Lake Fairfax Business Center Heads to Its Final County Vote. What the Plan Asks of the Park Next Door

On Nov. 17, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will vote on whether a mostly empty office park between Sunset Hills Road and Lake Fairfax Park becomes a neighborhood. Coverage of EYA Development's Lake Fairfax Business Center rezoning has focused on the housing count. For anyone who already walks the park, rides the W&OD Trail, or drives Business Center Drive to SkateQuest or Life Time, the more lasting change sits somewhere else. The county staff report behind the plan amendment the Board adopted in August spells out how this land should meet Lake Fairfax Park. It covers which paths should lead in, how unauthorized access along the park boundary should be discouraged, and what the streets between the park and Wiehle-Reston East should look like.

The Planning Commission recommended approval on Oct. 14, and the Board of Supervisors hearing is set for Nov. 17 at 3:30 p.m., according to the Hunter Mill District land use case list and the county's PLUS case record. That gives neighbors about a month to read what is actually on the table.

An Office Park That Emptied Out Next to 476 Acres of Woods

Lake Fairfax Park covers 476 acres and has several hiking and biking trails, according to the Fairfax County Park Authority. The Park Authority's trail map shows segments of the Rails to River Trail and a Chestnut Grove Connector out to the W&OD Trail. The business center sits on the park's southern edge, which makes it a big, quiet block between those trails and the Metro corridor.

For years that block has run on very little activity. FFXnow reported in August that six of the seven office buildings slated for replacement are 100% vacant and the seventh is 40% vacant, with a lease expiring next year. Mark Looney, the Cooley partner representing EYA, called the business park "kind of a ghost town" in that account. Looney traced the decline to the Silver Line. County policy steered office demand toward the tracks, and Fannie Mae, once a major tenant, left for space closer to Metro.

Several neighbors on Business Center Drive stay put no matter what the Board decides. The Life Time Fitness gym, the Homewood Suites hotel, Reston Montessori School and a data center are outside the rezoning. To the east, the single-family homes of Equestrian Park border the site, and EYA has proposed a 50-foot buffer between them and the new development, according to a Reston Association staff review.

What EYA Has Put in Front of the County

EYA is asking to rezone about 49 of the property's 88 acres from industrial use to planned residential mixed use. The proposal has shifted over the summer. The August version described 1,017 homes. By the September Planning Commission hearing, FFXnow reported two options, each with about 22,000 square feet of retail.

The same report puts green space and parks at roughly 20 acres, plus about 4 acres set aside for a future school site. Reston Association's staff review describes the open space as a large community green, 15 pocket parks with seating, trees and trail connections, and a linear park along the residential blocks. The review cites 20.57 acres of open space in one paragraph and 22.74 acres in the next. The review places a clubhouse in the multifamily building, and construction would come in two phases, starting with the land bays closest to Sunset Hills Road.

The Board took the first step on Aug. 25, when it adopted the comprehensive plan amendment that opens the whole property to mixed use, as FFXnow covered at the time. The county's plan amendment page lists that adoption date. The November vote applies that plan to EYA's specific site design.

The Park Edge Is Where the Plan Gets Specific

The plan amendment sets the frame the Board uses to judge the rezoning, and the staff recommendations behind it say more about Lake Fairfax Park than most of what has been written about this project. The staff report for the plan amendment says site design should give priority to this:

"safe and direct pedestrian and bicycle connections to the Lake Fairfax Park Trailhead, the W&OD Trail, and the surrounding neighborhood to the west."

The same passage asks for something that may matter more to longtime park users. It calls for landscaping and vegetative buffers along the park boundary "to discourage entry from unauthorized access points." It also says any closure of those access points, or any new ones, should be coordinated with the Park Authority. The report names no specific paths, but it points toward a park edge that is planted and managed on purpose, with any changes to access worked out with the Park Authority.

The streets that lead to that edge get the same level of detail. Business Center Drive and Wildlife Center Drive would become two-lane streets with a center turn or median lane. They would get on-street parking where it fits and a 10- to 12-foot shared-use path along the north and east sides. Toward the Metro, the report calls for clear, direct walking and biking routes with wayfinding signs and street trees along Sunset Hills Road, Reston Station Boulevard, Wiehle Avenue and Michael Faraday Court.

All of that is staff guidance written for the plan amendment, describing what redevelopment "should" provide. How closely the final site design matches it is the practical question behind the Nov. 17 vote.

Where the Ground-Level Questions Still Sit

Reston Association has been asking about exactly this seam. RA staff's earlier review of the plans praised the amount of park and gathering space. It also flagged weak trail connectivity, missing pedestrian links between land bays and toward Metro, and no connection to Sunset Hills Road.

When Looney and EYA's Angelina Fuller presented to the RA Board of Directors on July 23, directors asked about road connections and pedestrian safety near SkateQuest. They also asked about shared-use paths and bike facilities, traffic, whether the open space was enough, and what the project could mean for RA amenities. According to the meeting minutes, the presenters said RA membership for the new homes had not been finalized. They noted that the value of membership looks different for apartments than for townhouses. The board took no action. For current members, the membership question ties straight to the trails and pools they already share.

The other open question sits at the opposite end of the site. The data center, built in 2001, is about 100 feet from part of the proposed residential area. That is half the 200-foot separation the Board adopted in 2024, which applies only to new data center construction, FFXnow reported. At the September hearing, Planning Commission Chair Phillip Niedzielski-Eichner pressed for noise monitoring that captures constant, low-frequency sound. In the FFXnow account, he said the issue "would be near to anybody who spends time outdoors adjacent to it." The plan amendment staff report already recommends a noise study that targets interior levels below 45 dBA and a landscape buffer between the homes and the data center.

Public testimony so far has leaned supportive. Three people spoke at the September hearing, and FFXnow quoted Renzo Sanio: "We can watch this property continue to sit vacant and decline or we can give it new purpose." The commission deferred its vote to give the applicant time on technical issues raised by staff. Hunter Mill Commissioner Paul Thomas also wanted input from the Reston Planning and Zoning Committee, which met Sept. 28. On Oct. 14, the commission recommended approval of the rezoning and approved the final development plan, according to the meeting agenda.

The Calendar From Here

1. Aug. 25, 2026. The Board adopted plan amendment SSPA 2023-III-9UP, which allows mixed use across the property.
2. Oct. 14, 2026. The Planning Commission recommended approval of the rezoning and approved the final development plan.
3. Nov. 17, 2026, 3:30 p.m. The Board of Supervisors holds its public hearing on RZ-2025-HM-00002.

Anyone who wants to speak can be added to the speakers list through the county's speakers sign-up form or by calling 703-324-3151. The Clerk to the Board accepts testimony in person, in writing, by phone or by video, and its testimony instructions page lists deadlines and speaking time. Questions about upcoming Hunter Mill land use cases can go to the district office at 703-478-5123.

The full case record, including the staff report and the development plans, is posted on PLUS. Lake Fairfax Park users can check the site layout for where trail links meet the park boundary and which street the path along Business Center Drive follows.

If you live near Lake Fairfax Park or the Wiehle corridor and want to talk through what this vote could mean for your street, All Reston Real Estate is glad to sit down with you and the site plan. When you're ready, we can also put together a free home valuation that reflects what's changing on Business Center Drive.