Scaled Back S. Maple Project to be Called 'Pearson Square'

The Vienna, Virginia-based Atlantic Realty Company, with plans to play a major role in the redevelopment of the City of Falls Church's downtown, won final site plan approval for its large-scale mixed use project at 500 S. Maple St. from the Planning Commission here Monday. Jonathan Myers of Atlantic Realty also announced the mostly residential of the two buildings composing the project will be called

"Simon Pearson Square" in honor of the man who was the original land grant owner of the property. The F.C. Historical Commission recommended the name. Thus, the 4.7-acre property will, at last, no longer be known as the "Diener tract."

In deference to the concerns of neighbors behind the site, Myers also announced that the side of the second, mostly commercial building was reduced in length by 126 feet. Atlantic is in negotiations for the sale of that building, once constructed, to the Falls Church-based Tax Analysts, Inc. In addition to approving the site plan, the Planning Commission approved a subdivision of the property to expedite the sale.

The Planning Commission vote was unanimous Monday and was the final hurdle Atlantic Realty faced following its project's approval by the Falls Church City Council last June.

The project will include 230 residential condominiums, 15 of which will be stipulated as "affordable" and the rest to be sold at market rates. All the residential units will be in the building to be called "Pearson Square" that will also include 18,000 square feet of ground floor retail. The building will range between four and five stories high and will include a two-level underground parking garage with 521 parking spaces.

The second building will be all commercial, including 75,906 square feet dedicated to office space and 8,778 to ground floor retail. It will range from three to five stories and have five levels of parking, including three underground, for 284 parking spaces. This is the building designated for sale to Tax Analysts, Inc.

The Planning Commission's final OK was predicated on a couple minor exceptions that included allowing undergrounded utilities on the areas designated for buffers around the project and six-foot fencing.

Myers said this company's decision to scale back the size of the all-commercial building was to "make it more agreeable" to neighboring residents on Gundry Drive and Shirley Street, even though it was not required or a condition of the City Council's approval last summer.

Atlantic Realty's success in building on the site, following two earlier failures by development consortia, bodes well for its future plans to be a major player in the redevelopment of Falls Church's downtown, only blocks from the Pearson Square site centered on the intersection of Rt. 29 and Rt. 7. Atlantic owns the George Mason Square building at that intersection and is in negotiations to acquire other properties in the two block area adjacent it.

Listening and accommodating to neighbors' concerns appeared to be a key component of Atlantic's success on S. Maple St., including the considerable concession of voluntarily scaling back the commercial structure.

Atlantic was also generous in its proffers to the City of Falls Church in exchange for receiving the required City Council approvals last Summer. The proffers totaled $4 million in value including a $1.2 million contribution to the Falls Church City Public Schools' building fund. They also included donating 3,000 square feet of retail space in the Pearson Square building at a reduced rent for an arts center.

Tax Analysts' plans for the site are also seen as a boon, since they allow the company with over 200 employees to remain in the City. It had already outgrown its office space here, and was compelled to locate some of its operations outside the City limits. Now, it will be able to consolidate all its operations, and expansion plans, within the City. Other local businesses are also eyeing relocation to the Pearson Square site, especially some smaller retailers in the area along W. Broad St. slated for redevelopment. "We know this will be a quality project," said Planning Commission chair Peter Holran prior to Monday's unanimous site plan approval.