Fairfax County planners present Hilltop Village plan amendment to swap approved office for 280-unit apartment building amid neighborhood pushback

Fairfax County planning staff on a virtual outreach meeting outlined a proposal to change the Hilltop Village comprehensive-plan designation so an approved 96,000-square-foot office building could instead be redeveloped as a 280-unit multifamily building with an associated parking garage and upgraded plaza space.

Michael Wing, a planner with the Department of Planning and Development, told residents the Board of Supervisors authorized review of the amendment “for the development of up to 280 multifamily units on the site,” and that the project is at an early planning stage with a staff report and public hearings expected after the August recess.

Wing described the site at the intersection of Beulah and Telegraph roads, noted its history of sand-and-gravel extraction and a decommissioned landfill now being converted to recreational fields, and listed the primary issues staff is evaluating: coordination with Fort Belvoir security needs, parking garage and façade design, and on-site urban park and open-space requirements.

Agency feedback summarized by staff included infrastructure and technical findings: water and sanitary mains serving the site were described as sufficient for the proposed development; stormwater management would be negotiated at zoning; and environmental reviewers recommended green-building measures and some EV-charging capacity. Housing and Community Development indicated support for additional housing and recommended the developer work with HCD to include affordable units toward the countywide goal of 10,000 new affordable units by 2034.

On parks, staff said the Fairfax County Park Authority’s analysis shows the development would generate a need for about 0.97 acres of urban park space and that the concept proposes roughly 0.71 acres of upgraded plaza area with additional on-site improvements to meet urban-park standards.

Fairfax County Public Schools’ memo, read by staff, estimated that the 280-unit building would yield about 30 new students: “8 high school students, 5 middle school students, and 17 elementary school students.” FCPS noted a slight high-school capacity deficit in its CIP projections while middle and elementary capacity was described as sufficient in current projections.

Tom Burke, senior transportation planner with Fairfax County Department of Transportation, said staff compared trip generation for the approved office use and the proposed residential use and found fewer total daily trips and “a more of a substantial reduction in AM and PM peak hour trips,” placing the project in a tier-1 transportation review (below VDOT thresholds that would require a full transportation impact analysis). Burke emphasized pedestrian comfort, off-road multiuse paths and improved crosswalks as mitigation priorities.

Neighborhood speakers at the outreach session repeatedly raised concerns about vehicle congestion, parking sufficiency, building height and compatibility with the surrounding low-rise suburban neighborhood. Resident Bill Hanner said he was “extremely skeptical of the viability of the proposal,” and others said a five-story building would be out of scale and likely to pressure on-street and retail parking.

Abby Oklak, director of development for Kimco Realty (the owner/manager of Hilltop Village Center), provided a concept overview intended to respond to community concerns: a four- to five-story massing with stepped heights, increased setbacks and additional open space; she said the preliminary parking concept includes a 478-space garage (about 1.5 spaces per unit under the current unit mix estimate) and that architectural details would be refined in later design reviews. Oklak said the ownership has consulted Fort Belvoir on façade solutions that avoid operational overlooks.

Staff stressed that this is the beginning of a multi-stage process: the county will finalize analysis, draft recommended plan-language changes, and publish a staff report ahead of public hearings. Participants were told there will be additional opportunities to submit written comments and that the meeting recording and materials will be posted to the county website.

Next steps: staff said a formal staff report and recommended plan language will be prepared and that public hearings on the plan amendment are anticipated after the August recess.