Peterson Companies Plans Big Office-to-Resi Conversion in Fairfax, Va.

The Peterson Companies wants to replace a 1980s suburban office park in Fairfax, Va., with 1.2 million square feet of mixed-use residential.

The company filed plans Thursday for a zoning change that would make way for Fairfax Crossing — a project that is set to add 706 apartments and townhomes, 20,000 square feet of retail, and an expansion of an existing special education facility. News of the filing was first reported in the Business Journals.

The plan calls for one building with up to 280 market-rate units and another building with 140 units that would be designated as affordable, with rents limited to households earning 60 percent of the area’s median income. Another 286 four-story townhomes would rise at the northern portion of the project.

The site includes three parcels with about 22 acres total at 11200-11204 and 3949 Pender Drive. Peterson acquired two of the parcels — which make up most of the site — for $36.3 million two years ago. It’s home to Fair Oaks Business Park, which includes 11 low-rise offices with about 331,000 square feet completed in the 1980s. Inova Health Care Services owns the third parcel for its Kellar School for children with emotional and learning disabilities.

The rise of remote work following the pandemic made older offices prime targets for such conversion developments. Earlier this week, Fairfax County lawmakers approved a rezoning plan to allow Cityline Partners to build a 23-story apartment building with up to 240 units, instead of a previously planned 13-story office, in Tysons’ Arbor Row. 

Gregory Cornfield can be reached at gcornfield@commercialobserver.com.