The Falls Church Planning Department confirmed yesterday that the developers of the major 4.3 acre Mason Row mixed use project have filed their site plan for review by the department and the Planning Commission, cutting a $57,002 check to go with their submission. This is considered a huge step following the approval of the conceptual plan and requested special exceptions by the City Council last summer. It suggests that any speculation that the plan might not go through has been answered. According to Gary Fuller in the F.C. Planning Department, the site plan calls for a hotel with 127 rooms (and no brand yet), 322 rental apartments, 62,619 square feet of retail, 4,823 of office, and a theater complex with 800 seats. The site plan of the Mill Creek and Spectrum Development project was submitted by Walter Phillips Architects. Fuller said the Planning Commission review process takes about three months, meaning its final OK could come in January.

More detailed plans then come, and construction on the site at the northeastern intersection of W. Broad and N. West could begin next summer.