Last month the county Planning Commission recommended approval of the change to the Capital One development plan that will provide yet another office tower to the scaffold-covered mixed-use center. The application garnered the support of county staff and local civic groups, and the Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing tomorrow, July 14 to make the final decision. This modification of the site is just one of many in a decades-long series of changes to the design of the upcoming neighborhood.
A development twenty years in the making
The Capital One Center began as a single headquarters building that was completed in 2002 on newly-cleared land. At that time, it was the only high-rise office building in Tysons east of the beltway. Prior to its construction, the land bay was occupied by a 70’s-era industrial park, and before that, historic Maplewood Mansion. Fairfax County first reviewed and approved the Capital One development back in late 2000, at which point the site plan was much different.
As depicted in the 2000 application, the Capital One office complex was initially intended to take the form of a corporate office park with mid-rise office buildings and accompanying parking structures, to be built in phases. Although it was certainly suburban in nature, it continued the trend of increasingly dense office parks built in Tysons near the end of the twentieth century—featuring six-to-twelve story buildings intermingled with above-ground garages and spacious lawns. The plan was designed with the anticipated arrival of the Silver Line metro station in mind, and a planned central pedestrian path would connect the buildings to the metro entrance. The first phase (consisting of the M1 headquarters building and parking structure) was constructed and finished in 2002, along with an attached conference center. However, none of the subsequent phases were constructed. Instead, the remainder of the land bay was occupied by park space and athletic fields through the completion and opening of the McLean metro station.
In 2010, Capital One sought to rezone the property in accordance with the then-new Comprehensive Plan Amendment (Tysons Plan). This amendment turned out to be a watershed moment for Tysons, as county planners presented a transformative vision of intense urban development centered around the Silver Line stations, to replace the industrial and office parks, strip malls, and car dealerships that had been the identity of Tysons Corner for a generation. Capital One had fortuitously built only a single headquarters building on prime metro-fronting land, and was in position to capitalize on the 20 acres of undeveloped property.
Making the leap from suburban to urban
The rezoning request was refined over the next two years, eventually resulting in a plan that significantly altered the proposed layout of the headquarters campus. Replacing the three approved but never-built office buildings would be a mixed-use neighborhood with three times the office space, a thousand new residential units, hotels, and retail, all interspersed with public parks and plazas. The twelve new buildings would range in height from just under 150 feet to over 400 feet tall, giving the area between the beltway and the Metro a decidedly urban feel not seen before in Tysons. These buildings were to be constructed sequentially in five new blocks labeled with the letters “A” to “E,” arranged in a clockwise fashion.
The rezoning gained county approval in 2012, along with a finalized plan for what Capital One hoped to develop next: the piece of land labeled “Block A.” This block was conceived as an expansion to the Capital One headquarters, consisting of an office tower 316 feet in height and a corporate hotel 9 stories tall, connected by a parking podium.
Other highlights from the rezoning include a civic plaza in Block B, three residential towers surrounding a public green in Block C, and a north entrance to the metro station in Block D. Block E was to contain the largest building, with over 700,000 square feet and 427 feet tall.
Establishing a landmark headquarters building
Development on Block A did not begin as planned. Subsequent to the rezoning approval, Capital One decided that it needed a larger amount of office space more quickly than the Block A plan could provide, and in 2013 submitted a new plan to develop Block B first instead. The plan contained some significant changes which resulted in what is seen today: the company’s iconic headquarters tower. The new plan, which was approved the next year, transferred much of the office space from Block E to Blocks A and B, accommodating the need for expanded office space on an earlier timeline.
With the new plan approved, construction on Block B commenced right away. The site was previously planned with two office buildings, and now has only one with over 900,000 square feet of office space. The planned hotel (subject of tomorrow’s public hearing) would remain. The planned civic plaza was replaced with a small public park in front of the existing conference center. A community center that was discussed to be included in Block B was moved to the future Block E. Capital One proffered to construct a temporary building there until whatever year it got around to developing the office buildings on that block.
From a visual perspective, the biggest change with this plan would be the establishment of the new headquarters tower and the corresponding reduction of height from the office buildings in Block E. As of 2020, the Capital One M2 tower is the tallest occupied building in the Washington metropolitan area, and there are no buildings currently under construction that will challenge that title. But the neighborhood’s evolution did not stop there. In 2015, a deal was reached with Wegmans to bring one of its popular supermarkets to Block C. Later that year, Capital One submitted yet another modification to the plans for the development, which the Board of Supervisors approved in 2017.
The current approved development plan
In addition to the Wegmans, a performing arts venue will take up most of the area of Block C. Consequently, the three residential buildings and public park planned for the block were moved to be on top of the newly approved amenities. The result is a sky park ten stories above ground level, named “The Perch.” Capital One Hall, the performing arts venue, will fulfill the County’s requirement for a community center, which will no longer be constructed on Block E.
Block A was also modified to remove the hotel (which is instead being built atop the sky park), and in its place a much larger, 31-story, third headquarters building (M3) is under construction there, although not quite as large as the M2 building. Ground broke in early 2019, and the 410 foot tall building is expected to deliver around 2023.
Blocks C and A can be seen under construction on the left. 
Capital One Hall will include a 1,500 seat auditorium, classrooms, and 300 seat black box theater. 
The iconic Capital One M2 Headquarters building towers over the Washington Beltway 
The next Capital One office building will include ground-floor retail and a second floor fitness center. 
Capital One Center’s skypark has been dubbed “The Perch” and the branding is already visible on the facade. 
The Wegmans grocery store will open fall 2020. The floors directly above are associated with the hotel.
Construction of the 470 foot tall M2 headquarters building was completed in 2018. That same year, Capital One started working on Block C. The Wegmans store is expected to open this Fall, with the performance hall and sky park coming in 2021. The hotel tower on that block should be finished around the same time. Two residential towers are planned to be built on top of the park sometime in the future.
More change coming in the future
Tomorrow, the Board of Supervisors will vote on an application that Capital One submitted in January to replace the planned hotel building on Block B with another highrise office tower. The stated justification is that the company is experiencing a higher demand for office space at the campus. Additionally, the tower under construction above the Wegmans—which in the conceptual plan could have been designated as either hotel or apartments—will be used as a hotel, which negates the need for another hotel at this phase of the development. In the near term, the neighboring Archer Hotel coming soon will also fill that need.
Overall, the acceleration of office construction at such a close proximity—less than a quarter mile—to the McLean Metro station should be a net positive for the county and for Tysons. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, ridership on the Silver Line stations in Tysons and Reston has been trending upwards, and the additional employment opportunities within such a short distance of the Metro can only help as things slowly come back online in the next year.
The plans for this neighborhood have gone through incredible changes over the last twenty years, and 2020’s application will not be the last, considering two more blocks have yet to be finalized. It is very encouraging to see one of the county’s top employers prioritize placemaking with the addition of Wegmans and a world-class performing arts venue. This looks like a smart move that could solidify Capital One Center’s place as the core of Tysons East as infill development commences in the surrounding blocks. The development is becoming the prime example of how the Tysons Plan is transforming the prototypical edge city from sprawling suburb to the county’s tightly-knit urban core. The total planned square feet for the 29 acres of land has increased from 1.1 million to 5.2 million, which when expressed as Floor Area Ratio is a change from 0.86 FAR to 4.1 FAR. This represents a tremendous increase in density that should hopefully result in the type of walkable, transit-friendly community that planners envisioned would ultimately be built here.