GMBA Lunch: Fairview Park Development Plans

Greater Merrifield Business Association
August Lunch Meeting

Please join us for this Community Update on the Fairview Park Development Plans

August 7, 11:30-1:30 PM
Blackfinn Ameripub

Featuring Special Guest Speaker: 
Elizabeth Baker, Senior Land Use Planner
Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh





Evolution of a Fairview Park 

When initially planned, zoned and developed, Fairview Park was a highly successful office park.  Great care was given to the site design, the preservation of wooded natural areas, the quality of construction, the provision of significant road improvements and a comprehensive pedestrian trail system.  In the 1980s Fairview Park was the gold standard of office development. 

However over time, standalone office parks have struggled to attract and retain tenants and remain relevant as newer mixed use developments can offer businesses and their employees a more vibrant and appealing work environment.  In addition, the advent of the Silver Line through Tysons to Dulles has offered the added benefit of a transit oriented development, which is very attractive to a young workforce.  The economic recession of 2008, as well as major shifts in the way employers and employees utilize office space, has hastened the decline of previously sought after office parks.  By way of example, in 2005 the vacancy rate in Fairview Park was 8%, in 2017 it is 22%.  In 2017, Merrifield experienced 243,000 SF of negative net absorption in office space.

Single use office parks are challenged and generally no longer sustainable in today’s economy.  Fairfax County has recognized this issue and has moved to permit a greater mix of uses in various parts of the County and adopted a policy related to repurposing vacant and underutilized office buildings.   

With Fairview Park’s strategic location, high visibility from I-495, well-planned on-site road network, proximity to the Merrifield Town Center, Dunn Loring Metro Station and INOVA and the new ICPH, the property owner of 86 acres in Fairview Park believes that the park can be successfully transformed.  It is not the intent to replicate or compete with the successful redevelopment occurring in the Dunn Loring Transit Station Area or Mosaic Town Center, but rather to reinvent the property to be a unique, sustainable, community oriented development.

The property owner has requested an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan to allow a mixed-use community with office, community serving retail, multi-family residential uses, and park enhancements. The re-planning provides an opportunity to reinvigorate Fairview Park as an employment center, but more than that, it offers a new perspective on how an office park can evolve to become a well-rounded development that offers multiple benefits to the greater community.  

This meeting is open to all GMBA members and non-members

Blackfinn Ameripub
2750 Gallows Road
Vienna (Merrifield), VA 22180

Members & Non-Members: $15
Additional $5 charge for non-registered walk-ins
Includes a light lunch of salad and flatbread