Silver Line Positives Continue to Boost Lifestyles and Economy

Airport Authority, WMATA focusing on final testing and safety as Phase 2 moves closer to opening

As the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Silver Line team works with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), the future operator of Silver Line Phase 2, to prepare for passenger service between the Wiehle-Reston Metrorail Station and eastern Loudoun County, news of ongoing positive economic and lifestyle changes continue along the alignment.

There are now many mixed-use transit oriented developments, such as The Boro and Capitol One campus in Tysons and Comstock’s Reston Station complex in Reston, where people can live, work and play with easy access to the new Metro service. There are multiple tall condo and apartment structures. Affordable housing developments are coming.

Quality of life improvements flourish. People are walking, and walking their dogs. Soccer games are being played. Dining options are expanding. The new transit service is even prompting some people to give up their cars. More and more folks are enjoying live stage performances at Capital One Hall and on the plaza at Tysons Corner. Everybody is looking around to see the changes that have come — and keep coming — because of the Silver Line.

Here’s a look at a few of the latest plans for change in the corridor:

Capital One Headquarters

Capital One Headquarters along Route 123 near the McLean Station continues to blossom. It is already attracting folks to The Perch, in the skypark atop the Capital One Hall Center, which provides top-notch live entertainment, and of course Wegmans grocery, whose owners have asked Fairfax County to approve plans to include a direct connection to the McLean Metrorail Station and create a public urban park and a temporary retail building on Scotts Crossing Road.

Tysons Central

Calling it the ”Gateway to the Tysons of Tomorrow,” Foulger-Pratt and USAA Real Estate are creating Tysons Central, a complex of retail and office space across from the Greensboro Metrorail Station.

Using unusual architecture, the design features virtually-column-free floor plates, multiple terraces and stunning views.

It’s in the heart of residential, office and retail properties between Route 123 and Westpark Drive.

It’s being built by Clark Construction, which announced recently that it is leasing half of a 12-story building on Westpark Drive, also in Tysons. Clark has also built The Boro and Reston Town Center’s latest expansion, which happens to be close to the Phase 2 Reston Town Center Metrorail Station.

This signature office tower includes 369,556 sf of trophy-class office space and 8,650 sf of on-site retail – all at the doorstep of the Greensboro Metro Station. Photo by Quentin Penn-Hollar.

Tysons Central: Foulger-Pratt is the developer Tysons Central on the north side of Leesburg Pike near the Greensboro Metrorail Station at the heart of ongoing transformation of this area. Striking architecture is a highlight of this structure which includes a penthouse area with stunning views. Photos by Clark Construction.

Hilton Worldwide

Hilton Worldwide, a global hospitality company with more than 1.1 million hotel rooms in its portfolio, recently announced plans to keep its global headquarters in Tysons and “significantly “ upgrade its current Jones Branch Drive location. Hilton also plans to add another 350 to its current 800 team members.

The deal was announced in early August by Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin. Hilton located its headquarters in Tysons, next door to its local hotel in 2009.

Since then, Providence District Supervisor Dalia Palchick said that move “helped spur the transformation of Tysons into a vibrant urban community.”

Comstock at Loudoun Station

In the Reston Station development at Wiehle Avenue Metrorail Station—already home to Google, ICF, Rolls Royce, Founding Fathers and a host of others and soon to be home to a JW Marriott hotel—Comstock Holdings announced a 2024 opening for VIDA Fitness facility in the first building set to open in its Reston Row District. It will include a penthouse pool club with views of the Reston and Tysons skylines. A VIDA executive said Comstock is creating a world-class urban environment.

Comstock has been the major player at the end-of-the-line station for Phase 1 and already owns Loudoun Station development at the end-of-the-line station for Phase 2 in Ashburn. At build-out it will include 250,000 square feet of retail, and over 2 million square feet of office space and 1,500 residences.

And, Herndon officials are taking a major step to improve access to the Phase 2 Herndon Metrorail Station by funding an asphalt trail that will run from Worldgate Drive to the station entrance and pavilion. Surely a bonus for pedestrians and bicyclists!