Four New High Rise Buildings Coming To Tysons Corner Mall

Residents may soon be saying goodbye to the old Circuit City building, its strip mall and the trees at Tysons Corner Mall. 

Macerich, the company that owns Tysons Corner Center, is pushing forward plans to tear down and the buildings and start construction of a four-phase project that will include 26-story buildings, a hotel and a walkway over Route 123 to the new Silver Line Metro station.

Macerich is a real estate investment trust that focuses on the acquisition, leasing, management, development and redevelopment of regional malls throughout the United States. Macerich owns approximately 72 million square feet of gross leaseable area, primarily with interests in 70 regional malls. It is a public company.

Other holdings include Queens Center in New York City, Scottsdale Fashion Square in Arizona, Broadway Plaza in Walnut Creek, Calif and Washington Square near Portland, Ore.

The development was a rezoning plan approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors under the old land use plan for Tysons on January 22, 2007, said Brian Wilson, a spokesperson for Fairfax County government. Tysons Corner development is now operating under two plans: the 2007 plan and the 2010 Master Plan passed last year. 

Phase One Of Macerich’s plan calls for four buildings:

• A 26-story multi-residential structure: approximately 429,000 square feet (including retail) with a maximum of 380 units.
• An 18-story office building, approximately 536,000 square feet
• A 23-story hotel with approximately 250,000 square feet (including retail and conference facilities) and up to 300 rooms
• A commercial addition with approximately 3,500 square feet that will be adjacent to the mall.

Macerich currently only has approval for infrastructure work (including sewer and electrical projects) and construction of a 13,000 square foot transit pavilion, which will provide a connection between the Tysons I & II Metro station, the mall, and new development, Wilson said.

"This is likely the land clearing activity that residents have seen," he said. "The company also recently submitted plans to tear down the old Circuit City and the associated strip mall; this is under review. Macerich hasn’t applied for building permits yet."

Macerich has not yet returned requests for comment.

News of the Macerich plans comes nearly three weeks after the Lerner Company 

The new Metro Silver Line, expected to open with four stations in Tysons 2013, is spurring the new development. Fairfax County and Virginia officials have said they see Tysons Corner as the economic engine not only of Fairfax County but for all of Virginia. 

The looming question: Traffic. It's already difficult to come and go from Tysons Mall by the Route 123 entrance. What happens when you add tenants and guests in four new high-rise buildings?

The McLean Citizens Association raised the traffic question when it opposed the 2007 rezoning.

"MCA opposed it because of the significantly higher vehicle trips it would have generated," said Mark Zetts, chair of the Planning and Zoning Committee. "There were many transportation improvements recommended in the Tysons Comp Plan that had not been done.  MCA thought the rezoning should have been denied until the capacity of the road network had been increased."

Only two businesses remain open in the strip shopping mall. The rug store in the former Circuit City building has large going out of business signs. Angel Nails is also open but signs tell customers it will close in September and reopen in the mall.

La Madeleine has closed. Signs in its vacant windows say it will also reopen this fall in the mall.