FAIRFAX CITY, VA — The Fairfax City Planning Commission is scheduled to review a major redevelopment proposal near Old Town and begin a discussion about possible updates to four of the city’s small area plans during its meeting on Monday.
The commission’s agenda includes two work-session items. No final vote is scheduled on the Chain Bridge Road redevelopment proposal, and city staff said no Planning Commission recommendation is required for the post-submission work session.
The discussion is intended to allow commissioners to give feedback as the land-use applications continue through the city review process.
Christopher Land LLC is seeking city approval to redevelop 4085, 4101, 4103 and 4117 Chain Bridge Road, a 3.87-acre site currently developed with four office buildings totaling nearly 120,000 square feet.
The applicant is asking to rezone the property from Commercial Office to Commercial Urban while keeping the Old Town Fairfax Transition Overlay District designation. The project also includes a request for a special use permit to allow multifamily housing in the Commercial Urban district.
The proposal calls for replacing the existing office buildings with three buildings containing up to 392 apartments, up to 29,639 square feet of office space, up to 7,747 square feet of retail or restaurant space, 637 structured parking spaces and 18 surface parking spaces.
The project would include a 26-foot-wide private east-west access drive between Chain Bridge Road and University Drive. Access from Chain Bridge Road would be right-in, right-out, while the University Drive entrance would allow full access. The applicant also proposes a north-south greenway between two of the buildings, pedestrian connections along Chain Bridge Road and University Drive, and bicycle parking and storage areas.
Building A, along Chain Bridge Road, is proposed as a six-story building with retail, restaurant and office space on the lower levels and apartments above. Building B would also be six stories and include apartments, office space and amenity space. Building C, facing University Drive, would be a six-story standalone residential building with 164 apartments, a pool courtyard and fitness space.
City planners are expected to discuss how the proposal fits with the Old Town Fairfax Small Area Plan, which encourages pedestrian-oriented, mixed-use development in the activity center. Staff materials note that the site is within an area where mixed-use redevelopment, structured parking, pedestrian connections and streetscape improvements are encouraged.
Several issues are likely to be part of the discussion, including building height, residential density, traffic, parking, open space, tree canopy, utility relocation and pedestrian access.
The applicant is requesting several special exceptions, including permission to exceed 24 dwelling units per acre, exceed the 48-foot height limit in the Transition Overlay District, provide less than 75 percent ground-floor nonresidential use in a mixed-use building, eliminate a required sidewalk on the north side of the private access drive while providing one on the south side, and eliminate a requirement to provide vehicular access to abutting nonresidential properties.
The proposed density is 101.3 dwelling units per acre. The three buildings would range from 70 feet to 76.5 feet tall, according to city staff materials.
The applicant also is seeking waivers to the Public Facilities Manual and a major certificate of appropriateness for architecture and landscaping. Those items do not require a Planning Commission recommendation at Monday’s work session but would be reviewed by the Board of Architectural Review and City Council.
The Chain Bridge Road redevelopment proposal has been under city review since September 2024, when the applicant first met with staff for a pre-application meeting.
The Planning Commission reviewed an earlier concept plan in January 2025. At the time, the proposal included three buildings with retail, office space, up to 257 apartments, amenities, a plaza, structured parking and surface parking on 2.52 acres. Commissioners raised concerns about height and density, the amount of office space, traffic, parking, tree canopy, open space, lot coverage and whether the proposed greenway would be active and pedestrian-friendly. They also discussed whether the project should include the former BB&T site. No consensus was reached, though commissioners said the design was appealing and the proposal was a good start.
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City Council reviewed the same concept in February 2025 and raised similar concerns, including density, height, building size, the amount of commercial space, tree canopy coverage and whether residential use was appropriate at the location under the Old Town Small Area Plan. Council members said the concept was generally moving in the right direction but needed revisions.
The Board of Architectural Review is scheduled to hold a preliminary work session June 17 to discuss the proposed architecture for the project’s two upper-story residential and mixed-use buildings and one multifamily building. The BAR also will be asked to make recommendations to City Council on requested special exceptions and a major certificate of appropriateness for architecture and landscaping.
In a separate work session item, the Planning Commission will discuss whether and how the city should review and update the adopted small area plans for Old Town, Northfax, Kamp Washington and Fairfax Circle.
The city’s 2035 Comprehensive Plan called for small area plans for each of the city’s activity centers. Old Town and Northfax plans were adopted in June 2020, Kamp Washington was adopted in October 2022, and Fairfax Circle was adopted in July 2024. A plan for the Pickett & Main activity center is not considered urgent and is not currently scheduled, according to city staff.
City staff said the plans have been used frequently in reviewing land-use cases and public investment projects. Staff is recommending that all four adopted plans be reviewed together to keep them current and improve consistency among them.
The review is expected to focus on modifying existing plans rather than restarting them or changing the broader definition of activity centers in the Comprehensive Plan.
Topics proposed for review include new city policies, recently approved public and private projects, building heights, preferred uses, property impacts, tree canopy, level of service, fiscal impacts, formatting and clarity. Staff also identified areas where consultant support may be needed, including market analysis, traffic analysis, utility analysis and a review of mid-century commercial themes, particularly along the Fairfax Boulevard corridor.
Potential policy-related reviews include the Urban Forest Masterplan, Affordable Housing Strategic Plan, small area plan zoning amendments, green building policy, Move Fairfax, the Parks and Recreation Strategic Masterplan and other citywide planning efforts.
The schedule depends on the scope of work and whether consultant-supported studies are included. If the work is handled by city staff, the review could be completed by fall 2027. If consultant-supported work is included, staff estimates completion in summer 2028.
The Planning Commission meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, June 8, in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 10455 Armstrong St., Fairfax.
The public may attend in person, watch the meeting live or replayed on Channel 12, or watch the livestream and archived video on the city website.
Residents may submit comments by emailing publichearingPC@fairfaxva.gov by 5 p.m. on the day of the meeting. The city asks commenters to include the agenda item in the subject line and provide their full name and address, as they would when speaking in person. Members of the public also may attend the meeting and speak in person.
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