Springfield | Fairfax County Revitalization

'Midtown' to Downtown, Maybe
Springfield Times
By Jason Jacks
May 11, 2005

If plans to build a new hotel and banquet hall in central Springfield signal change is afoot in the area, then a grand-sized proposal by developer KSI Services Inc. may mean a full-blown renaissance is nearing.

Though it has not yet filed applications with Fairfax County, the Vienna-based company wants to construct a "high-end," mixed-use development on 9 acres of land now occupied by the Springfield Tower building and Holiday Inn Express, which are squeezed between Interstate 95, Commerce Street and Brandon Avenue in central Springfield.

The company's town center-type proposal, being called "Midtown Springfield" at the moment, includes a 10-story hotel, 40,000 square feet of townhouse-style office space, 100,000 square feet of retail space and 800 residential units dispersed among three 21-story towers.

The development would be built around a plaza punctuated by a fountain or large art piece and include a building to house community exhibitions and an auditorium. Parking garages would buffer the interstate from the development, and up to two levels of additional parking would be placed underneath each residential tower.

"This is a downtown living experience development," Matthew Slavin, director of project planning at KSI, told a mostly enthusiastic crowd at a Central-Springfield Area Revitalization Council (C-SPARC) meeting last week.

This was the developer's first public presentation of the project, and representatives stressed they are still very "early on" in the development process.

Afterward, Slavin said, KSI has been aggressively looking for additional property in the Washington, D.C., region to build another "Midtown" project. The company is already constructing Midtown at Reston Town Center and has similar projects under way in Alexandria and Bethesda. It just recently took "control" of the 9-acre Springfield site.

"This is a great boon," said Nancy-jo Manney, executive director of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, after the presentation. "It's visually appealing, and it's going to allow our residents to live here upscale."

One unidentified member of the audience was quick to show his interest in one of KSI's promised "luxury" housing units.

"Are you taking checks tonight?" he joked to company representatives.

Skeeter Scheid, chair of C-SPARC, is also admittedly excited by the prospect of a new downtown Springfield. She said it would enliven the area and "bring in new people."

However, she did promise that C-SPARC, made up of volunteers, will be cautious and willing to offer input and criticism to KSI as Midtown Springfield's planning moves through the county approval process.

Scheid also said that, as the project proceeds, feedback will be sought from surrounding communities that would be impacted by any traffic and parking issues Midtown Springfield may bring with it.

Though not yet tied to the KSI project, a recent request for proposal was issued by county revitalization officials looking for a private developer to partner with to build a 1,000-space commuter parking lot in Springfield.

According to Jeff McKay, Lee District Supervisor Dana Kauffman's chief of staff, the plan for a new lot is "in no way, shape or form" tied to any projects already planned or proposed for Springfield, like the KSI proposal. But, "if a current project tries to incorporate this project [garage],” then the county would be willing to listen, he said.

"We always thought when it happens that it would all happen at once," Scheid said about the recent building boom planned for central Springfield, which also includes a new Residence Inn hotel on Old Keene Mill Road and a Waterford banquet facility on Commerce Street.

"This speaks to 17 years of what C-SPARC has done," she said. "This is pretty much what we had been planning for."

KSI plans to file its initial proposal with the county within the month.