City Considers Latest Plan To Redevelop Breezeway Motel Site

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — Fairfax City Council and Planning Commission reviewed an updated proposal this week from the Pulte Home Company, LLC to redevelop the Breezeway Motel and adjacent properties in the city.

Pulte's proposal seeks to redevelop the 4.63 acre parcel that contains the 50-room motel, located at 10829 Fairfax Blvd.; the 38-unit Fairfax Garden Apartments on Cedar Avenue; and four single-family homes on Oak and Walnuts streets, according to the staff report. The developer plans to replace these buildings with 42 townhouse units, 20 two-over-two condominium units, and an 8,000-10,000 square-foot commercial building.

In order to move forward with its plans, Pulte needs the city to rezone the properties from Commercial Retail, Residential High, and Residential Multifamily to Planned Development-Mixed Use in the Architectural Control Overlay District. The proposal also requires modifications to the Master Development Plan and a right-of-way vacation.

The plan reviewed by the Planning Commission on Monday and the City Council on Tuesday is the latest version of Pulte's application, which was first reviewed by planners at a June 11, 2018 work session.

During initials reviews by both the Planning Commission and the City Council, questions arose over the availability of affordable housing, a need for a mixture of housing types rather than just townhouses, and whether the number of units could be reduced to create more open space. In addition, there were concerns about new student generation and potential traffic impacts caused by the development as proposed.

"During the first review of the MDP (Master Development Plan) submitted on August 6, 2018, staff informed the applicant and its representative that the proposed plan did not conform to the City’s Comprehensive Plan with the proposed live/work units fronting on Fairfax Boulevard in the Business Commercial Future Land Use designation," the staff report says. "The initial design did not meet Objective LU-3 of the previous Comprehensive Plan or the Fairfax Boulevard Master Development Plan. Also, staff informed the applicant that the application was incomplete due to issues related to the depicted right-of-way for Cedar Avenue and Walnut Street."

On June 7, 2019, Pulte submitted a revised MDP to the city, removing the live/work units from the plan and adding a commercial building.

Throughout 2019 and 2020, the Planning Commission and the City Council reviewed Pulte's plan, offering a number of revision requests.

On Nov. 2, 2020, the applicant submitted to the city the latest version of its plan, which includes 20 percent open space, as well as transportation and infrastructure improvements.

Pulte also presented a modified development schedule, which broke down the project into three phases.

In the first phase, Pulte will demolish all existing apartments and residential units and build 42 townhouses and 20 stacked condo units with garage and surface parking on the site. The builder would also establish 20 percent open space throughout the property and install all infrastructure, utilities, and stormwater management facilities. In addition, emergency access from Cedar Avenue would be provided.

In phase two, Pulte will demolish the motel on Fairfax Boulevard and prepare the property prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy for the properties constructed in phase one.

In phase three, Pulte will construct the commercial building and associated infrastructure on the commercial site that was occupied by the motel. The company will also install a 5-foot wide landscape strip and 10-foot wide sidewalk along Fairfax Boulevard.

As part of its proposal, Pulte will contribute $237,534 toward affordable housing in the city, which is consistent with Fairfax City's resolution on affordable housing.

Pulte plans to complete the residential properties and proposed having them at 100 percent occupancy before work begins on the commercial property. Since that is not currently allowable under the City Code, the developer would need prior clearance from the city to make that happen.

Pulte's proposal shifts its property's entrance on Oak Street so that it more aligns with the northernmost entrance to the American Legion property.

At Tuesday's work session, Councilmember So Lim pointed out that if Pulte received a 100 percent occupancy permit from the city for the residential properties there would be no incentive to complete work on the commercial building, even though the Breezeway would've already been removed.

While Pulte is developing the entire site, it does not own the Breezeway property. The commercial property would be owned by another company.

"They're a residential developer," said City Planner Albert Frederick. "The don't develop commercial buildings."

The application also includes a request for a right-of-way vacation to remove the triangular median at the intersection of Cedar Avenue and Walnut Street. At the city's request, Pulte will also build a roundabout at that intersection as a traffic calming measure.

Pulte's next step is to take the latest feedback from the council and city planners and submit an application for a Certificate of Appropriateness for architecture/design. The company will also prepare its final MDP for submission. Public hearings would take place to review those submissions.

After receiving a recommendation on the Certificate of Appropriateness from the Board of Architectural Review, the Planning Commission would make its recommendation on the MPD. The City Council would then consider both the certificate and the MPD.