Supervisors Approve Spectrum Redevelopment, Reston Patch, January 8, 2013

UPDATE:  This morning (1/9/13) we received this drawing of the Spectrum Center redevelopment proposal--thought to be an earlier version of the current plan we called "brutalist" below.  This depiction, if more accurate than the rendering below of Lerner's redevelopment intentions, is more in line with Reston's expectations for "complete streets" that include trees and other attractive pedestrian buffer features known as "streetscapes."  The drawing does not, however, seem to suggest significant variation in building heights or street-side plazas as called for in the Reston Task Force's ongoing planning effort.   Nonetheless, if the rendering provided in Reston Patch yesterday accurately portrays the redevelopment proposal approved by the Board of Supervisors, it is even less consistent with Reston's vision of attractive, livable, pedestrian-friendly placemaking for its urban core than previously proposed.

This drawing also shows the current diamond-shaped Town Center Office Building surround by a rectangle of surface parking.  The Board of Supervisors recently approved Whelan's redevelopment of this property.  It will be Reston's tallest office building at 23-stories--at least for awhile, outside the transit-oriented development 1/2-mile circle, and constructed from one lot line to the other in both directions across the parking lots shown here (it will include a 6-story parking garage).  It is a true example of commercial development insensitive to the community's vision and oft-stated wishes, including testimony to the Board of Supervisors. 

An earlier drawing of the proposed redevelopment of the Spectrum Center area with extensive streetscaping.

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Vision for area from New Dominion to Baron Cameron is high-density, mixed-use Reston urban core.

• By Karen Goff

 The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday unanimously approved the plans for redevelopment of Reston's Spectrum Center, ensuring that the Reston of the future will have Reston Town Center-like development from the Dulles Toll Road (and future Metrorail station) to Baron Cameron Avenue. . .

A rendering of what a building at the Spectrum might look like. Credit Fairfax County

The plan for the Spectrum includes 774,879 square feet of non-residential use; 1,422 multifamily residential units (with 12 percent set aside for affordable housing) in seven new residential buildings; 38 percent open space; underground and structure parking; LEED certifications; two new east-west streets and expanded bike trails and pedestrian access. . . . 

Click here for the details of the approved development plan and the history of the Spectrum Center development effort.

To the extent that the rendering above accurately reflects the design of the Spectrum Center development, it shows once again the insistence of area developers to build from lot line to lot line in a massive, nondescript brutalist block manner highly reminiscent of Arlington's Crystal City development disaster.   The current draft Reston Task Force master plan calls for building heights and street fronts to be varied, including accessible plazas and other open spaces, to add architectural interest and livability to the new Reston downtown, "placemaking" in short.

This design fails massively at placemaking.