Capital One continues quest to build tallest tower in Tysons
Capital One is advancing plans to build a 470-foot-tall headquarters building, which if approved would become one of the tallest skyscrapers in Tysons Corner.

http://www.insidenova.com/news/business/fairfax/capital-one-continues-quest-to-build-tallest-tower-in-tysons/article_1b61d6da-bc21-11e3-80ef-001a4bcf887a.html

Capital One is advancing plans to build a 470-foot-tall headquarters building, which if approved would become one of the tallest skyscrapers in Tysons Corner.

The towering, 975,000-square-foot structure, which would dwarf the banking company’s current 205-foot-tall building in Tysons, is part of a modified development plan that would include a new hotel and expedited construction of transportation improvements and a new community center.

The Fairfax County Planning Commission held a public hearing on Capital One’s proposal April 3, but deferred decision until April 23.

“We have a bit more work to do,” said Planning Commissioner Kenneth Lawrence (Providence District).

Antonio Calabrese, a lawyer with Cooley LLP who is representing Capital One, noted the company’s copious proffers for transportation, schools and recreation and said the new headquarters building alone would provide the county with about $3.3 million in tax revenues annually.

The Board of Supervisors in September 2012 approved a 4.4-million-square-foot redevelopment proposal for Capital One’s 26.2-acre site, located just northeast of Route 123 and Interstate 495. Counting the site’s existing buildings, the overall square footage would be 4.9 million square feet at build-out.

The mixed-use development would be constructed in five phases over about 25 years. Capital One’s plan modification would construct “Block B” first, instead of second, as previously planned.

Block B originally called for two office buildings, hotel, civic plaza and a 30,000-square-foot Fairfax County community center.

The new plan calls for construction of the headquarters skyscraper, a 340,000-square-foot hotel and a linear park along Capital One Drive. The headquarters building, designed by HKS Architects, would be constructed on top of a 91-foot-tall base consisting of parking areas, retail and offices.

Under the plan, several transportation upgrades would occur sooner than previously scheduled. Expedited improvements would include realignment of Capital One Drive with the future Jones Branch Connector road and construction of an access road to the adjacent Gates of McLean residential community.

Because the community center would have been built at the site of the proposed new headquarters building, Capital One officials have proffered to build a temporary, stand-alone community center near the McLean Metrorail station. That structure eventually would be removed and another built into a future building at that location.

Capital One would build a temporary, rectangular athletic field with lights and artificial turf at the Block B site, which would remain in use until the hotel was constructed there. The company also would endeavor to keep a heavily used baseball diamond elsewhere on the property in operation for as long as possible, Calabrese said.

The site’s overall floor-area ratio would stay the same at about 3.9. Sixty-four percent of the development would be office space, 25 percent residential, 8 percent hotel and 2 percent retail.

The county’s planning staff recommended approval of the new headquarters building, saying its location in a sunken area 35 feet below the Capital Beltway would minimize impacts on nearby residential neighborhoods.

Lisa Samuels, president of the Gates of McLean Unit Owners Association, said homeowners there are not thrilled with the idea of a giant building looming nearby, but are pleased by the prospect that more services and resources would be coming to their community.

“We all accept that that’s the price you pay,” she said.

The day before the Planning Commission’s hearing, the McLean Citizens Association’s (MCA) board of directors approved a resolution favoring Capital One’s proposal, provided county officials designate the new headquarters a “gateway landmark building.”

Doing so would allow the skyscraper to exceed height limits under Tysons Corner’s comprehensive plan, which allows buildings up to 400 feet tall, plus an additional “penthouse” area if it takes up 25 percent or less of the rooftop, Mark Zetts, chairman of MCA’s Planning and Zoning Committee.

The top 70 feet of Capital One’s headquarters building would be used for mechanical equipment. Unlike some buildings, where such devices are set back from the roof line, the equipment at Capital One’s headquarters would be hidden behind an extension of the outer glass-curtain wall.

“What we fear is that the height limitations for Tysons will be for the occupied part of the buildings,” Zetts said. “Should this occur, the height limits in the [comprehensive] plan, which were agonized over for a couple years, now they [would not] mean so much.”

According to Zetts, there are four other gateway buildings in Tysons: the Sheraton Premiere at Tysons Corner, Gannett Co. Inc. headquarters, the Tower Club (nicknamed “Shopping Bag”) building and the so-called “Toilet Bowl” building at Route 123 and Gosnell Road.

(A Fairfax County police officer at MCA’s meeting said that last building actually is supposed to look like a Kodak camera.)

Unlike cheaply constructed office space built on speculation, Capital One’s new headquarters would be a well-built structure symbolizing the company’s commitment to Tysons Corner, Zetts said.

“This is a huge, iconic building that says, ‘You’ve arrived,’” he said.

Calabrese said Capital One officials are proud the new proposal has received recommendations from the county’s planning staff, MCA and Gates of McLean.

“That’s indicative of Capital One’s open communication and transparency about this process,” he said. “This whole development will contribute to the viability and ridership of the Silver Line.”

This artist's rendition depicts a view from the east of Capital One's proposed 470-foot headquarters building in Tysons Corner and this drawing depicts the future build-out of Capital One's site near Route 123 (left) and Interstate 495 on the eastern edge of Tysons Corner. The tall structure on the right is the company's planned 470-foot-tall headquarters building.
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It's big. How tall is the shopping bag building? They should put a restaurant on top. Something less cheezy/sleezy than "The Tower Club".

UPP9P Wrote:
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> It's big. How tall is the shopping bag building?
> They should put a restaurant on top. Something
> less cheezy/sleezy than "The Tower Club".

I agree. How about a Hooter's?

It violates the normal architectural standards in Tysons. Any tall narrow building must be erect with two mid-rise cyllindrically-shapped buildings on each side.

UPP9P Wrote:
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> It's big. How tall is the shopping bag building?
> They should put a restaurant on top. Something
> less cheezy/sleezy than "The Tower Club".


The tower club is NOT sleazy! It's for the upper echelons of society, like myself.

Moore cadillac Wrote:
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> It violates the normal architectural standards in
> Tysons. Any tall narrow building must be erect
> with two mid-rise cyllindrically-shapped buildings
> on each side.

Don't you mean spherical buildings on each side? See, that would be funny because it would like a big dick. You need to polish up your humor, son.

That's the Sheraton Premiere. The Navy likes to hold its conferences there. It holds a lot of seamen.

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Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 05/08/2014 11:42PM by chuckhoffmann.

Is Tysons Corner a desirable location?

chuckhoffmann Wrote:
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> The people in favor of the Capital One development
> would do well to keep this in mind. Likely they'll
> build the Capital One tower and the other shit
> listed in the first phase, and then realize that
> the rest of the plan is too expensive and will
> never be built.

Who cares if the other buildings don't get built. I think it would be cool to have an actual sky scraper in Tyson's. Wouldn't it basically be a 47 story building?

Even if Crapital One builds everything...it dosen't look urban.

Also, a 470 feet building is a "skyscraper" only to people who live in this area. Most cities have bulidings much taller than that.

Not Urban Wrote:
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> Even if Crapital One builds everything...it
> dosen't look urban.
>
> Also, a 470 feet building is a "skyscraper" only
> to people who live in this area. Most cities have
> bulidings much taller than that.

There are probably less than 10 office buildings in all of Europe as tall as the shopping bag building.

GduHu Wrote:
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> Not Urban Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Even if Crapital One builds everything...it
> > dosen't look urban.
> >
> > Also, a 470 feet building is a "skyscraper"
> only
> > to people who live in this area. Most cities
> have
> > bulidings much taller than that.
>
> There are probably less than 10 office buildings
> in all of Europe as tall as the shopping bag
> building.

Come on, there's probably 10 in London alone.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_in_Europe

Dubai is no joke.
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Good news!

They've discovered oil under Tysons Corner and the oil companies have been given the greenlight to begin fracking immediately.

I've been to Dubai, Its either one skyscraper after another or a skyscraper with a crane on it under construction being erected non stop on and on. It doesn't end.