Fairfax County supervisors unanimously approved 269 rental apartments at Metro West, the 56-acre development just south of the Vienna Metro station.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday, Oct. 13, to approve Peterson Companies' plan for a 10-story mixed-use building on the site known as MetroWest Block 18. The Washington Business Journal first reported the approval. The project will bring the first non-age-restricted rental units to Metro West, where only assisted living and age-restricted rentals have been built over the past decade.
The building will include about 21,500 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, an approximately 10,000-square-foot child care center, a playground, a private courtyard and a publicly accessible plaza, according to Patch's earlier reporting on the county application. Twenty-seven of the 269 units will be designated as affordable housing.
The approval amends a previously approved development plan for the block. The changes include increasing the building height by about 9 feet, along with minor increases in floor area and the number of residential units, according to a board matter that Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik introduced, as Patch reported.
The concept is not new. The Washington Business Journal reported that a multifamily building was envisioned for the site roughly 20 years ago. Palchik said at an Aug. 25 board meeting that "development around the Vienna Metro station has been partially on hold for more than 15 years." Residents had been promised community-serving businesses and retail as part of the original MetroWest plan, she said.
"I think this is an important development forward, and the housing absolutely is very necessary in the greater Vienna Metro area," Palchik said at that August meeting, when the board scheduled the Oct. 13 public hearing.
The applicant listed in county records is Victor Vienna R35 LC. Peterson Companies, the developer behind the broader Metro West project, is building the apartments.
The vote clears a major planning hurdle. No construction timeline has been announced. The Board of Supervisors' next regular meeting is scheduled for Oct. 20.
