Falls Church council presses developer after EDA parcel removed from 7‑story mixed‑use plan

An applicant representative told the Falls Church City Council at a work session that the city’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) withdrew support for including its triangular parcel in a proposed seven‑story mixed‑use development after a year‑and‑a‑half review and three staff reviews, leaving the project team facing a likely redesign.

The removal of the EDA parcel “is a really tough pill to swallow,” the applicant representative said, describing what they called “good faith” conversations with the EDA and city staff and adding that the team submitted a letter of intent and expected further discussion. The representative said the team has tried repeatedly to set up follow‑up meetings with individual EDA members and with EDA leadership but “the city has not helped us set up a meeting with the EDA or facilitated that.”

Why it matters: the triangular EDA parcel is shown in the project concept as the connector between Broad Street and Maple Avenue; council members said the inclusion or removal of that parcel affects the project footprint, the amount of ground‑floor commercial, pedestrian streetscape continuity, and how the adjacent Burke and Herbert property could redevelop.

The applicant described the proposed building as seven stories with a ground floor largely devoted to commercial frontage and cited…