For Cityline Partners LLC, 8-1-1 twice proved to be the magic numbers in securing Fairfax County’s approval of its plan to build an up-to-240-unit residential building instead of an office structure at its Arbor Row development in Tysons.
That tally first came up at the May 15 Planning Commission meeting, when eight commissioners voted in favor, one was opposed and one abstained (two also were absent).
The application secured the same divided vote total at the Board of Supervisors’ May 21 meeting – eight in favor, Supervisor Daniel Storck (D-Mount Vernon) against and Supervisor Walter Alcorn (D-Hunter Mill) abstaining.
The 23-story building, to be located on 2.92 acres at 7925 Westpark Drive, will have 269,000 square feet of residential space and about 8,500 square feet of ground-floor retail.
The site occupies Block C2 in the larger Arbor Row development, which supervisors approved in 2012. The parcel is located between The Mather, a continuing-care facility, and The Monarch, a high-rise condo building.
The project will feature 1.76 acres of urban parkland – more than double the 0.74 acres required by the county – which will be located behind the building and connect with Arbor Row’s other park spaces.
Cityline will complete the site’s park-trail connection with The Monarch before the county issues the new building’s first residential-use permit and will escrow funds for this purpose in case the developer cannot build the connection.
Members of the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors extensively debated how the development would provide its required workforce-dwelling units (WDUs).
Cityline sought flexibility to provide between 22 and 32 WDUs off-site within Tysons, with approval from the Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development, and/or make a cash contribution to the Tysons Housing Trust Fund.
County staff disagreed with the applicant’s proposal to limit its WDU cash contribution to between $4.5 million and nearly $4.9 million.
“The applicant’s proffer is artificially capped at a value that staff does not believe matches” the county’s WDU policy, a planning staffer told supervisors. “The staff continues to maintain that the contribution should be based on 3 percent of the total contract-sales price for each market-rate unit within the building, as stated in the WDU policy, to fully address the affordable-housing need generated by this development.”
The Monarch is the only one of three condominium buildings constructed in Tysons that has on-site WDUs, attorney Lynne Strobel, who was representing the subject property’s contract purchaser, told the Planning Commission.
The vast majority of the more than 800 Tysons condominiums are rental units, in part because Condominium Act requires that condo fees be calculated at the same rate for WDUs and market-rate units, Strobel said.
Condos can become less affordable over time as those fees increase, especially if condo associations do special assessments or decide to provide additional services, she said.
When 50 percent of the units are sold at the new building, Cityline will examine the average sales price and use that to determine the company’s final WDU contribution, she said.
Supervisor Dalia Palchik (D-Providence) moved for the application’s approval, citing its interconnected linear park and luxury residential product.
“While I will call this a slightly imperfect application, I do believe that it brings a balanced approach . . . to the Arbor Row development,” Palchik said.
Those on the dais not voting in support – Storck and Alcorn – cited disagreements with the development’s provision of WDUs.
“I don’t buy the logic. I don’t think it’s sound,” Storck said. “I think it’s an opportunity for us to honor the policy that we set. I think those dollars are needed. I think we need to continue to hold people accountable and expect that they will meet that.”
Supervisor Patrick Herrity (R-Springfield), however, supported the proposal.
“Interest rates and rising material costs have dramatically changed the market and what we’re able to get done,” Herrity said, adding it was ironic that the county’s policies on affordable and workforce housing were getting in the way of building more residential units.
McKay disagreed, saying a lot of housing was being built in the county, and said staff was right to oppose the application because it did not meet WDU requirements. But the application met the spirit of the policy recommendations, he added.
County officials said the board’s vote was not a green light for other developers to skirt WDU requirements.
“We are not changing our policy,” McKay said. “Staff recommended denial based on the policy. This is a nuanced situation.”
