Comstock Exec Discusses Silver Line Extension Impact On Reston Station

RESTON, VA — Comstock Holding Companies announced earlier this month that it had acquired 1891 Metro Center Drive in Reston. This acquisition adds 2.67 acres of frontage on the Dulles Toll Road to the company's already expansive portfolio in the Reston Station development.

"This acquisition is consistent with Comstock’s commitment to develop world-class transit-oriented and mixed-use neighborhoods that become proud additions to the surrounding communities,” said Chris Clemente, Comstock’s CEO, in a release. “At Reston Station we are creating a vibrant, livable, and sustainable community that puts thousands of people within steps of unrivaled lifestyle amenities and Reston’s first and currently only Metro Station.”

With the remaining Silver Line stations expected to open in the next few months and the Reston Comprehensive Plan Review in the public comment phase, this seemed like a good time to check in with the developer.

Comstock's Chief Operating Officer Tim Steffan agreed to answer a few questions from Patch about the company's recent acquisition and what it envisions for Reston Station's future.

PATCH: How does Comstock's recent acquisition of 1891 Metro Center Drive fit into the company's plans for Reston Station?

Tim Steffan: It's a natural progression as it's approximate or contiguous to the plaza. You come off Metro, you come onto Metro Plaza, and you have your three existing possibilities there — the multifamily building, retail, this is contiguous to the site. It makes sense that we would continue to try to expand the plaza in a thoughtful way toward the west as we build onto the environment.

When Metro opens the remaining Silver Line stations in the next few months, what impact do you expect that to have on Reston Station?

I don't think you're going to see a lot of change. Had you asked me that prior to the pandemic, I may have said that you're going to have a significant amount of decrease in vehicular traffic as a result of the train. We were the terminus, or, if you will, the beginning of the Silver Line's most westerly point. People would drive in, park in the garage, get on the train, go into the city or Tysons or Rosslyn. Now, you've got the whole work from home paradox and people not coming into the city.

I think what will happen is you're going to have people coming into Reston and maybe even further, using some of the entertainment and food concepts at Metro Plaza as a result of the train opening. But I would see the three parking facilities that have been built west of the Reston Station, those would probably have additional vehicular traffic as ridership increases and companies start to call their people back to work.

How closely have you been following the Reston Comprehensive Plan Review process?

I'm aware of it. I've certainly read it. Obviously, it's important to us.

Is there anything in the proposed updates to the plan that you feel benefits the Reston Station development?

The comprehensive plan that they put forth for approval is, as it states, comprehensive. There are a lot of things in there that fit a lot of the stakeholders if not all the stakeholders. But like in any comprehensive plan, there are certain things that you can agree with and certain things that you can't agree with. It doesn't mean that any of those items are wrong. ... Some community members don't like to see the density that's in the plan. Some developers would like to see perhaps more density in the plan or other attributes to the plan that are tweaked. It's so hard to develop in the environment that we find ourselves in, because costs have escalated so far out of control. It's very hard to make new projects.

I think the task force did a fairly good job in covering the topics. Like any task force, nobody is ever perfect. So you're going to have people that support it fully and you're going to have people that don't support it at all, and you're going have people that are somewhere in the middle. I think it all remains to be seen as it shakes out, as it's either approved or if it's modified.

Some of the discussions during the plan review included concerns about the accessibility of the developments along the rail line, as well as access by foot or bike from those developments to the surround areas. Do you see any challenges like that at Reston Station?

We like to think that what we're doing at Reston Station ties the community's needs into the design. We have put a great deal of design, thought, and expense into the outdoor spaces that are being built, have been built, and that will be built, and the connections they make with the pedestrian and with the bicyclist, and, frankly, the car and the train rider as well. The W&OD Trail goes right by our Reston Row project.

We don't just think about if you're a residential tenant or if you're in an office setting, or if you're a retail customer. We think that if you're a runner and you're jogging through the site, if your family is just coming to enjoy one of the events that are there, we design our projects from the ground up to address the experience of the pedestrian, that street-level stakeholder first before we address the needs of any of the stakeholders.

What is it about Reston that makes it an attractive place for a developer like Comstock?

There's a confluence of a lot of attributes. We love the sense of community. That's really important. We love the accessibility. We love the fact that Reston, for the most part, is multimodal, and one day, a confluence of world-class architecture that's coming to the development. ... It's really all things to all people.

While we design mixed-use developments that are on top of or approximate to Metro, we don't really design retail in a traditional sense into it. Our retail is food, fitness, service, and wellness. We view all of our retail as offering an additive to the community.

When you talk to other developers or people in business, what is it that you tell them about Reston?

The D.C. metro area, it's one of the top [metropolitan statistical areas] in the country, so you don't really have to tell other developers. They've got it. Quite frankly, Northern Virginia is sort of Silicon Valley East. All the large tech companies, they're all hiring. There's a great deal of education. There's a great deal of income and thought that flows through the market. When you have those type of demographics, they're very supportive of high-quality, mixed-use projects.

Some may argue this point, but we feel that the community is behind this progress. The community is behind development. They just want to be smart about it, and we try to go about it as smartly as we can with the community sense in mind.