Public Affairs

Fairfax County and the Workhouse Arts Foundation are looking for innovative ideas to continue transforming the historically significant, 50-plus acre Workhouse Arts campus into the first mixed-used arts campus in the county.

The county and the Workhouse recently issued a request for expressions of interest, seeking proposed adaptive re-use concepts from businesses, nonprofits or individuals.

The two entities are asking for cultural, educational, residential, commercial or other uses that complement the Workhouse Arts Center’s existing studio, gallery and museum spaces. This could include food halls, restaurants, craft breweries, craft manufacturing, housing, arts and entertainment venues, business incubators and possibly other uses.

The goal is to bring greater vibrancy to this historic campus, enhance it as a regional arts destination and generate new revenues.

This outreach advances efforts to remake this area of Fairfax County into a regional tourism destination for arts and culture. The Workhouse Arts Center campus, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, anchors the northern end of the NOVA Arts and Cultural District that was created last year with the Occoquan Regional Park and Town of Occoquan.

Workhouse and county officials said proposals can include adaptive reuse of vacant or underused space in the 25 historic buildings on the campus that was once part of the former Lorton Reformatory. New construction also can be proposed, along with ideas for the property’s more than 1.89 acres of green space.

Today, the campus contains 25 historic buildings, a large quad, baseball field and nearly 1,000 parking spaces. The Workhouse has restored 11 buildings, using 95,881 square feet as an arts center. It currently consists of six artist studio buildings, multiple exhibition spaces, numerous education classrooms, dance and movement studios, a culinary kitchen, a main gallery, a theatre and the new Lucy Burns Museum.

Under existing entitlements, the campus is already approved for up to 233,813 square feet for re-use in the existing historic buildings, plus an additional 59,775 square feet of new construction in four new buildings. This includes:

• Two restaurants or eating establishments with 400 seats total in two new buildings
• 40 “live-work” apartments originally intended for artists in two new buildings

However, officials say proposed ideas that deviate from these existing development approvals are also encouraged with the understanding that regulatory approval will be required. They are looking for the creative, adaptive re-use concepts to further activate the campus.

The Workhouse currently supports more than 90 professional and emerging artists by providing them affordable studios and 12 galleries in which to exhibit their work. Instead of simply viewing the art, visitors are encouraged to interact with the artists. In addition to visual arts, the center is home to performing arts, including: theater, musical theater, film, music, comedy and dance with 300 performances per year.

Fairfax County owns the campus that was part of the 2,440-acre property that once made up the Lorton Reformatory. The original prison buildings were where the suffragists were imprisoned in 1917 for picketing the White House.

Concepts will be accepted from Dec. 1 through June 30, 2019, and will be reviewed monthly in the order of submission for further action. Concepts presented could lead to a range of actions, including but not limited to in-person discussions, lease negotiation or a formal procurement depending upon the nature of the adaptive reuse concept. The county and Workhouse will conduct site tours on the 15th of each month from December through May 2019 at 10 a.m., except that a site tour will not be held on April 15, 2019. 

For more information, visit the Workhouse Campus RFI webpage or contact Regina Coyle with the Fairfax County Department of Planning and Zoning at 703-324-1214, TTY 711.

Following 17 months of public engagement, Fairfax County will move forward with proposed zoning changes for Reston.

The Board of Supervisors is anticipated on Dec. 4 to authorize public hearings on the zoning changes for early next year. The Dec. 4 meeting will not be an opportunity for public input.

The proposal seeks to increase the maximum allowed “population” density from 13-persons per acre to 15 in the Reston Planned Residential Community (PRC) District. This 13-persons per acre limit has remained unchanged for several decades and does not accommodate the future residential growth anticipated in the Reston PRC near the future Silver Line Metrorail stations.

The other proposed change is to increase the limit of 50 dwelling units per acre to 70 in the transit station areas planned for mixed use development. This would mainly affect the Reston Town Center Transit Station Area.

County planning officials say the Reston PRC zoning change is needed to put into action Reston’s Master Plan that accommodates the potential for future growth during the next 40 years, especially around its Silver Line Metrorail stations. If the update isn’t ultimately adopted, Reston may lose its unique zoning designation that has shaped the community for the past 50 years, officials warn.

While some residents believe development in Reston would be halted if the zoning ordinance update isn’t passed, county planning officials say this is unlikely. However, developers may simply seek to rezone properties to other districts to build the development envisioned in the master plan. This could result in a patchwork of different zoning districts across Reston, ending the cohesive zoning that shapes most of the area today.

Reston’s primary zoning district is the “Planned Residential Community” District, and the ordinance includes a maximum, persons-per-acre density which is uncommon elsewhere and not applicable to any other zoning districts in the county. This density figure is not based on Reston’s actual, total population. Instead, it is based on a formula for household size multiplied by the number of housing units divided by the 6,245 acres in the PRC zoning district for Reston.

Today, there are approximately 12.46-persons per acre currently in the Reston PRC District based on the number of housing units built, under construction and approved to be built. County planners say the current 13-person cap may soon be exceeded based on development proposals that are under review now.

However, planners stress that the zoning changes do not facilitate residential development on either of Reston’s two golf courses. The master plan clearly calls for the Hidden Creek and Reston National courses to remain—and any proposals for residential development would require amendments to both the master plan and zoning ordinance. This is underscored by the county’s legal victory three years ago against one of the courses that failed in its attempt to redevelop without first seeking a change to the master plan.

Under Reston’s Master Plan, about 60 percent of future growth is concentrated around the three Metro stations. These are areas that would be largely unaffected by the person per-acre density maximums, and another 30 percent is located within the village centers where the limit would apply.

The master plan was adopted following a seven-year effort that ended in 2015. It included a community task force composed of residents and landowners; outreach to all of Reston’s 150-plus clusters, condos and apartments; and more than 200 community meetings.

County planning officials said they may consider some limited changes to clarify certain aspects of the Reston Master Plan based on feedback from residents. Namely, they might incorporate a population target and guidance for monitoring development levels and reporting outcomes on the plan's implementation annually, as was included in the plan for Tysons. However, these changes would ultimately need to be approved by the Board of Supervisors.

The Reston plan calls for new transportation improvements and the transportation strategy identifies required improvements, including the Soapstone Connector, Town Center Underpass and Reston Parkway widening. Last February, the Board of Supervisors adopted a $2.1 billion funding plan to help build new roads, improve intersections and construct new local connecting streets in the transit station areas.

New parks will be built following the guidance in the master plan. As a result of approved development proposals so far, there are over 30 acres of urban park spaces, plus a new athletic field, that have been pledged to the county.

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Quiet cul-de-sac Roland Clarke Place is becoming the hub for new, lower-density residential development in Reston.

Woodfield Acquisitions will replace a vacant, two-story office building at 1941 Roland Clarke Place with a new 308-unit apartment building.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will consider this redevelopment plan at their Dec. 4, 2018, meeting.

The project would join two other residential developments immediately to the south, along Sunrise Valley Drive. Sekas Homes is building a 34 townhouse community called Sunrise Square on the east side of Roland Clarke Place. To the west of the cul-de-sac, Toll Brothers is erecting 54 townhouses in its Valley and Park development that the county approved two years ago.

Woodfield’s seven-story apartment building will be situated about mile between the Wiehle-Reston East and Reston Town Center Metro stations.

The building includes two interior courtyards for residents, along with an outdoor pool and seating on a third-floor patio. The apartment’s architecture will feature contemporary design with a rhythmic pattern of windows and balconies. The plans include a 409-space, eight-level parking garage behind the building, facing the Dulles Toll Road.

Woodfield also has future plans to remake the adjacent, five-story building at 1950 Roland Clarke Place that it will bring forward for approval at a later date. The developer is the contract purchaser for both office buildings that are currently owned by the law firm Greenblum & Bernstein.

Both offices sit on a 6.5-acre site that was previously approved for more than a million square feet in new office and retail development. However, Woodfield pursued residential development because the site wouldn’t support commercial uses due to its lack of visibility at the end of the cul-de-sac, according to the development application.

The project sets aside 31 percent of the site as open space with .84-acres of parks. The first floor will be set back 40-feet from the street to allow for a linear park along the front. This park will provide outdoor tables, terraced seating and water features that include a water wall, splash pad and reflecting pool.

Woodfield will also build an interim, 26,610 square-foot linear park along the south side of the office building at 1950 Roland Clarke Place until this building is redeveloped. This recreation space will offer a 6-foot-wide, meandering asphalt path, benches, picnic tables, and bocce ball court.

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As part of its ongoing efforts to foster more innovation and entrepreneurship, Fairfax County will contribute $1 million to help Reston-based innovation hub Refraction expand.

The investment is anticipated to generate 800 new tech jobs, train 2,500 workers and lead to $200 million in new capital investment over the next five years. It will also support the nonprofit’s new apprenticeship program, jointly developed with the Northern Virginia Community College to train talent for startups and high-growth companies.

“Refraction is exactly the kind of partner that will stimulate our local economy,” said Fairfax County Chairman Sharon Bulova. “As a county, we’re making strategic investments that help to support and grow our region’s innovation ecosystem, such as offering tech startups access to entrepreneurial expertise so they can scale their businesses.”

The Board of Supervisors approved the economic development funds at their Nov. 20, 2018 meeting.

Refraction provides a collaborative and open community for startups and high-growth companies, offering educational programs and networking and mentoring events.

“We are excited about the county’s strong support of Refraction’s mission to nurture and mentor startups and help create jobs,” said Esther Lee, CEO of Refraction. “This catalytic investment will help us accelerate and increase our impact in the regional innovation ecosystem. We look forward to working closely with the county and partners like Amazon and Comcast in this important work.”

In addition to its work with entrepreneurs and startups, Refraction will partner with the county’s chief equity officer and public schools to train girls and students from underrepresented and economically disadvantaged communities on entrepreneurship skills.

The focus on women and minorities is especially important, county officials say. It supports the county’s social and racial equity policy called One Fairfax, as well as the tech industry’s efforts to increase the diversity of its workforce.

The county’s funding will also help the innovation hub move into a significantly larger space in Reston. Refraction is facing increasing demand for its services and is committed to staying in Reston, despite offers from other jurisdictions to relocate.

In the five years since its founding, Refraction’s track record has proven its value to ecosystem. More than 100 companies have been members of the Refraction community, collectively raising $126 million in capital.

Under its agreement with the county, Refraction will report its financial results and success metrics annually.

Fairfax County wants to nurture more tech startups because they produce an outside impact on the economy. Startups account for nearly all net job creation, according to multiple economic studies.

Technology firms also produce new jobs outside the industry and boost social equity, finds University of California economist Enrico Moretti. Every new high-tech job creates five additional professional and nonprofessional jobs in the local economy.

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One hundred years ago, what was called the Great War at the time claimed the lives of 32 Fairfax County residents.

Fairfax County will honor these men—and all veterans—at a ceremony on Nov. 11 to commemorate the centennial of the end of World War I. The event, sponsored by the Fairfax County History Commission, will take place at 2 p.m. at the Historic 1799 Fairfax County Courthouse, 4000 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax.

The ceremony includes members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and other state and federal officials. A wreath will be laid at World War I memorial on the courthouse grounds to honor the men who died, and their names will be read aloud in remembrance. All veterans will also be recognized for their service, including recent Congressional Medal of Honor award recipient Ronald Schurer II, a former Army medic and Burke resident.

While the ceremony begins at 2 p.m., the Historic Records Center will open at 1:30 p.m. so the public can view historic documents related to the war, including a copy of the Muster Roll in the War with Germany.

The center possesses several historic documents because former Circuit Court Clerk F.W. Richardson also served as clerk to the county’s local Selective Service board. For those who want to learn more about these historic records, the center published photos and an explanation of these wartime documents.

About 800 men from Fairfax County served in World War I, and 1,468 registered for the draft, according to records owned by the county.

A memorial to the fallen stands on the courthouse grounds, and it was dedicated on July 21, 1926. The plaque includes the names of 30 of the war’s casualties from the county, and it’s inscription states: “A Tribute To The Men Of Fairfax County Who In The Spirit Of Loyalty Served Their Country 1917 – The World War – 1918 Died in the Service.”  

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Sears, Toys R Us, Mattress Firm and Best Buy are among the companies that announced major store closures this year. These retailers make up some of the nearly 5,000 stores to turn off the lights in 2018.

As retailers shutter their brick-and-mortar locations, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved  changes to the land use plan on Oct. 30, 2018, to make it easier to convert empty storefronts into other uses. The changes offer the flexibility to repurpose these vacant spaces into entertainment venues, doctor’s or lawyer’s offices, cultural or civic uses like libraries or makerspaces.

The move is part of the county’s overall efforts to make land use and zoning regulations more modern and flexible. As the county grapples with about 18 million square feet in empty office space, it adopted land use changes that ease the way for offices in mixed-use areas to be repurposed. In March, similar changes were made for suburban offices.

While there are signs that so called “retail apocalypse” may be reversing, county officials wanted to act in light of longer-term changes in retailing.

Today, e-commerce accounts for 9.6 percent all retail sales nationally, and this figure could grow to 25 percent by 2021, according to IHL Group, a retail advisory firm.

Although the trends point to more online shopping in the future, the county’s retail vacancy rates are lower than those regionally and nationally. Its overall rate ranks at 2 percent, according to CoStar’s data for the third quarter of this year. This amounts to about 719,000 square feet of empty retail space.

Fairfax County also boasts the lowest vacancy rate in the D.C. region—or at half the metro area’s 4 percent rate. Nationwide, retail vacancies reached 4.6 percent, according to a recent report from real estate firm JLL.

In contrast, the last time Fairfax County faced a 4 percent retail vacancy rate was during the recession years of 2009 and 2010.

There is a total of 35.7 million square feet of retail and related commercial space in the county. Seventy-five percent of this space is located within what the county calls Activity Centers, which are areas planned for the greatest amount of future growth and include mixed-use development.  These centers include places like Seven Corners, Merrifield and Tysons.

Retail buildings in the county range from freestanding commercial structures to many types of shopping centers, including strip and neighborhood shopping centers, big-box “power centers” and regional malls.

Neighborhood shopping centers, which are often anchored by a grocery store, have been most impacted by vacancies in Fairfax County. One in five have some empty storefronts, and this figure rose 2.5 percent since late 2016.

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Every year, Fairfax County recognizes individuals, organizations and businesses that advance the county's environmental goals or policies.

The 2018 Environmental Excellence Awards will be presented on Oct. 23, at 7 p.m., at a ceremony in the Fairfax County Government Center.

Awards will be presented to:

• Three individuals: Jennifer Cole and Betsy Martin and Paul Siegel
• One organization: Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts
• Three county employees: Sally Carter, Judy Fincham and Danielle Wynne

These are some of the highlights of accomplishments by this year's award recipients:

As the Executive Director of Clean Fairfax Council, Inc. (Clean Fairfax), she was cited for her leadership in the planning and production of the county’s annual Earth Day and Arbor Day celebration (SpringFest Fairfax), her coordination of dozens of community cleanup events each year, her leadership in Clean Fairfax’s administration of a grant program supporting environmental education programs, and additional outreach and mentorship efforts. 

Since moving to the Mount Vernon District in 1994, they have provided leadership, advocacy and passion to environmental protection and enhancement within their community and beyond. They co-founded Friends of Little Hunting Creek, which has, since 2002, cleaned up trash through annual cleanup events in and along the creek.  Since 2006, they have collected 3,597 bags of trash and recyclables, 270 tires, 176 shopping carts and tons of bulk trash. They have recruited over 1,500 cleanup volunteers.

The Mid-Atlantic Off-Road Enthusiasts (MORE), a nonprofit organization representing thousands of area mountain bikers that is committed to environmentally-sound and socially responsible mountain biking, provides extensive support to the Fairfax County Park Authority and NOVA Parks in designing, constructing and maintaining trails in an environmentally-sound manner. MORE members have constructed over 100 miles of new, sustainable trails in the region and have dedicated hundreds of volunteer hours to aid in keeping trails open and available for use; donated over $40,000 toward the replacement of an erosion-prone segment of the Bull Run-Occoquan Trail; and contributed over 3,500 hours of volunteer service work in Fairfax County. 

A Youth Services Librarian at the Reston Regional Library, she is a passionate advocate for environmental stewardship and has taken a number of initiatives aimed at improving the library’s environmental efforts. In support of her goal to transform the library into a model of environmental stewardship, she compiled a comprehensive guideline for her colleagues on materials that can and cannot be recycled, adding a list of dedicated drop-off locations for items that should not be placed in county recycling bins and periodically writes and disseminates online a “Green Page” newsletter in an attempt to rally more enthusiasm among her colleagues for responsible environmental stewardship at the library.

They are on the front lines of the county’s outreach efforts, and their efforts to instill scientific understanding and appreciation of environmental concerns among county school students are exemplary. As county employees, they have initiated, facilitated and developed educational programs (through a partnership with Fairfax County Public Schools) that include: the Chesapeake Bay Grasses for the Masses program (in collaboration with the Virginia Institute of Marine Sciences); the Citizen Scientist Floatable Monitoring Program; and educational trips on the Potomac River (in partnership with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation).

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The Fairfax County Veterans Treatment Docket will hold a graduation ceremony Thursday, Oct. 25, to mark a military veteran's successful completion of 18 months of comprehensive treatment and supervision.

The ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. in Courtroom 1E, Fairfax County Courthouse, 4110 Chain Bridge Road, Fairfax. Fairfax Circuit Court Judge Grace Carroll will preside. The public is invited.

The guest speaker will be James Kuiken, who served 30 years in the U.S. Marine Corps active and reserve from 1973-2003. He is a decorated and combat-wounded veteran of multiple wars and conflicts including operations from the end of Vietnam, to the Gulf War, Bosnia, Kosovo and Operation Enduring Freedom. He has been awarded the Legion of Merit, Purple Heart and three Combat Action Ribbons.

The 18-24 month, court-supervised Veterans Treatment Docket program assists veterans involved in the criminal justice system by providing the necessary mental health and substance-use treatment to change behavior and reduce recidivism.

There are now over 500 veterans treatment programs in jurisdictions throughout the United States. In Virginia, veterans treatment dockets in Hampton, Norfolk and Spotsylvania are scheduled to begin this year.

The Fairfax County Veterans Treatment Docket is regularly scheduled for the second and fourth Thursday of the month.

For further information, contact Veteran Docket Coordinator Brooke Postlewaite, 703-246-2592.

For more than 40 years, Lake Anne Fellowship House has provided affordable housing for seniors in Reston.

The redevelopment plans for a new Lake Anne House approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Oct. 16 ensures these 240 apartments will remain affordable for the next 30 years.

The plans call for replacing all the existing apartments with a new, more modern building along North Shore Drive near the intersection with Village Road. The plan also includes 36 market-rate townhouses that will help pay for the construction of the new apartments.

Redevelopment will occur in phases to allow Lake Anne’s existing tenants to stay in their apartments. When completed, they will move to the new building, and the two older apartment buildings on site now will be torn down.

The project is a partnership between the nonprofit Fellowship Square Foundation, which owns and operates Lake Anne House, and the Community Preservation and Development Corporation, a nonprofit real estate developer.

“This effort has been complicated and very difficult,” said Michael Scheurer, a Fellowship Square Foundation board member. “But we are confident that we have the right program and right partners in place to ensure that affordable housing for seniors at Lake Anne is in place for years to come and does so with a development plan that also benefits the entire Lake Anne community.”

County officials say the project aids with the revitalization of Lake Anne Village Center.

“By bringing in the additional residents, I think it brings in another neighbor to the community to coalesce with this current group of citizens and those that will come in the future,” said Hunter Mill District Supervisor Cathy Hudgins.

Today, two, 1970s-era buildings make up the Lake Anne Fellowship House at 11448 and 11450 North Shore Drive. These buildings will be replaced with an eight-story, 200,000-square-foot, “H”-shaped apartment. The building will be located on the east side of the nearly six-acre property, and the new townhouses will be located on the west side of the apartment building.

The apartments will be available for people 62 or older or who are disabled. Under the redevelopment plan, apartments will be offered at different levels of affordability, starting at 50 percent of the area median income—or about $41,050 per year for an individual.

The project offers eight, new publicly available parks, and it will make transportation improvements. The development provides 40 percent of the site as open space, including more than six-tenths an acre in parks.

Lake Anne House will also dedicate land for the future realignment of Village Road. The county’s Comprehensive Plan envisions this road to be rebuilt to offer better views to Lake Anne Village Center and Washington Plaza. The recommendation for the realigned road includes adding a new northbound lane, an 8-foot wide, raised median and 10-foot sidewalks on both sides of the road.

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The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved the Fiscal Year (FY) 2018 carryover package today. Carryover is the process by which certain unspent or unencumbered funds for commitments to pay for goods and services at the end of one fiscal year are reappropriated to the next fiscal year. FY 2018 ended on June 30, 2018.

The FY 2018 carryover balance, after funding prior year obligations and associated reserves, is $58.16 million, which is approximately 1.4 percent of the county’s total General Fund budget. The carryover package includes:

$34.89 million for funding county reserves and infrastructure needs based on county policy.

$6.03 million to support infrastructure needs at county facilities, including emergency repairs in the event of major systems failures, infrastructure replacement and upgrades at county facilities, space realignment and reconfiguration projects to maximize owned space and renovations and improvements to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

$4.5 million to support a countywide energy strategy.

$2.42 million for new and continuing IT projects.

$0.50 million to expand the capacity of the Artemis House domestic violence shelter.

$0.50 million to support the establishment of a Korean community center.

$1.48 million for other requirements such as increasing the capacity of the School-Age Child Care (SACC) Program, extending the hours of the Rec-PAC Program, supporting the Complete Count effort for the 2020 Census and providing forestry services to address hazardous trees in county parks. Other adjustments include funding support for the Innovation Fund in the Health and Human Services Resource Plan, to develop a pop-up park in the Bailey’s Crossroads revitalization area and for speed signs to promote traffic calming and speed enforcement. In addition, at no net cost to the county, 26 positions are added to address increasing public assistance caseloads; eight positions are added to address increasing caseloads in adult and aging programs and eight positions to enhance the TARGET program that identifies vehicles that are not properly registered.

$3.35 million in reserves associated with disbursement increases funded in the carryover package.

Other adjustments with no net impact to the General Fund include $2 million to replenish the Economic Development Support Fund funded with debt service balances.

With these and associated reserve adjustments, the remaining balance to be set aside in reserve for one-time FY 2019 and FY 2020 requirements is approximately $4.49 million. When combined with the $0.12 million held in reserve as part of the FY 2019 Adopted Budget Plan, a total of $4.61 million is to be set aside in reserve for one-time FY 2019 and FY 2020 requirements.