Simon Urges Density, And Developers Are Ready To Oblige

Density is community.

That is the message Reston founder Robert E. Simon told about 600 people assembled for Bisnow's "What's Next For The Dulles Corridor?" presentation Monday at the

"Some people think density is an evil thing," said Simon. "But density is community, when you think about it."

Simon stressed to the crowd, most of which had ties to commercial real estate, that he always envisioned Reston as a high-density, walkable community in which "a hard surface is surrounded by multi-use buildings."

Much of Reston has already been heading towards that density with the addition of several residential high-rises near over the last decade. As developers make their push toward building more high-density developments to meet the demand the arrival of Metrorail is expected to bring, Simon, 97, might finally see his original vision of Reston come to fruition.

Or he might see empty office buildings and traffic gridlock as it is all a work in progress.

Representatives from developers JBG, Lerner Enterprises and Boston Properties spoke Monday about upcoming projects in the Reston area. Among them:

* JBG will be continuing to expand on the parcel known as Reston Heights, the recently built development on Sunrise Valley that houses The and office buildings.

The company also purchased a 10-acre parcel at the end of Edmund Halley Drive that contains two office buildings but is intended for transit-oriented (TOD) redevelopment. Another future project will be on Wiehle Avenue close to the Wiehle Avenue Metro station.

*is under construction at the Wiehle Avenue Metro stop and set for delivery in summer 2013, says Comstock spokeswoman Maggie Parker.

The area on top of the underground garage will have 1.3 million square feet of mixed-use develpment, including 600 luxury rental units, 500,000 square feet of office space, and a hotel.

* Lerner is continuing to develop the Parkview Executive Center in Herndon, which was initially developed in the 1990s with the future Metro in mind, says Arthur Fuccillo of Lerner.

* Boston Properties, which currently has 2.5 million square feet of mixed-use space within a mile of Reston future Metro stops, is concentrating on 200 acres north of the Reston Parkway station. That station is the first of Phase 2 and is scheduled to open in 2016 or 2017.

This property is adjacent to Reston Town Center and will be developed to connect the station to the existing urban core, said Boston Properties Vice President Pete Otteni.

"Our vision is to create a 'little sister' of Reston Town Center," he said. "We view it as a vibrant, mixed-use development with hotel, retail, residential and office. The current plans center around an elevated, urban plaza with underground parking."

Otteni,with Simon that density is not a bad thing. He says the market will control what is built.

"People are scared someone will immediately go out and build," he said. "We want to encourage developers to develop the right kind of projects."

All of the panelists said they believe that even in a tight economy, the financing will be there to get the projects built. They said securing loans is tougher than it was five years ago but easier than it was two years ago, in the wake of the financial crisis of 2008.