Fairfax County planners are set to consider next week a plan to turn Tysons Corner Center into a massive urban hub of homes and shops, part of an anticipated rail-driven transformation of the area.
Like the extension of Metrorail to and through Tysons Corner, the revamp of theregion’s largest mall will take years to complete, if it’s approved.
Developer Macerich Co. plans to build four new office buildings, as many as 1,350 new homes, a 300-room hotel and some 200,000 square feet of retail space over a period of 10 to 15 years.
Also envisioned on the land is about 19.4 acres of public space, a sculpture plaza, water fountains and an ice rink, all of it buoyed by the construction of an elevated railline that will edge the mall.
The Fairfax County Planning Commission will consider the proposal at its meeting on Oct. 5, after which the proposal will head to the Board of Supervisors.
The mall project is part of a changing map of traffic-choked Tysons Corner, which is now thought of as an employment and shopping center, not necessarily as a place to live.
“It’s a good first step for the redevelopment of Tysons Corner,” said Bill Lecos, president of the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce.
Gov. Tim Kaine revealed a key part of the vision for Tysons Corner earlier this month when he announced the four miles of Metrorail would span the community above ground, not in a tunnel as many had hoped.
