Capital One’s Tysons redevelopment needs more housing

Capital One Bank plans to expand its Tysons Corner campus from two to 14 buildings within the next two decades. Bringing taller buildings with more residential apartments into the mix would make the new center a positive contributor to Tyson’s transformation into a walkable urban center.

Mitre and LCOR’s Tysons development plans, which I covered previously, pale in comparison to the proposals submitted by Capital One and Cityline. Sitting across Route 123 from each other, both plans are very large and very ambitious.

Immediately adjacent to the new Tysons East Metro station on the under-construction Silver Line, the Capital One site sits in one of the most prime areas of Tysons Corner for redevelopment. Capital One’s proposal certainly conforms to the new Tysons Corner master plan, which allows sites within a quarter mile of Metro stops to be built in a high-density fashion. Nevertheless, the plan put forth by Capital One has a major shortcoming in its lack of a significant residential component, which will be crucial for transforming Tysons Corner into a true urban center.

As proposed, Capital One’s 12 additional buildings would comprise roughly five million square feet of new development. The plan breaks construction down into five phases, with the first phase including two buildings. The eventual build-out of the plan would see Capital One’s site host a variety of buildings, ranging from mid-rise residential to a (relatively) iconic commercial structure rising to 427 ft.

Urbanists should be happy with the overall scope of Capital One’s plan. While there is an extensive amount of new parking included (3,953 spaces), Capital One has made a great effort to opt for both underground and discreet parking, ensuring street-front retail takes precedence. Garages in the plan are concealed behind buildings or under them, making the plan very walkable. Nevertheless, the traffic Capital One’s expansion would generate would add to Route 123’s already significant burden, though the site’s proximity to both the Beltway and Interstate 66 helps.

While Capital One’s ambitious plan should be applauded for conforming to the proposed guidelines for Tysons Corner as an urban center, the proposal’s lack of a strong residential component is a key factor mitigating the project’s potential to be a major positive influence. In its statement of justification, Capital One notes that its “proposed mix of uses mirrors [the Tysons Corner Comprehensive Plan’s] recommendations of office uses up to 65% with a minimum residential component of 20%,” stating that its own plan contains 25% residential and 65% office.

There’s no way around the fact that more office space is coming to Tysons, but only the significant addition of residential space there will make a dent in the traffic that cripples the area. Instead of being forced to give up office space for residential, Capital One should be allowed and encouraged to develop as much residential as possible on top of its existing plans, as long as the new housing units come with very limited additional parking space.

Height restrictions on Tysons residential towers should be lifted, and buildings above a certain height should be required to include a certain percentage of residential. This would encourage buildings with bases of office or hotel with the upper levels containing residential, as this kind of mix of uses is one of the most effective ways to make an area walkable.

Encouraging higher residential buildings in Tysons would also satiate the demand for views. Tysons Corner’s location at a relatively high elevation for the region means that adding just 200 or 300 feet to residential buildings could offer residents prime views of DC. Even from the top of the five-story parking garages in Tysons Corner Center, one can make out the National Cathedral.

The proposed Capital One Center is commendable for the extremely efficient use it makes of the land the bank has to work with. Just add some more housing space to allow more of Tysons’ growing workforce to live near their jobs, and the project should do wonders in remaking Tysons Corner into a true city.