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Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Ballston leaders express high hopes for redevelopment of mall
Posted by:
Ballston Mall Redevelopment
()
Date: July 02, 2014 09:55AM
Ballston leaders express high hopes for redevelopment of mall
http://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/ballston-leaders-express-high-hopes-for-redevelopment-of-mall/article_65fb8a1c-0107-11e4-93e7-0019bb2963f4.html
The long-anticipated redevelopment of Ballston Common Mall is beginning to take shape.
At its annual meeting held June 23, the Ballston Business Improvement District (BID) got a snapshot of the plans of Ballston Common owner Forest City to upgrade the mall as part of an effort to reinvigorate the corridor.
“In a very short time, a new town center [will emerge in] Ballston – a destination, a gathering place for us to have diverse experiences. You will not need to leave Ballston for what you need or want,” said Tina Leone, who heads the Ballston BID, during a presentation in front of more than 200 community, business and political leaders.
Forest City’s redevelopment plans, which were submitted to the county government in late June, call for a luxury residential tower of nearly 400 units coupled with a completely redesigned mall.
“What you’re going to see is more of an emphasis on entertainment, dining, personal care and neighborhood support services,” said Gary McManus, a spokesman for Forest City, a Cleveland-based development firm with nearly $9 billion in residential and commercial properties nationwide.
As part of the redevelopment and rebranding, “Ballston Common” will become “Ballston Center,” with some of the existing space being converted into an open-air shopping plaza and other space (including the movie theater and Macy’s) remaining as an indoor mall.
“Essentially, the mall is going to ‘de-mall’ and turn itself inside out,”
Leone said. “The roof is coming off. They’re updating the retail mix.”
More than 275,000 feet of retail space will be added. The first phase is expected to be completed by 2017.
What is now Ballston Common began life in the early 1950s as Parkington, which at the time was on the cutting-edge of retail design. It was rebuilt and became Ballston Common in the mid-1980s.
“At the time, malls were very monolithic and inward focused. Especially considering the development in recent years, we’ve now reached the point where street life and activating street life is more important,” McManus said.
By most accounts, Ballston Common has been languishing over the past decade, while competing mall owners across the region have worked to update and upgrade their properties.
When asked about whether he believes the restructuring of the mall can bring retail back to Ballston, McManus said the aim isn’t to compete with Pentagon City or Tysons Corner in terms of having high-end shopping.
“What we’re looking at is . . . what can serve this community,” he said.
The residential tower, with up to four levels of underground parking and two levels of retail, is slated for construction along the eastern wing of the mall, where Macy’s Furniture Gallery currently resides. Work is slated to start in 2015.
The Furniture Gallery space housed a J.C. Penney when the mall opened as Ballston Common in 1986. That eastern wing also included Bailey’s Pub and Grill, which closed this past winter.
Macy’s sold the furniture-gallery space to Forest City last year, paving the way to move forward on the redevelopment project.
“This is a project that we’ve been trying to do for a couple of years,” McManus said.
While the announcement of Forest City’s plans long was anticipated, it is likely to give a boost to supporters of Ballston. Like other Arlington urban corridors, Ballston is contending with high office-vacancy rate. Ballston also faces the exodus of the National Science Foundation to Alexandria in coming years.
But there also are a number of new development projects underway, including the redevelopment of Marymount University’s corner of Fairfax Drive and North Glebe Road, and plans are afoot to upgrade the Ballston-MU Metro station.
At the June 23 annual meeting, Ballston BID officials formally announced that Christiana Campos had won the Ballston Restaurant Challenge and will be opening La Casita in the area. Campos introduced her food to the neighborhood by cooking paella for the event’s attendees.
Leone also announced that the BID’s annual Taste of Arlington festival drew a record 40,000 people and raised more than $10,000 for the Arlington Food Assistance Center.
The Taste of Arlington also marked the launch of the Ballston Connect mobile app, which will be used for eight “virtual-art” exhibitions in the Ballston neighborhood, highlighted by an interactive audio-visual exhibit called the Forest of Knowledge in Welburn Square that will record and reflect the moods of passersby through miniature LED screens that will hang from trees.
An artist's conception of the redeveloped Ballston Common Mall, to be known as Ballston Center. (Ballston Business Improvement District)
Attachments:
http://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/ballston-leaders-express-high-hopes-for-redevelopment-of-mall/article_65fb8a1c-0107-11e4-93e7-0019bb2963f4.html
The long-anticipated redevelopment of Ballston Common Mall is beginning to take shape.
At its annual meeting held June 23, the Ballston Business Improvement District (BID) got a snapshot of the plans of Ballston Common owner Forest City to upgrade the mall as part of an effort to reinvigorate the corridor.
“In a very short time, a new town center [will emerge in] Ballston – a destination, a gathering place for us to have diverse experiences. You will not need to leave Ballston for what you need or want,” said Tina Leone, who heads the Ballston BID, during a presentation in front of more than 200 community, business and political leaders.
Forest City’s redevelopment plans, which were submitted to the county government in late June, call for a luxury residential tower of nearly 400 units coupled with a completely redesigned mall.
“What you’re going to see is more of an emphasis on entertainment, dining, personal care and neighborhood support services,” said Gary McManus, a spokesman for Forest City, a Cleveland-based development firm with nearly $9 billion in residential and commercial properties nationwide.
As part of the redevelopment and rebranding, “Ballston Common” will become “Ballston Center,” with some of the existing space being converted into an open-air shopping plaza and other space (including the movie theater and Macy’s) remaining as an indoor mall.
“Essentially, the mall is going to ‘de-mall’ and turn itself inside out,”
Leone said. “The roof is coming off. They’re updating the retail mix.”
More than 275,000 feet of retail space will be added. The first phase is expected to be completed by 2017.
What is now Ballston Common began life in the early 1950s as Parkington, which at the time was on the cutting-edge of retail design. It was rebuilt and became Ballston Common in the mid-1980s.
“At the time, malls were very monolithic and inward focused. Especially considering the development in recent years, we’ve now reached the point where street life and activating street life is more important,” McManus said.
By most accounts, Ballston Common has been languishing over the past decade, while competing mall owners across the region have worked to update and upgrade their properties.
When asked about whether he believes the restructuring of the mall can bring retail back to Ballston, McManus said the aim isn’t to compete with Pentagon City or Tysons Corner in terms of having high-end shopping.
“What we’re looking at is . . . what can serve this community,” he said.
The residential tower, with up to four levels of underground parking and two levels of retail, is slated for construction along the eastern wing of the mall, where Macy’s Furniture Gallery currently resides. Work is slated to start in 2015.
The Furniture Gallery space housed a J.C. Penney when the mall opened as Ballston Common in 1986. That eastern wing also included Bailey’s Pub and Grill, which closed this past winter.
Macy’s sold the furniture-gallery space to Forest City last year, paving the way to move forward on the redevelopment project.
“This is a project that we’ve been trying to do for a couple of years,” McManus said.
While the announcement of Forest City’s plans long was anticipated, it is likely to give a boost to supporters of Ballston. Like other Arlington urban corridors, Ballston is contending with high office-vacancy rate. Ballston also faces the exodus of the National Science Foundation to Alexandria in coming years.
But there also are a number of new development projects underway, including the redevelopment of Marymount University’s corner of Fairfax Drive and North Glebe Road, and plans are afoot to upgrade the Ballston-MU Metro station.
At the June 23 annual meeting, Ballston BID officials formally announced that Christiana Campos had won the Ballston Restaurant Challenge and will be opening La Casita in the area. Campos introduced her food to the neighborhood by cooking paella for the event’s attendees.
Leone also announced that the BID’s annual Taste of Arlington festival drew a record 40,000 people and raised more than $10,000 for the Arlington Food Assistance Center.
The Taste of Arlington also marked the launch of the Ballston Connect mobile app, which will be used for eight “virtual-art” exhibitions in the Ballston neighborhood, highlighted by an interactive audio-visual exhibit called the Forest of Knowledge in Welburn Square that will record and reflect the moods of passersby through miniature LED screens that will hang from trees.
An artist's conception of the redeveloped Ballston Common Mall, to be known as Ballston Center. (Ballston Business Improvement District)
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Re: Ballston leaders express high hopes for redevelopment of mall
Posted by:
E7exX
()
Date: July 02, 2014 09:56AM
Streets and sidewalks in Ballston are crumbling to the point where they're hazardous. It's not just the Mall that's run down, most of the buildings over 20 years old need a makeover. I don't wonder why NSF moved. I wouldn't pay a premium to locate in a deteriorating neighborhood like Ballston.
I blame Arlington Economic Development for allowing this to occur. Stop the New Urbanist in-fill and do some maintenance and makeovers first.
Where is the vaunted Arlington Chamber of Commerce? Planning its next Gala, or maybe its the next junket to China?
I blame Arlington Economic Development for allowing this to occur. Stop the New Urbanist in-fill and do some maintenance and makeovers first.
Where is the vaunted Arlington Chamber of Commerce? Planning its next Gala, or maybe its the next junket to China?