We have been returning to Tysons Tower each month to show the progress occurring on the multi-phase, multi-use, multi-tower project. Each morning nearly 100 construction workers funnel into the massive pit along Route 123 to continue work on the foundations and substructure of the two new towers and the pedestrian plaza platform. It was unclear if both of the towers along Route 123 would be constructed concurrently but with the erecting of a second crane and news this past week that Hyatt will be the managing partner of the 300 unit hotel tower it now is evident that both buildings will be built together.
The concurrent construction has the added benefit of being able to construct much of the pedestrian plaza platform at the same time which reduces much of the logistical constraints of phasing the two buildings separately. It appears that the third building proposed for this development, located within the parking lot across from Neisha Thai and the mall, will remain parking swing space in the near term until atleast one of the buildings is complete.
Across the massive excavation zone for Tysons Tower is the relatively small but important pedestrian bridge and escalator construction for the Tysons Metro station. Without this underlying infrastructure and transportation upgrade the economic viability of redeveloping the previously occupied strip mall would have never made sense (or atleast taken a few more years). This isn’t supposition, it is the reality of the delays that Macerich and the mall had taken since attaining the approval of their rezoning, long before the Tysons comprehensive plan was created.
Today the area looks like a tangled suburban mess, but there is order coming to the madness. We have long been at odds on the benefits and what could have been with Tysons Tower. It was an opportunity to turn a marquee location in Tysons Corner and turn it into something very special, connected with the overall community, and more in tune with the requisites of the new comprehensive plan. That being said, the project is still a vast improvement and will bring huge benefits including new residential units and improved pedestrian connections with the adjacent project, Lerner’s Tysons II.
The project looks like it is on track for delivery in mid to late 2014 but it will come down to mother nature and how smooth the construction goes. We’ll try to check back in to also see how Christmas season around the mid-atlantic’s busiest mall might impact this schedule as well.
