Carole Balides moved into Kingstowne in 1987 because she had an eye on the future.
"It offers incredible amenities, and it's a lovely place to live," said Balides. At the time, nearly 20 years ago, however, the area which is now the second-largest planned urban development (PUD) community in Northern Virginia, looked nothing like the retail hub that it is today. But like many of her current neighbors in the Hayfield Farm community, Balides knew what was in store for the Kingstowne area, located west of Van Dorn Street and between Hayfield and Telegraph roads.
"We came here in 1970 when there was nothing really going on. Telegraph Road was just a two-lane street," she said. "You had to stand in line with a ticket in order to buy a house."
The final piece of the Kingstowne puzzle — a state-of-the-art, digital movie "megaplex" — will fill out the 400,000-square-foot Towne Center property, and it is scheduled to open in either late summer or early fall of this year.
"It's the missing link between all of it," said Jonathan Halle, vice president of The Halle Cos., which is developing the Towne Center property. "That was always the goal — to have an entertainment niche for the citizens in the Towne Center, since Kingstowne has always been envisioned as a working, living, shopping community."
The 3,300-seat, 16-screen movie theater will be located adjacent to the plaza and the Panera Bread Co. restaurant. It will be operated by Charlotte-based Consolidated Theatres, which operates nearly 20 theaters across the mid-South. Parking for the theater will be in a 1,000-space, two-level, underground facility, which will also serve a pair of restaurants that Halle said are also in the works for adjacent to the theater. Elevators will bring patrons up into the plaza in front of the theater.
THE ARRIVAL of the movie theater means the Towne Center is being filled out in reverse. When construction began on Phase I in 1999, a deal with another movie theater company was in the works; but after a rash of theater closings nationwide, the company pulled out of the lease, according to Halle, and no deal existed. The Halle Cos. then began working to get a Home Depot Expo Design Center built. That plan, while it was the will of the residents of Kingstowne, would have required changes to the county's Comprehensive Plan. Ultimately, the Home Depot plan also fell through. Finally, Halle found a client in Consolidated Theatres.
"It's been on our master plan for a long time, but now we're finally going to make it happen," said Halle. "The plaza was always envisioned as being the gathering place of all the citizens. Originally, we were going to build the theater, so we had to bring in all the major anchors to get the first phase kicked off."
In addition to the retail components, a 150,000-square-foot office building is included in Phase II. Halle is also approved for two more office towers, which will make up Phase III of the Towne Center.
THE COMPLETION of the Towne Center, said Supervisor Dana Kauffman (D-Lee), is a strong testament to the persistence of the residents of the Kingstowne communities and their ultimate goals for creating a community.
"A town center is an abstract concept until you find the nexus of citizen plans and economic reality. What we see unfolding represents perhaps the best compromise of dreams, reality and long-term livability," said Kauffman.
The goal for all construction has not wavered, said Halle, since 1985, when Warren Halle purchased 1,300 acres of land for over 5,000 residential housing units and 2.3 million square feet of land for retail and commercial. The first signs of life popped up in 1995 when a Wal-Mart store opened; then construction on the Giant Food Shopping Center was completed in 1996.
"I was present at birth, and we've now gone through the troubled teen years, and now frankly the community is setting its own path," said Kauffman. "While I certainly am glad to see us have a town center, it's the community that will over time determine how far it goes."
Other retailers in the Towne Center include retailers TJ Maxx, Radio Shack and World Market, and restaurants Pizzeria Uno and Chipotle Mexican Grill.
"I like being accessible to restaurants, and it keeps you off the road," said Balides. "You want to go out to eat, it's just a few blocks away. When I want to, I walk."
Kingstowne also hosts a concert series during the summer, and a farmers market on Fridays from Memorial Day to Labor Day. This June, the 20th anniversary of Kingstowne's inception, plans are in the works for a celebration.
"Hopefully it will turn Kingstowne's Towne Center and community core into what everybody envisioned for Kingstowne," said Halle, "a place where the community can come and gather."