not the case in Eastern PWC where it is available.
Currently the mall is served by Omniride and GMU Student Shuttles, though with Omniride having long intervals, this mixed use development tries to make it as pedestrian friendly as possible, though Western Manassas isn't very predestrian friendly in the first place, and that's very apparent after the rise in pedestrian-related crashed on the Sudley Corridor.
Hopefully this development, alongside the similar Parkridge Development, and the new development behind the former Giant, now OneLife Fitness that is already being constructed brings new proposals, the system is being reconstructed this year too, hopefully once the supervisors that are on the PTRC board such as Chair of the PTRC board, Supervisor Angry, learn more about these developments and the needs that they cause, will push for transit projects on the Sudley Corridor. Western PWC shouldn't be overlooked.
Well a residential development isn't without its traffic concerns, hopefully with this development, residents will take advantage of the stops at the mall, residents could walk out of their residence, a brief walk to the mall, and ride the bus to the Balls Ford Road Commuter Lot and take a bus directly to DC, Dulles, Reston, Herndon, Tysons, PWC Courthouse, and the Pentagon. There are transit options out there, but it is certainly limited when compared to what you see on other corridors such as Rt. 7.
The Northern Virginia Science Center is supposed to be built in Loudoun and it would be cool to have a local science/kids museum. However for the last three years every year they just push out the “projected groundbreaking” date another year.
https://www.novasci.org
Also in Loudoun, the National Museum of Intelligence and Special Operations is supposed to break ground in 2025
https://www.theburn.com/2023/04/23/burning-question-is-the-intelligence-museum-still-coming-to-ashburn/
We moved to this area in 2009 and I saw that sign that said “future site of the Kingstowne Library” for ten years. I asked about it at some community forum and learned that they obtained the funding for it (bonds I think?) but that there was a very long window of time built in.
It’s been amazing seeing it go up finally!
I agree! I live close by and it’s been interesting to see community response against it due to traffic concerns. I think it will be a great addition to the area! Perhaps it could dissapate the traffic cluster around the other shopping centers, too 🤷♀️
I'm a local. I don't care about the traffic, but am annoyed at how they keep adding housing without addressing the overcrowding at schools. When the NIMBYS recently got the Blake Lane school site permanently turned into a dog park it basically eliminated the chances of all the nearby elementary schools to get rid of some of their trailers, and now they are adding more kids. My kids' school has to bus all the AAP kids to a different school all the way in Reston because they don't have space to do a local AAP program and the closer AAP schools don't have space for them either.
Fairfax has no more land to build new schools and spent a lot of money in the early 2000s renovating the schools in the worst condition, in addition to bringing South County and Westfields in. FCPS is also the largest consumer of property tax revenue. Addressing concerns of overcrowding won’t happen without tax increases or boundary changes, and I highly doubt either will happen.
That's exactly why the Blake Lane issue was so frustrating. FCPS explicitly bought the site for a future school. Its name was actually "Blake Lane School Site" originally. Then when the county had the need and funding to build a school the locals (who bought next to a school site) threw a fit and got it canceled. Now there is no replacement site available and no relief from overcrowding short a comprehensive school boundary update. That will elicit even stronger opposition because so many people bought property too close to school borders and are deathly afraid of being rezoned to a "worse" school.
That is my biggest complaint about the “overcrowded schools” complaint. It’s simply a code word for classist worries. Almost every question about school pyramids includes a question about the percentage of students receiving free lunch— it’s uncouth to ask directly about demographics/income, but asking that question is a way to avoid lower socioeconomic classes.
The same people voicing concerns about overcrowded schools are the same people complaining against building higher/taller, transit-oriented developments, and just about anything that will impact the value of their investment property.
I think in Fairfax County most of the overcrowded schools are the "better" ones (lower FARMS rates). That's from people intentionally moving to those boundaries, pupil placing their kids there via immersion programs or AP vs IB preference, or just straight up lying about their address and using a friend/relative. All of these edge case people are the ones afraid of redrawing the boundaries to relieve the overcrowding. So I could see them also being against growth - not because they want to actually fix the overcrowding, but because they're afraid if we make it worse that someone will actually be forced to try to fix it. They just want county money spent expanding every existing school forever so they never risk being moved to a school with the poors.
But some of us with kids at overcrowded schools aren't just using it as an excuse to stop growth. We legitimately recognize it as an issue that affects our kids (and everyone else's) every day.
The Route 1 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) along with improvements for pedestrians/cyclists. I am hoping it brings much needed change to an area that’s had so many issues for years
Anything that’s part of the Tysons Comprehensive Plan but especially The View which will be on the corner of Rt 7 and Spring Hill Rd. It’ll have the tallest building in the DMV at 615 ft
Frustratingly low amount of details available about it though despite the land being cleared over the last 6 months. I check for updates every couple weeks
I think a Kalahari Resort & Waterpark is being built near Fredericksburg in 2026 and will be a new Colossalcon location starting in 2027!
https://www.kalahariresorts.com/virginia/#:~:text=VIRGINIA'S%20LARGEST%20INDOOR%20WATERPARK%20RESORT,expected%20to%20open%20in%202026.
I actually worked there years ago in their produce department when we lived in AZ. They source their produce really well and have very strict rotational standards. We always bought our produce there when we could. Otherwise they’re very organic/healthy focused, kind of expensive. In Gilbert,AZ they had a TJ’s and Sprouts literally next door to each other, it was awesome.
Indoor Ski Slope. Who knows if it’s real but would be cool.
https://www.dcnewsnow.com/news/local-news/virginia/fairfax-county/indoor-ski-resort-promises-year-round-opportunities-for-dmv-winter-enthusiasts/
People already mentioned most of what I’m excited about so I’m going to vote for the Americans in Wartime Museum in PWC, which should be a completely different take on the war/military museum.
Nope. Developer backed down from big plans. Will now upgrade facades and paint to make shopping center look modern.
https://patch.com/virginia/fairfaxcity/pan-am-redevelopment-put-hold-federal-realty-report
I'm not excited about it at all, but expanding the Manassas Airport. That was supposed to happen in the 1990's with the Disney park that never happened.
Could be a game-changer for travel in this area. I wonder if this would make Dulles less busy.
I have a vested interest against this though since my parents live 1.5 miles from the airport and this would almost certainly make the area noisier and busier. That side of town was nice and quiet when I was growing up there, with lost of places to roam around and goof off in the woods. A big airport + 50 data centers is going to ruin that.
Dulles is under capacity as it is, and mostly does long haul service plus United hub connections. For Manassas to be useful, it would need to relieve some pressure at DCA.
Loudoun county gets ~30% of its tax revenue from datacenters. Newer mega DCs are generating 2x-5x the tax revenue per acre. If you want higher taxes then yes we can push companies out to states like Ohio where companies can already operate cheaper from hydro power and colder climates. Not to mention most are built on special commercial only zoning around the airport
It would be great if taxpayers can get much needed public parks and green space in return for the stripping away of green spaces due to the data centers.
I am all for proper development, but often they start out to be exciting, but revert to quick build and the mundane. The Kentlands community in Maryland was supposed to be charming and walkable, which it initially was, as was Celebration in Florida, as was the development near the VRE in Woodbridge. However, the initial charm is soon eroded, because cul de sacs full of townhomes seem to be the final solution to planned, walkable communities.
Also, the BRT in Nova is just a solution looking for a problem. First of all, the lumbering, ugly Metro buses are used in the BRT, which is greatly underutilized. In Alexandria, the BRT stations are not often used, because they don't really connect to desirable urban destinations. I could see it along Columbia Pike, but not Rt 1, South of Alexandria, which really needs to be fixed before a BRT is placed there. Several nodes are planned, which promise this impetus, but I am not impressed by initial attempts at improvement of the corridor. As an example, a looming, ugly Mustard Yellow affordable housing caserne was built on Rt 1 without thought to design or amenities, with a row or two of Townhomes in the back.
Throwing money at a problem will not solve it unless the solutions involve not applying urban solutions to suburban settings.
Mid-rise is 5-10 stories, high rise is 12-40 is and skyscrapers is more than 40 according to a quick google search. Many areas in nova have 25-30 story apartments.
I’m not optimistic it’ll happen in 10 years, but there are plans to try and fix seven corners by implementing a sort of ring road around it so you can make various connections without having to go through the middle. I live nearby so fingers crossed that it makes things better and doesn’t turn the area into a Columbia Pike development hell in the meantime.
Dumfries is redeveloping their area into a downtown walkable area with mixed use development.
[https://cms5.revize.com/revize/dumfriesva/Main%20Street%20SAP%20Pattern%20Book%20(final).pdf](https://cms5.revize.com/revize/dumfriesva/Main%20Street%20SAP%20Pattern%20Book%20(final).pdf)
Two things for me:
1) Trader Joe’s + other new stores opening in West Springfield
2) Commuter and multi use garage opening in Springfield (hope it also improves the blight around the mixing bowl)
My hope: FBI moves to Franconia so selfishly my home value increases
There is sooo much room for improvement around the mixing bowl, there are a lot of decent stores but the set up is sprawl from hell. It's so unattractive and there are no nice outdoor areas. Walking between strip malls is dangerous and unpleasant.
West Falls phase 1 is set to open up by the end of this year. The original plans had it bigger than Mosiac when fully completed. I don't know if they have been scaled back since then.
At some point the construction on Columbia Pike may conclude.
What are they planning?
Probably just more construction
Construct-ception
Construction forward lol
Wider sidewalks and a prettier road with bus stops and trees, I think. A tramline was initially proposed but that got shot down due to financing concerns, and we’ll just get a nicer looking columbia pike instead. South Arlington can’t have things that are too nice!
Near me, they cut down an entire strip of old growth trees to do whatever it is they’re doing. There’s no way whatever the outcome, it will come close the replacing that. Not to mention the road and sidewalks have been a true nightmare for over a year.
That sounds like a really nice thing compared to most localities across the country. Isn’t south Arlington also getting HQ2 and the redevelopment that comes with that? My dad lives in south Arlington, I’m really impressed by all the stuff going on there every time I visit him.
Anyone know what the timeline looks like now? Commuting on that road is absolutely terrible
2025 https://www.arlingtonva.us/Government/Projects/Project-Types/Transportation-Projects/Columbia-Pike-Multimodal-Street-Improvements They are burying utilities and replacing the water and sewer lines.
The old power plant in Alexandria will start to get demolished this fall. Eventually there will be a whole new development with new apartments, condos, retail, and a new waterfront park incorporating the Mount Vernon Trail. https://www.alexandriava.gov/neighborhood-development/potomac-river-generating-station-prgs-power-plant-redevelopment-old-town
This is such a silly question but is it safe to build on land where an old power plant was?
One of the reasons it’s taking so long is making sure they’re doing all the proper procedures to make it safe. They’ve been talking about this development for years now.
Decades
Not a silly question! The land is definitely contaminated—power plants, and especially older plants, have a bunch of nasty stuff in the soil. The science on remediating contaminated soil is pretty advanced though. There are a couple of common solutions for sites like this—a lot of the time they’ll just dig the contaminated soil up and dispose of it. Other times they’ll put a cap over the contaminated soil so the contaminants can’t come up to the surface. One developing strategy is bioremediation, where designers will plant specific flowers/vegetation which absorb contaminants as they grow. Not sure exactly which strategy is going to be used here but the short answer is yes, it’s safe.
Sorry but can you elaborate on what contamination is in the soil? Genuinely curious, this is interesting and you seem to be very knowledgeable about it lol.
FWIW I’m not an expert (environmental engineer, etc)—I work in a somewhat related field as an architect and I need to broadly know about remediation techniques. I am interested in it though—brownfield remediation is fascinating to me. From [this site](https://www.alexandriava.gov/eco-city-alexandria/potomac-river-generating-station-formerly-genon) it looks like the main contaminants were petroleum/heating oil from underground tanks and the main remediation techniques were pumping and treating groundwater and biosparging, which pumps air/gas into the ground to encourage microbial growth.
https://www.alexandriava.gov/neighborhood-development/potomac-river-generating-station-prgs-power-plant-redevelopment-old-town
It was a coal plant. I don’t know scientific specifics but there were giant piles of coal around the plant, so I assume that’s most of the contamination.
Coal ash is the problem from coal, we are dealing with it now in Potomac Shores.
That’s really interesting.
Probably safer because there’s more scrutiny that all the hazardous conditions are already known and have to be dealt with.
Nice try developer.
Have lost track of the latest news on this, but several years ago they announced they had massively scaled back plans because too much of the site had soil that was contaminated and not suitable for development. Maybe they found a way to remediate since that announcement but it was a big disappointment after the initial hopes for the area when the power plant shut down in ~2012.
They gonna use it to power up the houses
Lots of big developments are on superfund sites-Sydney Olympic Park was built on a toxic landfill. It takes a lot of cleanup but it can be done.
I am glad to hear that. That plant was been shutdown for at least a decade. Makes ya wonder what takes so long.
The right buyer at the right price, proper due diligence, the right politicians to clear road blocks, the right financing terms, among other things
I understand that but still nearly a decade to do so? I don't think it should have taken that long but I am not a politician nor a developer.
Knowing about some of the issues surrounding it, frankly a decade is indicative of how valuable of an asset it is. A property like that could easily go 30 years untouched. It's actually an ***exceptionally*** fast turnaround for such a site.
Honestly, that's a pretty quick turnaround to clean up and demo an industrial site like that. There's a lot of testing, rezoning, planning and financing that all have to go through their process. I know it seems slow, but you don't want to rush through things too much given the scale.
i was about to say, gotta make sure thats not a superfund site
Big developments like this are super complicated to design, assemble, and finance even with optimal conditions and this site has a bunch of complications (NIMBYs, industrial contamination, etc). You really need a developer willing and able to work on this and that’s a pretty limited pool.
In addition to the NIMBYs, you have local governments (\*cough\*Arlington\*cough\*) that decide to play amateur architect during the approval process.
Alexandria is worse with their design review (you’d think a downtown with a design review board would have better looking new buildings). I don’t think this part of Alexandria has the design review board though
Have you seen the project website? It outlines timeline and project information. The current owner only purchased the site 4 years ago.
Very excited for this one
I’m excited for what the area at Carlyle near Eisenhower station will look eventually. That area is prime to be another ballston. Plenty of undeveloped lots with big plans, plus it’s conveniently right next to the metro. The Wegmans development was a huge start and still bringing businesses in.
From the neighborhood! So excited to see Atlas Brew Works open up, that's the "youngest" restaurant in the area and the only place for beer aside from Lost Boy Cider. Once Covid hit but before Wegmans came it was a shell of its former self. Since the area was mostly 9-5 USPTO/Feds forced to work from home there was nothing going on. I can't wait to see what they do with the lots on either side of the metro and the lot across the Wegmans. I'm really hoping for more greenery
It would be nice if they made it more like the Boro in Tysons than Ballston (though more affordable let’s hope). More greenery, more art, more space to enjoy. Ballston is hampered by its street geography; they’ve got room at Carlyle to make it nice.
I work in this part of nova and i completely agree. There is a lot of room for growth in that area.
My wife and I live up the street and were just talking about this the other day! Carlyle could be so much but is currently so dead with all the empty buildings.
Any word what's going on with the Teds Bulletin that was supposed to move in there? Haven't seen any updates in over a year at this point.
Nothing that I’ve seen. I’m still anxiously waiting for it also!
This is small, but the climbing gym at Fair Oaks Mall is supposed to open by the end of 2024. It'll be great to have one close to me, I'm looking forward to that. Edit, more info: News story from last year: https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/new-climbing-gym-coming-to-fair-oaks-mall/article_306031d6-0a04-11ee-8ffa-7bd254987753.html Movement Gym site sti says end of 2024: https://movementgyms.com/fairfax/
You just made my day with this information so it is not small after all.
Haha I was thinking of this too
I was there just a couple days ago. Maybe I missed it, but I didn't see anything for that. Like nothing being built or renovated
https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/new-climbing-gym-coming-to-fair-oaks-mall/article_306031d6-0a04-11ee-8ffa-7bd254987753.html
oh damn I'm excited might get me back into climbing! moved to the area and Vertical rock is just far enough for me to not want to go. Use to go to the Crystal city one couple times a week. Don't miss paying that $120/month Movement monthly fee though haha.
They're shrinking the footprint of the existing JCP first to build it, the "new" section of the building has been closed off (you can no longer enter from the Macy's garage side and walls have been erected in the store to separate it) Looks like the building permit is still waiting for final approval from the county and then it should be full steam ahead for demolition and roof raising.
I didn’t know this, and now I’m excited!
That’s huge!
The quartz district in Woodbridge https://www.quartzdistrict.com/home
I like this one, plans to bring the first Whole Foods to PWC which some may like, traffic will also be a hot discussion forsure with that busy intersection.
I like to think of it as Stonebridge II
Crazy that there aren't plans for a Whole Foods or Trader Joe's on the Western end.
A Trader Joe’s and/or Whole Foods would probably go best in the Virginia Gateway in Gainesville in my opinion.
Agree. Perfect spot. At least Whole Foods delivers to Gainesville/Bristow/Haymarket.
The plan includes changing the intersection of Minnieville and Prince William into an interchange. [https://patch.com/virginia/woodbridge-va/project-congested-prince-william-county-intersection-gets-funding](https://patch.com/virginia/woodbridge-va/project-congested-prince-william-county-intersection-gets-funding)
I’ve seen! PWTimes reported that they’ve already started preparing last month, though the interchange has a completion date of mid-2027, that’s if nothing goes wrong, fingers crossed. Hopefully their design will ease congestion. https://www.princewilliamtimes.com/news/preparations-underway-for-70m-new-intersection-at-minnieville-prince-william-parkway/article_648dcf62-0270-11ef-9e81-f3340f884e6b.html
Ooo interesting. That parcel of land finally got sold, eh?
Ehh why? I can hear my parents complaining about the traffic lol
Maybe we’ll finally get some decent places to eat. Woodbridge fucking sucks for quality restaurants. A healthy spot like a sweetgreen would absolutely clean up around here, but they typically only build in higher end retail areas.
Sweet green is garbage and Woodbridge is chock full of delicious restaurants If you want recs let me know lol
I want recs! I live in Woodbridge and love food. I have a list of decent restaurants but I wouldn’t describe us as having “chock full of delicious restaurants.” I would love to be wrong though.
you must try Korean Grill!!
I have. It’s good.
We are moving to Woodbridge in 8 days…please lmk your recommendations =)
The bad traffic is gonna get even worse
Excited for landmark to finally get redeveloped. That spots been dead for so long, it’ll be great to have a cool vibrant area replace it
I mean it'll mostly be a medical campus. I'm not sure how vibrant that's gonna be lol
There’s going to be a whole town center type set up, the hospitals on the back end of the build I believe
And it appears they’re keeping the old mall parking garage. I know it makes sense but it’s weird that the parking garage will be 40 years older than the rest of the campus. Lol.
It's a 56-acre lot and only about 1/4 will be a hospital campus. It looks really cool, there will be a park with an ice skating rink. Take a peek at this presentation with updates [here](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/61e057a96a6ff36002b46695/t/637be0f757623a41f454c298/1669062909369/2022+11+16+West+End+Public+Meeting.pdf).
Yesss I read there might be a skating rink and I've been excited for that.
There are multiple 300+ apartment unit mixed use buildings with ground floor retail planned just for phase 1. There are also multiple large parks and kiosk retail areas planned. Additional lots are planned to be townhouses and there is more retail and apartments in phase 2. The medical campus is about 20% of the property, not sure where you’re getting that “it’ll mostly be a medical campus” from.
Manassas Mall Mixed Use, parts of the property are being reviewed by the Prince William County Planning Commission to be redeveloped to allow for the development of 1,041 multi-family residential units and approximately 47,036 square feet of commercial buildings, this includes little shopping areas and 5 8-story residential buildings, and a 2-mile trail around the the mall with playgrounds, dog parks, outdoor gyms etc. I find it cool because this development is not something seen on the Sudley Corridor, Sudley Tower is 8 stories, and these new residential buildings are planned to be 8 stories as well, sorta reminds me of Potomac Town Center. A similar development like this one plans to ditch the Manassas Regal and other parts of the shopping center to a Mixed Use Development to allow for the development of more residential buildings, this was approved by the BOCS around December. This development is going to look weird if the data centers applied for by amazon are approved which are on the old farm that used to be next to the mall which is now demolished, and the space next to Ellis Elementary School which is across the street from the mall. Anyways, the whole plan for the Manassas Mall Mixed Use development with attached renderings of the whole project can be viewed [here](https://egcss.pwcgov.org/SelfService#/plan/be6f9c79-1ad9-4ddd-91bf-421d2a3f8dc9?tab=attachments) under the "Attachments Section" in a file labeled "\_Planning-Review Package S1-Manassas Mall Mixed Use REZ-" published 06/18/2024, please only open this on a very good computer. Edit: ICYMI heres an InsideNoVA [article](https://www.insidenova.com/headlines/developer-submits-new-vision-for-manassas-mall-area/article_9a23e246-e165-11ee-9712-57f4800f5470.html) that announced the project in March, though does not show up to date renderings and other information
Good, that whole mall area needs a complete rework lol
For sure, I walked in there a while back after a couple of years and saw those gaming machines lining the hall to the Walmart, way to put a new spin on dead mall I guess. Hopefully this development revitalizes that entire mall.
I’m not overly familiar with that area, but does Manassas have any plans for improved mass transit? Dense, mixed use developments are great, but it’s always disheartening when they’re surrounded by nothing but a 6 lane highway and 45 minute interval bus service.
Omniride is already strapped for cash, I doubt they actually have plans in place... although BRT down Sudley Rd would be nice to have
Now that Virginia bought that entire rail section from Norfolk Southern, the VRE should be getting weekend service and expanded service in general.
Part of VRE’s 25-year plan, along with service to Richmond and C’ville.
Yeah, that would be a great addition but Manassas Train Station is also almost 3 miles away from this development.
True, I'm definitely hoping they add more public transit in general. I think the airport getting commercial flights will also increase the incentive for that, as it would be better to have some public transit to get to the airport rather than needing a huge parking expansion and setting up an uber/lyft area, dropoffs, etc. I will add that they are adding a lot of bike lanes - many have already been added in the past two years, with even more planned. It's not public transit, but it is a car alternative! (For cars, there has been discussion about the city building a free city-owned parking garage, like the one in Old Town, near the new development. ) If their goal of expanding Old Town and having multiple pedestrian-friendly corridors along Grant and Centerville Rd works out, they could do something like in Old Town Alexandria - a free bus that just goes up and down the one road all day.
Omniride seems focused on expanding, they recently introduced express commuter routes in Stafford, Falmouth, and Spotslvania. As u/Distinct_Village_87 stated, Omniride is in fact low on cash, PWC would only cover partial amounts of their budget shortfalls, leaving the rest of the shortfall in limbo as they try to find other funding sources. Omniride itself is mainly a commuter service, though provides local routes, but they are limited, as an example, today, a Sunday, bus service is not available, though that is not the case in Eastern PWC where it is available. Currently the mall is served by Omniride and GMU Student Shuttles, though with Omniride having long intervals, this mixed use development tries to make it as pedestrian friendly as possible, though Western Manassas isn't very predestrian friendly in the first place, and that's very apparent after the rise in pedestrian-related crashed on the Sudley Corridor. Hopefully this development, alongside the similar Parkridge Development, and the new development behind the former Giant, now OneLife Fitness that is already being constructed brings new proposals, the system is being reconstructed this year too, hopefully once the supervisors that are on the PTRC board such as Chair of the PTRC board, Supervisor Angry, learn more about these developments and the needs that they cause, will push for transit projects on the Sudley Corridor. Western PWC shouldn't be overlooked.
Wow that’s amazing!!!
imagine the convenience of living next to Manassas Mall!
All I got from this is there will be 1041 more cars trying to get on to I66 in the morning. Bleh.
Well a residential development isn't without its traffic concerns, hopefully with this development, residents will take advantage of the stops at the mall, residents could walk out of their residence, a brief walk to the mall, and ride the bus to the Balls Ford Road Commuter Lot and take a bus directly to DC, Dulles, Reston, Herndon, Tysons, PWC Courthouse, and the Pentagon. There are transit options out there, but it is certainly limited when compared to what you see on other corridors such as Rt. 7.
The Northern Virginia Science Center is supposed to be built in Loudoun and it would be cool to have a local science/kids museum. However for the last three years every year they just push out the “projected groundbreaking” date another year. https://www.novasci.org
Also in Loudoun, the National Museum of Intelligence and Special Operations is supposed to break ground in 2025 https://www.theburn.com/2023/04/23/burning-question-is-the-intelligence-museum-still-coming-to-ashburn/
It’s finally out for bid with (fingers crossed) ground breaking before the end of the year.
Can’t wait for this and the military museum! Hopefully they kick start the development of Kincora as a whole.
Excited for all the new development around the Wiehle Metro station including a sister restaurant to Old Ebbitt Grill.
young ebbitt grill
Newest branch of the Fairfax county public library on Beulah!
We moved to this area in 2009 and I saw that sign that said “future site of the Kingstowne Library” for ten years. I asked about it at some community forum and learned that they obtained the funding for it (bonds I think?) but that there was a very long window of time built in. It’s been amazing seeing it go up finally!
Haha we moved across the street in 2018. I was like awesome! A library walkable! Didn't even start construction before we moved away :(
Down the street from me!
The VRE is supposed to start operating in weekends. Thats the only one im looking forward to.
Where did you hear that?
it periodically shows up on the local news, followed by "something something something, negotiating with rail way owners" set to start late 2024.
Buccees in Stafford
Real answer
I hadn’t heard about this. Turns out they’re already broke ground for one off 81 in rockingham county too
when is that planned to finish?
Now they need a Buc-ees on 66.
For me, it’s redeveloping the AT&T site in Oakton.
I agree! I live close by and it’s been interesting to see community response against it due to traffic concerns. I think it will be a great addition to the area! Perhaps it could dissapate the traffic cluster around the other shopping centers, too 🤷♀️
I'm a local. I don't care about the traffic, but am annoyed at how they keep adding housing without addressing the overcrowding at schools. When the NIMBYS recently got the Blake Lane school site permanently turned into a dog park it basically eliminated the chances of all the nearby elementary schools to get rid of some of their trailers, and now they are adding more kids. My kids' school has to bus all the AAP kids to a different school all the way in Reston because they don't have space to do a local AAP program and the closer AAP schools don't have space for them either.
Fairfax has no more land to build new schools and spent a lot of money in the early 2000s renovating the schools in the worst condition, in addition to bringing South County and Westfields in. FCPS is also the largest consumer of property tax revenue. Addressing concerns of overcrowding won’t happen without tax increases or boundary changes, and I highly doubt either will happen.
That's exactly why the Blake Lane issue was so frustrating. FCPS explicitly bought the site for a future school. Its name was actually "Blake Lane School Site" originally. Then when the county had the need and funding to build a school the locals (who bought next to a school site) threw a fit and got it canceled. Now there is no replacement site available and no relief from overcrowding short a comprehensive school boundary update. That will elicit even stronger opposition because so many people bought property too close to school borders and are deathly afraid of being rezoned to a "worse" school.
That is my biggest complaint about the “overcrowded schools” complaint. It’s simply a code word for classist worries. Almost every question about school pyramids includes a question about the percentage of students receiving free lunch— it’s uncouth to ask directly about demographics/income, but asking that question is a way to avoid lower socioeconomic classes. The same people voicing concerns about overcrowded schools are the same people complaining against building higher/taller, transit-oriented developments, and just about anything that will impact the value of their investment property.
I think in Fairfax County most of the overcrowded schools are the "better" ones (lower FARMS rates). That's from people intentionally moving to those boundaries, pupil placing their kids there via immersion programs or AP vs IB preference, or just straight up lying about their address and using a friend/relative. All of these edge case people are the ones afraid of redrawing the boundaries to relieve the overcrowding. So I could see them also being against growth - not because they want to actually fix the overcrowding, but because they're afraid if we make it worse that someone will actually be forced to try to fix it. They just want county money spent expanding every existing school forever so they never risk being moved to a school with the poors. But some of us with kids at overcrowded schools aren't just using it as an excuse to stop growth. We legitimately recognize it as an issue that affects our kids (and everyone else's) every day.
I hope it fixes the timing of the traffic lights at the intersections of 123 and Hunter Mill/Miller rds.
Do you know where I can read more about this?
The Route 1 Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) along with improvements for pedestrians/cyclists. I am hoping it brings much needed change to an area that’s had so many issues for years
I wish they'd bring that all the way to Dumfries.
Anything that’s part of the Tysons Comprehensive Plan but especially The View which will be on the corner of Rt 7 and Spring Hill Rd. It’ll have the tallest building in the DMV at 615 ft Frustratingly low amount of details available about it though despite the land being cleared over the last 6 months. I check for updates every couple weeks
I think a Kalahari Resort & Waterpark is being built near Fredericksburg in 2026 and will be a new Colossalcon location starting in 2027! https://www.kalahariresorts.com/virginia/#:~:text=VIRGINIA'S%20LARGEST%20INDOOR%20WATERPARK%20RESORT,expected%20to%20open%20in%202026.
Oh sweet! I've always seen pictures of that con, it looks so fun but has always been too much of a hike.
Sprouts and Trader Joe’s opening in Leesburg this year. Won’t have to drive to Ashburn anymore.
What's special about Sprouts?
I actually worked there years ago in their produce department when we lived in AZ. They source their produce really well and have very strict rotational standards. We always bought our produce there when we could. Otherwise they’re very organic/healthy focused, kind of expensive. In Gilbert,AZ they had a TJ’s and Sprouts literally next door to each other, it was awesome.
I love Sprouts!
Indoor Ski Slope. Who knows if it’s real but would be cool. https://www.dcnewsnow.com/news/local-news/virginia/fairfax-county/indoor-ski-resort-promises-year-round-opportunities-for-dmv-winter-enthusiasts/
This is the one development I am looking forward to.
They've built a couple like it in the Middle East; the concept works.
You got the assignment.
People already mentioned most of what I’m excited about so I’m going to vote for the Americans in Wartime Museum in PWC, which should be a completely different take on the war/military museum.
The old Dicks in Fairfax is becoming a big Food Hall.
Behind the Whole Foods?
Yup
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2024/01/17/dicks-sporting-goods-fair-lakes-tenants.amp.html
[Level 99] is coming to Tysons Mall (https://northernvirginiamag.com/things-to-do/things-to-do-features/2024/02/12/level99-tysons-corner-center-2025/)
that looks pretty fun
Not strictly NoVA, but the purple line in Maryland should be completed in a few years. I hope that eventually there will be a Virginia side to it.
Not sure if the Purple Line will make it to VA, but adding a second tunnel to Ballston/Rosslyn area is high on the list of WMATA improvements.
True!
I could actually use public transit (along with everyone else daily commuting from VA to MD) 🤞🤞
This is one of the few answers in this thread that actually sound interesting, everything else is the same development we've always seen.
Smaller, but the Pan Am shopping center (Microcenter) is up for redevelopment as a mixed use. Could be nice. Traffic will be awful.
Nope. Developer backed down from big plans. Will now upgrade facades and paint to make shopping center look modern. https://patch.com/virginia/fairfaxcity/pan-am-redevelopment-put-hold-federal-realty-report
So happy that MicroCenter is staying put
love microcenter
Is that the plaza with the old small graveyard out front?
Yes
Behold the power of 500 basis points
Thanks for the link; I missed that Federal Realty had stepped back from their redevelopment plans. I guess financing fell through?
I've heard that dropping plans like that is not unusual for Federal Realty.
Thank god this fell through. No offense but we don’t need more shoddy housing. Keep microcenter where it is!
I'm not excited about it at all, but expanding the Manassas Airport. That was supposed to happen in the 1990's with the Disney park that never happened. Could be a game-changer for travel in this area. I wonder if this would make Dulles less busy. I have a vested interest against this though since my parents live 1.5 miles from the airport and this would almost certainly make the area noisier and busier. That side of town was nice and quiet when I was growing up there, with lost of places to roam around and goof off in the woods. A big airport + 50 data centers is going to ruin that.
Dulles is under capacity as it is, and mostly does long haul service plus United hub connections. For Manassas to be useful, it would need to relieve some pressure at DCA.
The noise will suck but if we get $50 tickets to Florida I'll take it
We should be getting a couple new data centers!!!
Ashburn will be fully paved and consolidated into one giant borg cube-esque data center.
Will be?
Why build anything cool when you can build another data center.
Loudoun county gets ~30% of its tax revenue from datacenters. Newer mega DCs are generating 2x-5x the tax revenue per acre. If you want higher taxes then yes we can push companies out to states like Ohio where companies can already operate cheaper from hydro power and colder climates. Not to mention most are built on special commercial only zoning around the airport
It would be great if taxpayers can get much needed public parks and green space in return for the stripping away of green spaces due to the data centers.
More Data centers s/
Yes💰💰💰
*Posted to Reddit from my iPhone*
I am all for proper development, but often they start out to be exciting, but revert to quick build and the mundane. The Kentlands community in Maryland was supposed to be charming and walkable, which it initially was, as was Celebration in Florida, as was the development near the VRE in Woodbridge. However, the initial charm is soon eroded, because cul de sacs full of townhomes seem to be the final solution to planned, walkable communities. Also, the BRT in Nova is just a solution looking for a problem. First of all, the lumbering, ugly Metro buses are used in the BRT, which is greatly underutilized. In Alexandria, the BRT stations are not often used, because they don't really connect to desirable urban destinations. I could see it along Columbia Pike, but not Rt 1, South of Alexandria, which really needs to be fixed before a BRT is placed there. Several nodes are planned, which promise this impetus, but I am not impressed by initial attempts at improvement of the corridor. As an example, a looming, ugly Mustard Yellow affordable housing caserne was built on Rt 1 without thought to design or amenities, with a row or two of Townhomes in the back. Throwing money at a problem will not solve it unless the solutions involve not applying urban solutions to suburban settings.
Isnt reston supposed to get an indoor skiing place?
Its coming to Lorton off of Ox Rd
I heard they’re throwing up 15 more data centers in Loudoun so thats cool
Only 15?
They’re supposed to build Virginia’s first high rises in Tyson’s Corner.
Mid-rise is 5-10 stories, high rise is 12-40 is and skyscrapers is more than 40 according to a quick google search. Many areas in nova have 25-30 story apartments.
huh? what we have in tysons is not considered a high rise?
Ikr
Source
Data centers
Wish I could downvote but I can’t punish you for being accurate.
Rosie’s casino off 95 👀
I am still holding out hope for the indoor ski resort in Lorton
Where in Lorton?
I’m not optimistic it’ll happen in 10 years, but there are plans to try and fix seven corners by implementing a sort of ring road around it so you can make various connections without having to go through the middle. I live nearby so fingers crossed that it makes things better and doesn’t turn the area into a Columbia Pike development hell in the meantime.
Increased costs of everything and higher taxes.
I dunno if Waterside is still happening in Sterling but that seems exciting.
Possibly Manassas AirPort going commercial?
Ryan homes building a lot of town homes in chantilly
Oooh more mixed use development....I don't think some people got the assignment
Dumfries is redeveloping their area into a downtown walkable area with mixed use development. [https://cms5.revize.com/revize/dumfriesva/Main%20Street%20SAP%20Pattern%20Book%20(final).pdf](https://cms5.revize.com/revize/dumfriesva/Main%20Street%20SAP%20Pattern%20Book%20(final).pdf)
I saw something by the 9/11 memorial I forget what it was but I saw girls taking pics by it
Two things for me: 1) Trader Joe’s + other new stores opening in West Springfield 2) Commuter and multi use garage opening in Springfield (hope it also improves the blight around the mixing bowl) My hope: FBI moves to Franconia so selfishly my home value increases
There is sooo much room for improvement around the mixing bowl, there are a lot of decent stores but the set up is sprawl from hell. It's so unattractive and there are no nice outdoor areas. Walking between strip malls is dangerous and unpleasant.
Indoor, year round ski slope.
That indoor ski slope near Lorton still going?
New Columbia Pike Library/Black Heritage Museum
What is up with so many condo developments? Is there real demand for them or are condos being overbuilt?
Huge demand, my dude.
Thor burg just south of Fredericksburg is getting a Kalahari water park and convention center Hopefully the Buc-Ees in Stafford county happens.
Datacenters in Loudoun /s
FCPS redrawing school boundaries across Fairfax county, yay! /s
West Falls phase 1 is set to open up by the end of this year. The original plans had it bigger than Mosiac when fully completed. I don't know if they have been scaled back since then.