With Site Plan OK, The Spectrum Readies to Sprout

By Nicholas F. Benton

Almost a year to the day after the Falls Church City Council provided the special exception to permit its development, the massive Spectrum mixed-use project at 450 W. Broad St. received final site plan approval from the Planning Commission this Monday.

The project that will go up adjacent the so-called Panera Bread Building at 450 W. Broad St. will include 189 luxury condominiums, 32,000 square feet of retail space and 32,000 square feet of office space built around a market square.
With Monday's site plan approval, construction of the project will begin next month, announced Jan A. Zachariasse, president and CEO of Waterford Development.

Zachariasse agreed to 18 minor revisions in the site plan proposed by the Planning Commission prior to its vote Monday, including a "green roof."

Waterford, which constructed The Broadway, the first new major development project completed in the City of Falls Church in 20 years, in the 500 block of West Broad, acquired ownership of the land and approvals to develop The Spectrum from the Akridge Company last year.

Since it received special exception approval a year ago, therefore, the project changed its name from The Pavilion to The Spectrum and its ownership.

Waterford announced that the new project will include a trademarked "Lifestyle By Demand" floor plan feature. "Each resident will include state of the art, upscale features and amenities that highlight the chosen lifestyle," Zachariasse said.

"At Waterford, we want to build communities where diversity is embraced. We can do that by offering distinctive condominium styles that appeal to different tastes. With our 'Lifestyle By Demand,' we can attract residents with varying lifestyles and preferences together under a single roof," he said.
A sales office for The Spectrum will open in The Broadway, with sales commencing, beginning in the mid-$300,000s, in late spring.

The eight-story project will include 570 parking spaces, including two levels of underground parking. Proffers included a $967,164 gift to the City's school construction fund, a dedication of eight units at "affordable housing" rates, $50,000 to the George bus system, $75,000 to the Affordable Housing Fund and $50,000 for a signal light.

City of Falls Church economic impact forecasts indicate the annual net revenue yield to the City from the project will be $702,000 to $1.05 million per year.

With its groundbreaking next month, the project will be the third new large-scale mixed use project either under construction or completed in a two-block stretch of West Broad Street. The Broadway was completed last year, and The Byron is now under construction right across the street.

In addition, work on Pearson Square, the large mixed-use project slated for development at the old duckpin bowling alley site on S. Maple, is about to begin. The bowling alley and adjacent business sites there will soon be demolished.