Supervisor Walter Alcorn initiated a Comprehensive Plan amendment to provide an option for the Reston Community Center to be included in the redevelopment of the Crescent Apartments.

To permit a community center, the proposed amendment would increase the allowable non-residential space to 30,000 square feet on the land where the Crescent Apartments are located. 

While the Reston Community Center has expressed a desire to move from its current Lake Anne location, no decisions have been made on whether this will happen. A future community center's actual size hasn't been determined yet, and formal redevelopment plans for the Crescent Apartments haven't been drawn up yet either.

The Planning Commission recommended approval at their Sept. 9, 2026 public hearing on the proposal, and the Board of Supervisors is scheduled to hold its hearing on Sept. 29.

What’s Proposed

The proposed change would increase non-residential uses from 2,000 square feet to 30,000 square feet on Land Unit D where the Crescent Apartments stand. The planned residential uses on this land unit would remain unchanged, however. If redeveloped, up to 750 residential units would be allowed.

Located at 1513 and 1531 Cameron Crescent Drive, the apartments sit on two parcels that total 16.5-acres. The Crescent includes five garden apartment-style buildings with 181 affordable housing units. While Land Unit D also includes an existing gas station, the proposal excludes this property from any changes.

Current Comprehensive Plan

The currently adopted plan recommends high and medium density residential uses for Land Unit D. The redevelopment option for the Crescent site, without consolidation, permits up to:

• 900,000 square feet in residential space (up to 750 multi-family dwelling units)
• 2,000 square feet of non-residential space

Lake Anne Village Center is organized into six land units:

• Unit A is planned and developed primarily as the Washington Plaza parking area.
• Unit B is planned for neighborhood serving retail and office and it's developed with commercial and office uses.
• Unit C is planned for a mixed village‑center with small scale retail, office and residential uses and it's developed with commercial and residential uses, including the Buddhist Compassion Relief TZU-CHI and open space owned by Reston Association.
• Unit E is planned for affordable senior housing, currently home to the Lake Anne House.
• Unit F is planned as the civic, commercial core with a plaza-front retail, office, and community uses along Washington Plaza, and it includes the existing Reston Community Center, Washington Plaza Baptist Church, residential units including Heron House, retail and restaurants.

Proposed Comprehensive Plan Change

The primary proposed change is to increase non-residential uses to a maximum of 30,000 square feet. However, county planners recommend adding a new provision to ensure a strong walking and biking connection with Washington Plaza.

This possible new plan condition requires well-lit sidewalks, at-grade crossings, and wayfinding so a future community center keeps a strong pedestrian connection to plaza.

Overall, the proposed plan changes would increase the total floor area ratio slightly from 1.26 to 1.30 FAR and the non-residential component increases from 0.22% to 3.23% of total gross floor area.

As part of this proposed amendment, county staff didn’t evaluate other non-residential categories, such as retail or office, since impacts from these uses aren’t expected to be significant. Instead, they will be reviewed and addressed when a rezoning application is filed for the Crescent Apartments.

Why Reston Community Center Proposes Moving

At a public meeting, Reston Community Center—or RCC for short—made its case for moving from its current location to the redeveloped Crescent Apartments.

• The community wants RCC to remain at Lake Anne.
• Crescent provides an opportunity to expand while strengthening the Lake Anne Village Center.
• Support successful Lake Anne redevelopment
• Increase programming capacity and reduce waitlists
• Create a vibrant civic destination
• RCC can partner with Fairfax County and/or the developer
• Phased transition could allow both facilities to operate concurrently

RCC’s strategic plan also calls for exploring expansion opportunities for a new facility, the center’s officials said in a memo to Supervisor Alcorn.

“This vision includes consideration of a 30,000-square-foot warm shell specifically within the Crescent Redevelopment Project to accommodate future RCC needs and programming growth to address the population growth in Reston and to relieve current facility pressure at Lake Anne,” according to the center’s memo. 

Town Hall Meeting Held in June

Supervisor Alcorn hosted a town hall meeting in June 25, 2026 to give residents an overview of the proposal. Fairfax County planning staff and RCC officials made presentations, followed by questions and answers.

Presentations

View the meeting presentations:

• Department of Planning and Development
• Reston Community Center

Watch the meeting video.