A new, mixed-use development is being proposed for Fair Oaks. To be called Pender Campus, it would contain offices and retail in an upscale, village square/town center-type concept.
The nearly 35 1/2-acre site is at Route 50 and Fair Ridge Drive, on the Dominion Virginia Power site, just west of the Exxon station and the Hilton Garden Inn.
David Ross, president of Atlantic Realty Cos., the developer, and land-use attorney John Bellaschi of McGuireWoods presented details of the plan at the March 3 meeting of the Sully District Council Land-Use and Transportation Committee. Also on hand to answer questions was the project's architect, Jerry Cooper of Cooper Carry.
Pender Campus is envisioned as being 2/3 office use and 1/3 retail — some 266,750 square feet of offices and 105,000 square feet of retail, for 371,750 square feet total.
Dominion Virginia Power's electric substation currently on that property would remain, as would its 70,000-square-foot building. Virginia Power would still use about 10 percent of that facility, and the rest could be used by other businesses for offices.
Then surrounding that building — in front and on the eastern side — Atlantic Realty proposes 88,000 square feet of office use, plus 105,000 square feet of retail uses, with retail on the ground floor and office on the second floor, for a town-center kind of ambiance.
This structure, or series of structures, would be two stories high. Possible tenants might include a Fresh Fields grocery store, a pharmacy, a fitness center and, perhaps, some small restaurants. Parking would be on the perimeter.
Six small office buildings totaling 108,750 square feet are proposed for the back portion of the lot. They'd be designed in a courtyard setting, with parking outside the courtyard, for a pedestrian-friendly, village-square feel. Their average height would be 2 1/2 levels, and the buildings would be sold to individual businesses.
Noting that the site is fairly close to Inova Fair Oaks Hospital, Ross said that doctors wanting to use this space for their offices might be possible tenants. Also proposed is a main street connecting the retail area to the office/village square area in the back.
The idea is that residents in the surrounding neighborhoods and people working in the offices could walk to the retail uses. And cobblestones and bricks are being considered to add to the pedestrian-friendly environment.
After hearing details of the proposal, the committee members, overall, were pleased about the project. However, they had some concerns about the transportation flow in and out of the retail portion.
They suggested the grocery store be on one side of the development, instead of the other. If not, explained committee chairman Jeff Parnes, "Upon leaving the store, you'd be in the middle of the complex, instead of at the end — and you'd rather have people exiting at the end."
The developer hasn't filed anything official, yet, with Fairfax County; it first wanted to see what Sully District Council thought of the idea and receive any suggestions the committee members might have. And whatever happens with the proposed development won't actually materialize for quite awhile.
Said Parnes: "If it goes forward, it would take two to three years before the front development was ready, and three to four years for the village square in back." Meanwhile, Atlantic Realty will work on the grocery-store, traffic-flow issue and return again in the future with more refinements.