Fairfax Board OKs Capital One HQ Overhaul

Tysons Corner is one major step closer to becoming the walkable urban downtown area Fairfax County officials have envisioned for years.

The Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Tuesday the extensive expansion of Capital One bank’s headquarters in the area, more than a year and a half after the financial giant submitted its application.

Capital One owns 26 acres in Tysons. The vision for the massive development, which will take years to finish and eventually surround the bank’s new headquarters, includes 3.1 million square feet of office space, four high-rise residential buildings with as many as 1,200 units, 1,000 square feet of restaurants and retail and a hotel.

The approved deal also includes $63 million in transportation improvements and a 30,000-square-foot community center with an indoor basketball court.

Board members were uniformly positive about the development, which was approved by the planning commission last Thursday.

“The Capital One expansion and redevelopment project is a great step forward for Tysons Corner," Chairman Bulova said in a statement. "As the first major rezoning initiative since the initial demonstration project, the expansion not only lends to the vision of Tysons as a strong economic and residential center, but also achieves the goals of the Tysons Corner Comprehensive Plan by addressing transportation needs and providing community amenities."

Supervisor Pat Herrity (R-Springfield) thanked Capital One for its investment in Tysons Corner and Fairfax County.

“I want to thank Capital One for investing in our community and the jobs that they’re going to bring to this county,” he said. “Especially when we’re looking at sequestration, to have a financial services firm grow here is something that we don’t want to overlook.”

Clark Tyler, a Fairfax County resident and former chair of the Tysons Land Use Task Force, also supported the project, calling it “exactly what the task force had in mind.”

When complete, the massive mixed-use development will be a quarter mile from the McLean Metro Station, one of four stations currently being constructed in the first phase of the Dulles Metrorail project. Silver Line metro stations are expected to be open in late 2013.