Big changes coming to Skyline

Big changes underway at the Skyline Center are expected to bring new life to the office complex in Bailey’s Crossroads.

Developer Robert Seldin, CEO of Highland Square Holdings, described his plans for converting buildings 4 and 5 (5113 and 5111 Leesburg Pike) into live-work units May 14 on a tour hosted by the Bailey’s Crossroads/Seven Corners Revitalization Corporation.

Related story: More live-work units planned for Skyline

Seldin is already converting buildings 1, 2, and 3 in Skyline (5201, 5203, and 5205 Leesburg Pike) to live/work units. Those three buildings will have a total of 675 units. The first units will be ready in October.

Restaurants are planned for the ground floor in the buildings, including a possible food court with international offerings in building 4. Seldin is looking for unique restaurant tenants to serve the wider community as well as Skyline tenants, rather than national chains.

Related story: Construction of Skyline live/work project well underway

Seldin, the developer of the Mission Lofts live/work building on Columbia Pike in Bailey’s Crossroads, expects construction to start on buildings 4 and 5 in about two years. He has submitted a rezoning application, and a public hearing is targeted for winter 2023. The H&R Block office and the other few remaining tenants will be gone by July.

All five Skyline buildings will be connected with a linear park, creating a more welcoming space designed to promote community engagement, Seldin said. The buildings are also connected via underground tunnels in the parking lot.
The surface lot over the parking garage will become a park. There are 3,000 underground parking spaces.

Seldin plans to minimize the fortress-like quality of the site, which was built to house Department of Defense offices. One idea calls for a new pedestrian bridge over S. George Mason Drive.

The top floor of building 4 has a missile silo and an openable roof in case the government had to deploy surface-to-air missiles during the Cold War. Missiles were never housed there, however, and Seldin is considering installing a swimming pool in that space.

Seldin is developing buildings 1, 2, and 3, at Skyline with the Wolff Co., which owns the property. For buildings 4 and 5, he is partnering with Madison Marquette, the developer of the Wharf in D.C. Madison Marquette purchased the buildings from SomeraRoad Inc.

The Skyline Center is in an opportunity zone, which confers certain tax advantages to investors. The goal is to increase investments in designated low-income areas.