New apartments will spur revitalization of Annandale
Annandale is gearing up for transformational change, as the Eastgate apartment project under construction is expected to bring vibrant new life to the community and spark additional revitalization.
Fairfax County and private sector leaders celebrated the project at a groundbreaking ceremony on May 6.
“It’s the first big development in Annandale since the 1970s,” said Maury Stein, a principal with Insight Property Group, the company developing the mixed-use project in partnership with property owner Brian Kim. When completed, “this part of Annandale will look dramatically different.”
Part of the Eastgate shopping center on John Marr Drive – including The Block food hall – was torn down to make way for a six-story apartment building with 280 units and 11,200 square feet of ground-floor retail.
The project is expected to be completed in fall 2027, said Kim. Leasing will open next summer. Negotiations are underway with potential retail tenants, but no leases have been finalized yet. None of the existing businesses at the shopping center are expected to be part of the new development.
The Eastgate apartment building will have one-bedroom and two-bedroom units, plus units with two bedrooms and a den, Stern said. The building will have a club room, fitness center, swimming pool, game room with arcade games, and co-working spaces.
Related story: Eastgate apartment project advances
The apartment building is just the first phase of a long-term project to replace the entire retail strip with a mixed-use town center.
This project has been in the works for almost 20 years, noted former Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross. Soon after the Board of Supervisors amended the comprehensive plan to permit the redevelopment of the site, Lehman Brothers collapsed, ushering in the Great Recession of 2008.
“The plans were put on hold, but Brian Kim never wavered,” Gross said. “He recognized the value of his vision and took the necessary steps to be ready when the time was right for redevelopment.”
After Kmart closed, he remodeled the shopping center and filled it with short-term tenants, while planning the mixed-use development, she said. Then the Covid pandemic presented another obstacle. Construction is finally underway, but the next phase for additional mixed-use development on the property is still many years away.
Related story: The Block and B-Thrifty are closing
Mason Supervisor Andres Jimenez called the project “a catalyst for change” and a catalyst for revitalizing Annandale and Mason District.
“Once this project is completed, the community is going to see how amazing it is to have a wonderful place that’s an active destination,” Jimenez said.
“This is going to be the beginning of a vibrant new future for central Annandale and will build on the incredible cultural diversity and economic diversity that’s here already,” said Rep. James Walkinshaw. “This is a proud moment in Fairfax County history.”
“These projects don’t happen by accident,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay. It takes a dedicated effort by the board, county staff, and developers to make these types of multimodal projects happen in mature, built-up areas.
“Fairfax County desperately needs housing,” McKay said. “If we’re going to attract a workforce and build a strong local economy, we have to have a housing supply, and we have to have it in a place where people want to live.”
“When you hear from young people, they want to live in places that are vibrant,” he said. “They want to live in places where there’s a mix of cultures, where there are modern conveniences, and that are walkable.”
Am I the only one who doesn’t understand how adding more housing to an already densely populated area is quote “revitalizing”? Annandale has a lot of character. No one had any issues with the block or other tenants. Can the local schools handle more housing? My translation of this is rich developers making deals where the community gets tax incentives. I do think the tax incentives will bring more money to Annandale but I don’t think anyone asked for this. Annandale has done a lot of great things such as focusing on the arts and parks. We should continue on that trend and not build more housing.
Character? You mean from the 50s? So your solution is to do nothing because there are unanswered problems to be resolved? We need housing as many of the people who work in Annandale can’t afford to live here. I’m glad we’re finally moving into the modern era with this project and look forward to the next one. That strip mall has become a focal point of Annandale and will continue to draw people. Adding housing will only make it better.
Hi Mark,
From reading the comments, it seems like there are two schools of thought here. One group thinks it is simple supply and demand. They think more housing will lower costs. The other group thinks this area is already too congested and this will make it worse.
I don’t typically get in debates on articles but I am actually very curious if you can elaborate on your position.
Here are my thoughts. If you look at neighboring areas that have done this such as city of falls church or the merrifield area, the apartments are priced at a price point that will push out annandale residents. The average income in Annandale is lower then these neighboring areas. Annandale is not near public transit so it is possible that the price point will be lower but these developers create high end apartments with a lot of amenities and charge a fair market price. I lived in NY for a year where there is tons of housing and the cost just keeps going up.
i am not a fan of the vape shops or loan stores in Annandale but the uptick in small coffee shops and local korean resturaunts makes Annandale a destination. I don’t want corporate businesses who can afford the rent to be tenants in an over=priced entertainment district. I want small local business and green space. I think we can modernize and address the cost of living in other ways. I agree with some of what your saying but I really don’t think additional housing is going to accomplish what you think. Do you have examples that lead you to believe I am wrong about this?
And you think this new housing will be at all afforable? come on.
You are.
The owners of this shopping center proposed a mixed used development about 20 years ago (think Mosaic District but much smaller). This project was rejected while others including in Bailey’s Crossroads were approved but didn’t come to fruition.
The block (and I suspect the KMarket grocery market) was a consolation prize.
This development, if it went through 20 years ago, might have caused other properties to be redeveloped, spurring ‘revitalization.’ What Annandale got instead was a vape shop, loan max, and other such businesses that almost no one would want to frequent. How often do you visit such businesses?
Couldn’t agree more. Where are the services that should come with more residents? Not seeing that happen. This county government is not a city government but they continue to create urban environments when they are not equipped to deal with all the consequences. Not to mention roads they don’t control, ugh… and this Board of Supervisors is the most power hungry group industry owned group I’ve seen since I’ve lived in Fairfax County. They hate those pesky citizens that speak up at meetings.
Annandale has been stuck in 1971, and it’s way past time to catapult the area into the mid 21st century. New, mixed use dense development is a good thing. This it’s been the most antiquated, bleak, and rundown area of Virginia inside the Beltway, and I am glad that is finally venting. Now, work on new, mixed use developments along Little River down to the new Landmark project.
I also do not understand the huge push for more housing. More housing means more people, which means a higher strain on utilities, schools, police, fire, and EMS. And, let’s not overlook the increased traffic. How can the county pay for all these increased demands? By raising taxes and cramming in more people, which just continues the cycle.
The people already live here, in overcrowded single-family houses and townhomes and apartments. Housing is incredibly expensive and is just going to go up. Additionally in the last two weeks I have met two people who commute to this area from West Virginia every day. The only way to bring down prices even a bit is to increase the supply. A study a couple of years ago estimated the need for 200,000 t0 300,000 more units in the next decade. This is what new units look like. We are in an urban area.
There is no need to champion tearing down existing retail and replacing it with soulless apartment buildings. This is a troubling trend.
What a spin article, no residents are excited about this. Previous articles promised the current retail tenants would be included in future plans for redevelopment and now the developer is not considering any of them, which I am sure was his plan all along. Fairfax County lost 60,000 jobs this year due to federal cuts, it’s the lowest workforce level since 1990. There is plenty of available housing in my Annandale neighborhood right now.
I’m a resident, and I am excited and grateful for this modern, mixed use development. More housing is needed, and this is a great project. I will be supporting similar projects that are in the pipeline for Annandale and Lincolnia. Progress is coming!
All about the money. This area is so crowded in , this is just what we needed – more traffic to fill in what’s left of our time after work .
And, no Mass Transit, as Former Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross has mentioned before when looking at a map of the metro system….
The best thing ever to happen to Annandale is the fact that Metrorail never built a subway line out Columbia Pike to downtown Annandale. Thank goodness. Otherwise, Annandale would be like Balston or Courthouse with dozens of high rises, an incredible level of density and traffic, crappy chain restaurants like Cheesecake Factory, and Extremely Expensive Housing. Instead, we have an interesting — though somewhat decrepit — village of diverse restaurants and businesses that would not exist otherwise. And our housing costs are a whole lot better than anywhere in Arlington / Falls Church and areas served by Metro.
This is amazing, I fully support more housing because housing is expensive and not accessible for so many people. It seems like this development will be good for Annandale. People will complain about any change, even if it’s truly needed for the community and the county. I’m sad the Block is gone, but the developer who is doing this development was the one brought in all the great new restaurants and shops there in place of Kmart, and that plaza is great now. So I expect this is actually going to be great thing for the community.
IMO, Kim’s redevelopment “vision” will be a one-off that sits as a housing island in Annandale for a very long time. FFX “need for housing” goals don’t fit well today with an inside-the-Beltway location as it would have 25 yrs ago when residents mostly headed east into DC/Fed employment locations. And these days, as an example today, has anyone timed how long it can take to get from John Marr onto the LRP and eventually hit the Beltway ramps? It’s crazy-slow at more frequent times these days! And notice there’s no mention of this development supporting the affordable housing mantra often heard from BoS talking heads. Stating the obvious here…multi-mode developers do not hit their profitability objectives building “affordable housing”.
I can’t believe the negativity on this post! I am an Annandale Resident and I am fully excited to see development happening in this area. Creating dense retail and living spaces that people can and want to bike and walk around will help to encourage people to get out of their cars and into the community. Revitalizing ugly strip malls can only lead to further improvements in the area.
As a life-long Annandale resident, I would welcome some modernization of the downtown area. But, modest modernization would be fine (particularly retail); and a large increase in density is not a good thing.