Lake Anne | Fairfax County Revitalization

A Shared Vision for Renewed Lake Anne
From the Times Community Newspapers
By Lise Hausrath Simmons
June 1, 2005

People who live and work near Lake Anne Village Center want to see a shining example of architecture, open space for public use, fine arts, culture and diversity for the future of Reston's historic heart.

But there are several real stumbling blocks in the way as Fairfax County tackles the tough challenge of revitalizing this quaint, peaceful area.

At a series of nine focus groups held in Reston between May 17 and May 24, Lake Anne Village Center residents and the merchants who operate at Washington Plaza were in wide agreement on what they would like to see preserved and what they would like to see changed.

For-profit and nonprofit developers, however, meeting in their own focus group, made it clear that it will be hard to draw developers to a project that carries unusual baggage, chief among them the complicated ownership structure at the plaza and community resistance to change.

Revitalization efforts

Fairfax County designated Lake Anne a revitalization area in 1998 and, after years of behind-the-scenes work, finally got the ball rolling on a concrete project in spring 2004.

The county hired an economic consultant to study the special needs of Lake Anne, and the consultant's report was issued this past March.

It offered a range of options for injecting new life into the 40-year-old village center, starting with increased and more targeted marketing and ending on a continuum with major redevelopment.

The county then hired The Perspectives Group, an Alexandria-based company, to run a series of focus groups in Reston to hear directly from the community, major Lake Anne stakeholders, plus developers, on what the future should look like in the area.

Near-unanimous vision

Homeowners and merchants, as well as senior citizens who are renters near the lake, were near unanimous in agreeing on their vision for Lake Anne.

Most want to open up the entrance to the village center, perhaps by knocking down the building now occupied by the Association of School Business Officials (ASBO) and creating a tree-lined view of the Lake Anne fountain from Baron Cameron Avenue.

They want to bring more cultural, educational and arts activities to the lake, with many people wishing to see a cinema arts theater there and live music on the plaza when weather permits.

People want the lake to be clean and used by the community, with fishing, boating, maybe swimming, as well as winter activities like ice skating, there.

They stressed that year-round events need to be held at Lake Anne to draw the pedestrian traffic necessary to keep the merchants viable.

High on the wish lists were a boutique grocery store, an ice cream parlor, a bakery, a florist and additional unique restaurants. Some people even wanted more clothing stores and perhaps a dry cleaner.

Rather than building a large hotel, there was some support for adding a small inn to the area as a possible draw.

People did not want to see another Reston Town Center-type development, and they wish to preserve the large amount of green and open space at Lake Anne.

Keeping any new development architecturally in tune with the existing buildings was a high priority.

People want to maintain the area's natural beauty, the pedestrian village aspect of the community and its mixed-use approach and European feel.

There was little support for high-rise condominiums, which would bring much-needed population density to the area to support the merchants and other businesses.

Transportation from the future Wiehle Avenue Metro stop—maybe a trolley service—was also high on the list of priorities, as well as more visible walking trails leading to and from the area.

People also want the parking problems solved, which would probably mean structured parking that would trump any plans to open the entrance from Baron Cameron Avenue.

Enticing developers

One of the key issues facing the county is how to entice developers to commit to the project. This is made even more difficult because of the complicated ownership structure at Lake Anne.

The Lake Anne Residential Condominium owns much of the Washington Plaza property, but there are other owners, as well, including Reston founder Robert E. Simon Jr., Millennium Bank and ASBO, to name a few.

Simon, for his part, has been arguing that the county should exercise its power of eminent domain by condemning some of the affected property at and around the plaza and taking it over for public use.

This would help relieve the condominium owners of the high monthly fees they pay to help maintain the plaza and could allow for regular maintenance and upkeep of the plaza, informed observers have said.

But it may not solve the problem of what to do with the rest of the Lake Anne-area property around the fringes that is being eyed for possible redevelopment.

“The development community would probably look to the county for some mechanism to facilitate the redevelopment plan,” one developer stressed.

There are reports that Good Shepherd Lutheran Church has already sold its property to a developer. The church sits on the periphery of Lake Anne Village Center and could be the perfect location for a high rise or town home community.

In addition, there is speculation that the Mark Winkler Co., which owns and manages the Crescent Apartments, one of the few remaining affordable rental developments in Reston, will want to sell.

Simon has urged the county to leave the Crescent Apartments alone to enable Reston to hang on to some of its lauded economic and cultural diversity.

The Washington Plaza Baptist Church and the property behind it could be an excellent place to build an architecturally superior high-rise building, but no one expects the church to go away.

During the developers' focus group, it was suggested that multiple-tier construction moving away from the lake would be the best approach to increasing population density.

Creating a destination spot

Participants in all the focus groups agreed that, for revitalization to be a success, Lake Anne Village Center needs to become a premier destination spot.

The next step in the process is an approximately three-day public charrette, which the county plans to hold in June or July. The charrette will bring together experts from around the country in the areas of architecture, engineering and infrastructure, to name a few, and should result in a design concept for the county to pursue.

In the meantime, The Perspectives Group plans to file its report with the county on the nine focus groups by June 3, said Donna Lucas, a senior consultant with the company.

The report will be posted on Fairfax County's revitalization Web site, http://www.fcrevit.org .

Focus groups

There was some grumbling among residents that not enough affected neighborhoods were invited to attend.

For example, Annette Gibson, vice president of the Lakeview Condominiums, complained that her neighborhood was not asked to participate in the smaller focus groups.

Gibson, however, did play a role in the public focus group May 24 at Lake Anne Elementary School.

All the focus groups that were well attended, eight of the nine, solicited lively involvement from the participants.

People who took part stressed that county support for the project must be very strong for it to succeed and that the community must be involved as much as possible. There should be a “collaborative” effort, many people said.

Some developers suggested that a critical ingredient for the project to succeed is for the county to have the “political will” to make tough decisions and judgment calls.

Perhaps the greatest challenge of all is “fear of change,” one focus group participant said.