Up to 584 homes could replace aging office buildings near Herndon after the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the project Oct. 27.

The Pinkard Group, a D.C.-based real estate investment firm, plans to demolish three six-story office buildings, a day care center and at least one parking garage on about 34 acres to build the development, called Parkline at Woodland Park, at 2291 Wood Oak Drive in McNair. The approval was first reported by FFXnow.

The firm's rezoning application lays out two scenarios. Option 1 would deliver up to 429 homes: 319 traditional townhomes and 110 stacked townhomes. Option 2 would include 244 traditional townhomes, 110 stacked townhomes and a four-story, 230-unit apartment building for up to 584 units total.

Both options would keep the six-story Plaza Ridge I office building at 2251 Corporate Park Drive and one parking garage. That office building is fully leased to defense contractor ManTech, according to FFXnow.

Affordable housing and park space

The Pinkard Group agreed to meet the Reston Comprehensive Plan's affordable housing goals, according to a county staff report. Under the smaller option, the project would produce either 51 workforce dwelling units or 52 affordable dwelling units. The larger option would yield 70 combined workforce and affordable units.

Those units would be reserved for households earning between 60% and 100% of the area median income. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development sets that figure at $166,100 for a family of four in the D.C. area.

The development would also include 2.68 to 2.8 acres of park space, exceeding county requirements.

New trails and a noise wall

The developer plans to replace a sidewalk along Sunrise Valley Drive with a 10-foot-wide shared-use path and build an 8-foot-wide asphalt trail parallel to the Dulles Airport Access Road, according to the rezoning application. A 15-foot-tall noise wall would shield the northeastern portion of the neighborhood from highway traffic.

No residents testified at the hearing.

Dranesville District Supervisor Jimmy Bierman praised the plans before the vote. "This is old, obsolete office buildings with big surface parking. This is definitely moving to a better use for this area and this space," Bierman said, noting the park space exceeds county requirements.

Brian Winterhalter, a real estate attorney with DLA Piper representing the applicant, told the board the project is "filling in one of the last remaining big areas of surface parking."

Prior approvals and next steps

The Fairfax County Planning Commission recommended approval at its Sept. 23 meeting. The board's vote also comes about a year after supervisors approved a separate plan to redevelop the nearby Woodland Park East offices with housing and a self-storage facility.

The Woodland Park properties are owned through LLCs controlled by Bethesda, Md.-based Buchanan Partners. The Pinkard Group filed the zoning applications, though the relationship between the two firms is unclear. The county has valued the properties at more than $100 million, according to FFXnow.

Construction would occur in four phases as the developer builds roads, trails and parks. No start date or completion timeline has been announced.