Pan Am Shopping Center Owners To Work With County, Community On Redevelopment Plan

FAIRFAX, VA — A large piece of commercial property located south of the Vienna-Fairfax-GMU Metro Station may be moving toward redevelopment based on a measure approved at Tuesday's Fairfax County Board of Supervisors meeting.

Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchik introduced a board matter, which was adopted, directing county staff to evaluate an amendment to the Comprehensive Plan to consider additional development with a broader mix of uses for the Pan Am Shopping Center.

"As a Board, we have recognized the challenges facing the retail industry and the need to work in partnership with retail owners to help ensure that our retail centers remain viable and continue to contribute positively to the communities they service," Palchik said, introducing the motion. "In this case, the property owner of the center, Federal Reality, is interested in working with the community on a concept for redevelopment to achieve these objectives."

The supervisor made the motion in anticipation of a rezoning application expected to be filed by Federal Realty, which has already reached out to some of the neighboring communities. An opportunity for wider public engagement is expected to occur prior to the rezoning application.

Palchik added the motion was intended to serve as a vehicle to allow the property owner to work with county staff and community stakeholders in coming up with a mixed-use concept that provided an enhanced retail experience and ensured long-term viability of the commercial center.

"We’d like to thank Supervisor Palchik and the rest of the Board for their support to envision Pan Am’s future as an amenitized and vibrant neighborhood," Ramsey Meiser, Federal Reality's senior vice president for development, said in a statement. "We are constantly looking at ways to evolve our properties to best meet the needs of the communities that they serve. Pan Am’s convenient location and close proximity to the Vienna Metro Station provides an opportunity to create an environment that brings residential living to an already successful retail mix. We look forward to working with Supervisor Palchik, County staff and the community to make this vision a reality."

Located at the intersection of Lee Highway and Nutley Street in the Fairfax area of the county, the shopping center contains a mix of retail stores and restaurants, with a Safeway, CVS Pharmacy, MicroCenter outlet, and Michael's store serving as anchors. The property is also adjacent to the Thompson Family Cemetery.

"It is my expectation that any potential planning will evaluate how to balance redevelopment with available transportation capacity, look for opportunities to enhance bike and pedestrian linkages, and create meaningful open spaces and compatible transitions and buffering to the adjacent neighborhoods," Palchik said. "Recognizing the presence of existing stable neighborhoods near the center, the appropriate scale of the design, bulk, and mass of any redevelopment should be studied. It is my further expectation that the resultant planning process will have robust community engagement. The center’s owners have committed to the same."

In addition, county staff was directed to integrate the adjacent Thompson Cemetery and flood plain into the design.

Built in 1979, Pan Am Shopping Center sits on a parcel that's zoned C-6, which allows for retail commercial and service uses aimed at serving multiple neighborhoods.

The current zoning ordinance, which was adopted in March, says this about properties zoned C-6:

"Development within the district should be encouraged in compact centers with coordinated development that is planned to maximize comparison and one-stop shopping, to minimize traffic congestion, and to incorporate safe multimodal and pedestrian circulation."