Process To Acquire Bowman Towne Court Site Approved By Fairfax Board

RESTON, VA — A month after Foulger-Pratt Development, LLC pulled out of the proposed Bowman Towne Court affordable housing project near Reston Town Center, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a motion to procure the 4.5-acre site and place it under the auspices of the Reston Town Center North task force.

"Although Foulger-Pratt withdrew their unsolicited proposal, it is critically important to keep the momentum going for the redevelopment of this vital part of Reston and the delivery of long-promised public facilities and affordable housing," Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said, in his motion to the board on Tuesday.

Foulger-Pratt had originally proposed the Bowman Town Court development under the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act. The company's plan was to build 350 affordable housing units and a new Reston regional library. But, in early February, the developer cited increasing construction costs as its reason for terminating the redevelopment agreement it had with the county.

The 4.45-acre project site consists of a 2.89-acre parcel owned by the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority and the 1.56-acre parking lot of the Reston District Police Station. If the project had gone forward as planned, FCRHA and the Board of Supervisors would have transferred ownership of the two parcels to the developer.

Last April, the board approved another motion by Alcorn to establish a task force to review and make recommendations on the redevelopment of the 47-acre RTCN property. The area is bound by Baron Cameron Avenue on the north, Fountain Drive to the east, the library property on Bowman Town Drive to the south, and Town Center Parkway to the west. The property is broken up into nine plots of land owned by Fairfax County and Inova Health Care Services, Inc.

Led by former Fairfax County Board Chair Kate Hanley, the task force is charged with reviewing the RTCN property and make recommendations about the future locations of the new Reston Regional Library, a replacement for the Embry Rucker Shelter, and a county Health and Human Services facility.

Related: Bowman Towne Court Project Canceled; Costs Grew 24%: Foulger-Pratt

Alcorn's motion, which the board approved, called for the Department of Public Works and Environmental Services (Capital Facilities) to develop a plan for the county's Health and Human Services public facilities in the RTCN.

"I further move that the Board request that the FCRHA develop a procurement strategy for the redevelopment of the property that had previously been the subject of a PPEA process, to deliver new affordable housing and, if feasible and with input from the RTCN task force, a public facility which serves both the residents of the new housing and the surrounding community," Alcorn said, in the motion adopted by the board.

The motion passed by the supervisors on Tuesday locked in the county's commitment to transfer ownership of the police station parking lot.

"The purpose of the transfer is for the development of affordable housing with appropriate replacement of secure parking spaces dedicated to police use," Alcorn said, on Tuesday. The motion also sought to do the same for the 2.89-acre FCRHA property that's currently occupied by 30 townhouses built in 1985.

On Monday night, the RTCN task force hosted met for the second time at the North County Government Center. County staff briefed task force members about four properties adjacent to the RTCN site that the board of supervisors had already approved for redevelopment but that hadn't been built yet.

In addition, Joe LaHait of the Department of Management and Budget led a discussion on how the county funds public facilities.

In 2012, Fairfax County voters approved a $10 million bond to construct a new Reston Regional Library on the RTCN site. The county estimated that it would cost about $39.5 million to build the new library, community space, and common infrastructure at the RTCN property. The remaining $29.5 million in funding is expected to come from Economic Development Authority bond financing.

Voters approved a $12 million bond referendum in 2017 to fund a replacement for the Embry Rucker Community Shelter at RTCN. County officials told task force members Monday night that the estimated cost of building the shelter is $25 million.