https://www.bizjournals.com/washington/news/2017/08/24/fairfax-city-redevelopment-moving-forward-with.html
Aug 24, 2017
With a grocery anchor now in place, Combined Properties expects to break ground on its mixed-use Scout on the Circle project in Fairfax city late this year or early 2018.
The developer announced earlier this month that Giant Food will lease the 54,000-square-foot grocery space at the $150 million complex. Combined plans 400 apartments and an additional 29,000 square feet of retail for the project located near the confluence of Routes 29 and 50.
Combined spokeswoman Linda Dreyer said there has been renewed interest in retail leasing since Giant came on board. Dreyer said Combined had been in previous negotiations with Harris Teeter.
Combined’s plans are a good example of emerging suburban transformation in Fairfax, where in 2012 the city passed a long-discussed Fairfax Boulevard master plan to encourage a more walkable area. Combined has owned — and has been eyeing redevelopment of — the roughly 9-acre Fairfax Circle Plaza for more than a decade.
The project's rezoning was approved in May 2014, but it has taken years for leases to run out at the existing center, formerly home to a Hudson Trail Outfitters, Subway, RadioShack and Staples, among others. It's now empty.
"It's been a long slog to get this going," said Combined President and CEO Kathy Bonnafé. "We are hoping to be the gateway to the city. We are hoping it is the start of transforming the face of Fairfax."
Combined plans a mix of studios to three-bedroom units over ground-floor retail and garage parking. Scout on the Circle is about two miles from the Vienna Metro station.
Giant will have competition though. There are several other grocery stores, including an Aldi, a Safeway and an additional Giant within three miles of the project.
The former Fairfax Circle Plaza was built by the Haft family in 1964 — predating the Ronald Haft-founded Combined by about 20 years. The company currently counts two dozen D.C.-area properties in its $1.9 billion portfolio, including the Shoppers Food-anchored White Flint Plaza, Safeway-anchored Courthouse Plaza in Fairfax, and Sully Plaza in Chantilly, which features an Aldi.
Also in the works for Combined Properties is South Alex, a similar mixed-use project at the former Penn Daw Plaza at Kings Highway and Route 1 in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County. The developer plans 400 apartments, 41 townhouse and 44,000 square feet of retail.
Dreyer said the company hopes to announce a tenant for the 25,000-square-foot specialty grocer space soon. Fresh Market had signed a letter of intent with the project, but pulled out in August 2016.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/2017 02:48PM by Joke Insurance.