Stratford Motor Lodge Site Proposed To Be Restaurant In Falls Church

FALLS CHURCH, VA — The former Stratford Motor Lodge site that has sat vacant in Falls Church could get revitalized.

Paul Stoddard, planning director for the City of Falls Church, announced proposed plans for the former motel site to the Planning Commission Wednesday. According to Stoddard, an application was filed for a restaurant late last Friday. Details of the concept were not immediately announced.

"It looks like the concept is something sort of a restaurant space, sort of a reuse of a portion of the building, a demo of a portion of the building and then some sort of indoor outdoor dining space," said Stoddard.

The Stratford Motor Lodge has been closed since 2021 and has been fenced off to discourage trespassing. La Caraqueña, a popular Venezuelan restaurant in the Stratford Motor Lodge, closed in 2017.

The former motel site is a desirable location in the heart of downtown Falls Church across from the West Broad apartment community above Harris Teeter. According to the Falls Church News Press, previous proposals for a senior living center and Wawa convenience store at the motel site fell through.

City staff have not yet completed an initial review of the application. Stoddard said the Planning Commission could have a site plan review for the restaurant proposal as early as October.

The Planning Commission already has a busy agenda coming up, between a work session on zoning text amendments cleanup on Oct. 4; action on the Community Energy Action Plan, tentative action on the Quinn/Homestretch redevelopment, Oak Park site plan and 1004 N. Roosevelt Street daycare on Oct. 18; Tinner Hill/Southgate rezoning work session and Capital Improvement Plan work session on Nov. 1.