Downtown McLean will be getting more housing units, following the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ unanimous approval May 7 to rezone part of the McLean Professional Park property for residential use.
T&M Venture LLC will subdivide the 4.43-acre site at 1499 Chain Bridge Road into two parcels and let a portion of the property remain as-is.
Supervisors granted the developer’s request to remove 2.8 acres from the governing rezoning and rezone that land to permit a 104-unit multi-family residential building. The five-story, mid-rise structure will be 65 feet tall and have 235,000 square feet of gross floor area.
“The applicant has designed a very attractive building that’s going to add to the mix of uses in downtown McLean,” said Lynne Strobel, the developer’s attorney. “It will meet ‘green’ building standards. It also will have electric-vehicle charging stations within its garage.”
The applicant will build a 12,970-square-foot corner urban park along the property’s Chain Bridge Road frontage. The park will include walking paths, an open lawn area and landscaping.
The developer also will underground utilities at the site, make streetscape improvements and improve the property’s vehicular entrance off Chain Bridge Road, which it shares with Sunrise of McLean Village just to the west.
The property now has eight low-rise, townhouse-style office buildings, plus surface parking. Two office buildings on the site’s other 1.63 acres will remain, as will four other office structures on an adjacent parcel to the south that was not part of this rezoning.
Winnie Pizzano, vice president of the McLean Planning Committee, conveyed that group’s support for the application.
“We are pleased with the green space in front, which will be right along Chain Bridge Road, so it will improve the walking environment of the area,” she said.
The new residences will support ongoing efforts to revitalize downtown McLean, Pizzano said.
“As a resident, I look forward to improved streetscapes, as well as the park area and the progression toward a more vibrant downtown McLean,” she said.
Greater McLean Chamber of Commerce president Paul Kohlenberger said that group also favors the development.
The chamber for more than a half-century has supported additional residential densities in downtown McLean and Tysons Corner to protect the lower-density residential areas outside of them from additional development pressures, Kohlenberger said.
“Having additional residents in very close proximity to our restaurants, our retail, our services and our other businesses will work to sustain said businesses for the long term,” he said.
Supervisor Jimmy Bierman (D-Dranesville) said he was “really excited” about the development plan.
“I think that putting more residential in downtown McLean is absolutely critical to revitalizing the area,” he said.
“I like to say I’m looking forward to a time when McLean is a place to go to, not just go through,” Bierman said. “Having more people living there and being a part of that community is extremely helpful.”
