The large-scale mixed use project proposed by the Insight Property Group for the northeast corner of the Washington at Broad intersection will come back to the Falls Church City Council for first reading again next month, following some major new changes to how it falls toward the Lawton Street residential neighborhood to its rear.
The City Council was invited to a walking tour of the three-acre site this Monday led by Richard Hauser and Maury Stern of the Insight Property Group and others, while a large contingent of citizens, including Lawton Street residents, tagged along. The new design, incorporating some suggestions by Lawton Street residents, moves public park space to the back end with lower heights of apartment portions on the project. The changes conform to the desires of the City Council for such moves that it sent Insight off to negotiate when it denied a first reading in June.
The project is now over two years since its initial presentation, even though the potential tax yield to the City could approach $10 million annually. It will have 295 residential units, a 6,000 square foot small grocery, 1,500 square feet of retail, and two major restaurants in its latest design, as well as 5,000 square feet dedicated for a new home for the City’s Creative Cauldron theatre group.
