Interim park to open in Bailey’s Crossroads in June
 |
| The site design for a temporary park in Bailey’s Crossroads next to Radley Acura. Columbia Pike is at the top of the image. [OCR] |
Construction of phase 1 of Crossroads Interim Park in Bailey’s Crossroads is expected to start in late March or early April, and the park would open to the public in June.
The park will be developed on the site of the former Landmark office building on Columbia Pike in between Radley Acura and the vacant lot where the Safari Restaurant used to be. That land is owned by Fairfax County, and the park would be in place only until the county decides what to do with the property.
 |
| An illustration of the proposed plaza. [OCR] |
The county’s plans for the interim park were presented to the Bailey’s Crossroads/Seven Corners Revitalization Corporation Feb. 20 by Suzie Battista of the Fairfax County Office of Community Revitalization and other county officials.
Phase 1, in the area closest to Columbia Pike, would have a small plaza with native plantings, seating, and “shade sails” consisting of canvas over metal structures. It would also have an area for events and pop-up programming, such as a small farmers market and concerts
Construction of Phase 2, at the rear of the property, is most likely a year away, Battista said. It won’t be designed until the county can assess community feedback and see how Phase 1 is working out. That area could have a basketball court and a small athletic field for children’s sports.
At the BC7RC meeting, concerns were raised about access, parking, safety, trash dumping, maintenance, electricity for events, and lighting.
The county is working with the police to ensure safety at the park and the Office to Prevent and End Homeless to discourage homeless people from camping out in the park. The Bailey’s Crossroads Community Shelter is close by on Moncure Avenue and so is the new shelter under construction on Seminary Road. It is expected to open later this year.
The county is leaning against providing lighting at the interim park, as it doesn’t want to encourage people to be there after hours. The park would be surrounded by fencing in some places and a guard rail in others. There would be about 100 parking spaces.
The interim park is adjacent to the property owned by the Weissberg Corp., which is considering options for development of multifamily housing.
So now we will have a park full of letter and homeless people and not generating any commercial activity for an area that has so much potential. Damn shame!
Is this "interim" park supposed to compensate for all the green space lost to Penny's numerous developments under her highly touted environmentally aware stewardship?
And, of course, we need more "multifamily housing", i.e.apartments, in a District that already has thousands of them
All that multi-family housing that you refer to is Section 8 housing. It is not mixed use development that brings in higher incomes into Mason. More people with higher incomes creat jobs for local retail and commercial activity. Mason has none of that and that is why the District has become so stagnant.
Seems like good time to see an article with updates on various proposed developments that were/are proposed in Mason.
1) Any more updates on this location.
2) 5600 Columbia Pike.
3) Mill Creek/City diner, now that the Denny's is opening close to city diner.
4) Sears location in Seven Corners.
5) Projects in Annandale/Mason otherwise.
Seems like a lot of stuff has either been cancelled or delayed.
Sears has yet to become a real project. There were visions shared during the 7 corners CBC comp plan creation, but no developer has actually come forward with a plan, due in large part because as of now, sears is still there (every time there is a list of closings, I check to see if that one is on the list, but it has not appeared). Its disengenuous to say that there have been any delays or cancelations in relation to that project.
Don’t expect movement on the sears parcel until it actually closes. However, the county hasn’t stopped its progress in the area. In the past year or so, we got crosswalks and pedestrian lights in 7 corners, and there are sidewalks sprouting all over the area, including on rt 50 and soon along sleepy hollow road. The Loren (mixed use retail+apartments) and a nice new Hampton inn were built just outside of the 7 corners CBC. The home depot expanded in 7 corners.
There have been some disappointing setbacks for sure, but there have also been nice developments in our area as well.
Thanks for sharing what you know, Jeffrey. I appreciate facts and your insight.
–KDA
Per comment above: " The Loren (mixed use retail+apartments) and a nice new Hampton inn were built just outside of the 7 corners CBC".
To be accurate: Neither of those establishments is located in Mason District. They are in Providence District.
Most commenters on this blog item seem focused on Mason development.
It is not disingenuous, Sears is DELAYED. I can't find the article from this blog but the development company, Foulger-Pratt, got flak from neighbors and decided to DELAY for at least two years.
5600 Columbia Pike original project was canceled and then co-working/living project replaced it. That is not just delayed but by now I’m assuming cancelled.
City Diner development was cancelled.
Avalon Bay was cancelled.
Project for Bowling alley in Annandale, cancelled.
Project for Kmart location in Annandale, crickets.
Landmark Mall redevelopment and Beauregard Street corridor housing development delayed (not Mason, I know but more than close enough to me in Bailey’s).
I feel like there was something for Willston Center area and other locations that I’m forgetting.
Spectrum shopping center was repeatedly delayed and often seemingly in doubt.
With a few exceptions, usually close to transit, East/South Side of NOVA include, Arl and FFX, can’t get love. I want to be more positive but its frustrated to see the area I’ve called home to for 30+ years repeatedly bypassed.
Regarding Anonymous 11:02 AM: you are right, those are technically in Providence, but they are literally a handful of feet from Mason. I honestly don't distinguish between districts at that point – developments in one district benefit (or hurt) the other when they are that close to the border. The point is, those developments, IMO, were a boost to the area.
If people want to look exclusively at what happens in mason, then whatever. At what point are you just looking for excuses to whine? I've given up laying all of our problems at the feet of our supervisor (believe me, I used to blame her for plenty). I'm more in the business of looking for and rallying behind solutions now.
This is another Penny Gross disaster…..no progress and then she will blame the next recession, or the government shut down.
A response to Mr. Longo – the uncertainty over the future of the Sears site has not been the sole obstacle to development in the 7 Corners "CBC". It is only one part of the proposed development.
There has been no recommended, viable solution to the increased traffic which would result from the thousands of proposed apartments nor has there been a determination of the fate of the former Willston School or serious consideration of the services required for the huge number of tenants who will reside in those apartments, e.g. schools, green space (none of which has been planned for the site), recreation, public safety etc.
Sidewalks and pedestrian signals in the area are appreciated and long overdue.
Sears has always been expected to be the first to "go" when it comes to redevelopment, but the timing is very much dependent on when there is no longer a major tenant there. Despite what other anonymous posters say without any kind of citation, there has never been a developer application submitted for the sears site. If someone can point me to an application that was filed and then delayed/withdrawn, then I'll happily eat my words, but I've been staying pretty on top of this considering my neighborhood borders this parcel, and to my knowledge nothing has been put forward.
The middle parcel is probably decades away considering there is currently vibrant retail on it and Saul Centers, the property owner, has no incentive to change a working formula (and I don't blame them).
The far Willston parcel has some hoops that it would need to go through in order to redevelop I believe, so it is currently on a long-term planning horizon as well (could be wrong on that particular piece).
Regarding traffic congestion, I immediately think of BRT on Rt 7 http://www.novatransit.org/programs/route7/. Just this past year there was a major study performed which started identifying rights of way and where they'd be placing the BRT stations. When completed, this project will not only give us a great high capacity mass transit option but could serve as a major catalyst for revitalization all along Rt 7, including Seven Corners, Baileys, and Skyline. Unfortunately, Arlington really put the screws to us by pulling out of the streetcar project and literally set our district's transportation planning back a decade or two.
I would agree that there isn't any really great plan for the 7 corners interchange itself. I'm not convinced the ring road will truly work, and even if it does, there has been absolutely no movement on getting any funding for that concept from NVTC.
The Willston multicultural site, where the school used to be and there has been talk of there being a combined county/school site again, is still planned to redevelop at some point, and there is an amendment that was put into the comprehensive plan that says a school must be built in the 7 corners CBC (all talk has been for it to be at the Willston site).
not a chance it looks like those photos
They forgot to draw the homeless sleeping on the benches as they do the nearby bus shelters and the lawn strewn with litter. What a letdown.
This land should have been consolidated with surrounding parcels and sold to a developer. No one is going to go to this park! Thanks Penny! The only cranes up over here are for the homeless shelter.
In 2007 this parcel was beautifully planned, with participation by residents, for mixed used development (a small Shirlington or Mosaic). It took 3 out of turn plan amendments for Sup. Gross to change the citizens' plan to her own vision. The purchase of the high rise building torn down for this park was $3M more than the county assessment because the owner provided his own assessment and was paid accordingly. It was purchased with the idea that it would be a new section of Seminary Road, which makes one wonder what would happen to the current exit to Seminary Road just a block away.
We do not need more rental units in Mason. We need condos that pay taxes that help fund our infrastructure and services. Sup. Gross loads Mason District up with rentals that become group homes and then turns a blind eye to occupancy codes. Our business center area is now a park with a rental apartment building. Enough already. Give the citizens what they need and ask for, not what Gross and her crony developers want for themselves.