Peterson Proposes OTR Transformation in Fairfax

The Peterson Cos. is seeking a rezoning to develop 1.2 million square feet of mixed-use in Fairfax, which is currently an aging suburban office park.

The new community, known as Fairfax Crossing, will include 706 apartments and townhomes, along with 20,000 SF of retail. The developer also plans to expand an existing special education facility.

The project is part of a larger regional trend of office-park-to-residential conversions, with multiple developers pursuing conversions of several clustered office sites.

For Peterson’s Fairfax Crossing, two multifamily buildings on the southern end would contain 420 apartments, one with up to 280 market-rate units and 20,000 square feet of ground-floor retail or amenity space. The other would be an all-affordable building with up to 140 units, likely financed with low-income housing tax credits. The site’s northern portion would become home to 286 four-story stacked townhomes.

The new development would also include five acres of open space, half of which is publicly accessible, including a 1.6-acre park that aims to connect the community and unite the built environment. Bohler’s Herndon, VA, office is providing master planning, landscape architecture, and design services, as well as surveying and site civil engineering.

The application suggests that the project will phase to allow vacant offices to redevelop in the near-term, while also allowing existing office buildings with tenants to remain until ready for redevelopment.

Learn more in the Washington Business Journal.