Cityline Files Newest Tysons Development Proposal

Cityline Partners unveiled plans earlier this week to transform 19 acres of land near the future Tysons Central 123 Metro station in Tysons into a mixed-use, transit-oriented redevelopment integrated with a large urban park and plaza.

As part of its rezoning application, Cityline also proposes to dedicate an eight-acre parcel to Fairfax County for an urban elementary school, multi-purpose athletic fields and park land.

The Cityline plan joins about a dozen proposals from developers aimed at transforming Tysons Corner into a city. By 2050, Tysons will be transformed into a walkable, green, urban center and home to up to 100,000 residents and 200,000 jobs, according to the Fairfax County website.  Transforming Tysons into a 24-hour urban center where people live, work, and play, is about creating a place where people are engaged with their surroundings and also where they want to work, live and play.

This vision of Tysons, created through years of discussion within the community, is contained within a plan approved by the Board of Supervisors that updated the land use plan and zoning ordinance for Tysons.

Approval of the proposed rezoning would allow Cityline to replace six aging suburban office buildings and surface parking lots along Westpark Drive with an integrated mix of office, residential, hotel, retail and civic uses, all located within an easy, safe and pleasant walk to the new Metro station, according to their press release.

“Our proposed redevelopment of the Westpark property would create a mix of land uses with 24/7 opportunities to live, work, play and stay, while providing high-quality architecture and an attractive skyline reflecting the new urban form of the nation’s quintessential ‘edge city,’” Cityline Executive Vice President Tom Fleury said. “It will provide space for a new, urban Fairfax County public school to serve the planned future growth in the Tysons Corner population, create an urban park and plazas, incorporate sustainable design, greatly improve pedestrian connectivity and access to Metro, and provide workforce housing.”

This is Cityline's second Tyson's proposal. In February 2011, Cityline filed a rezoning application for 40 acres of land adjacent to the Tysons East Metro station, at Anderson Road and Route 123.  These two applications and the subject  parcels represent almost all of the Cityline holdings in Tysons Corner.  Most of the principals of Cityline come from West Group, a development company with a long history of development in McLean.

On July 22, 2010, DLJ Real Estate Capital Partners (DLJ RECP) of New York City acquired West Group’s Tysons Corner portfolio, comprising 114 acres and 22 existing buildings, most of which were built in the 1970s. DLJ RECP then formed Cityline Partners to own, manage, and develop the portfolio. After selling some of the property in the second half of 2010, DLJ RECP gave Cityline the green light to plan redevelopment of the remaining land.

Cityline’s April rezoning application covers a contiguous, rectangular 19.3-acre block of land on the south side of Westpark Drive. The application proposes three alternative redevelopment scenarios, ranging from approximately 1.78 to 2.41 million gross square feet, with floor area ratio (FAR) ranging from 2.1 to 2.8. All three alternatives would provide a mix of office, residential, hotel, and support retail development. High-rise office buildings in the center of the parcel would step down to the residential and hotel uses on the periphery.