You might have noticed the Best Western on the corner of Westpark and Leesburg Pike has been abandoned and set for demolition if you’ve passed by the neighborhood recently. The reason is Dittmar’s ambitious plans to create a mixed use community and new hotel site with access to Greensboro and Springhill Metro stations.
While the demolition of the current mid-rise Best Western might make for some great photos, it will make for a much better Westpark Drive once complete. The new project proposes a new street grid link which will act as an extension of Solutions Drive (currently named SAIC Drive) and a new cross road (currently named Park Avenue). The name could be a misnomer as it will be a collector and not an Avenue, but let’s not parse words.
This will help reduce the turning movement demands on the intersection of Westpark Drive and Leesburg Pike, which could mean a healthier road section, currently a mess of multi-turn movements that get stuck in Leesburg Pike traffic anyways. It also includes a new plaza at the intersection as well as pedestrian friendly walkway improvements up to the intersection of future Park Avenue. An internal trail and walk system will dual function as emergency egress, but be masked as a pedestrian and community friendly park which includes a multi-purpose field and amphitheater.
The project stats may not be as impressive as larger rezonings, with only 3 towers maxing out at no more than 270′, but what it lacks in build out it makes up for with infill improvement. It will also mark the first mid-rise building that will be demolished in order to provide a high rise in Tysons, a big economic signal into the viability of projects in town.
It’s going to be a while until this project likely begins, and even longer until it finishes, but with an abandoned current property, developers will be keen to recoup lost revenue sooner rather than later. We’ll keep an eye on it and see if we can’t grab a few shots of the old building coming down.
All renderings are from Westpark Plaza CDP by MTFA Architecture, Inc.