Mixing Up New Plan for Springfield
Retail, Residential Hub Envisioned

By Alec MacGillis
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 28, 2006

Achieving a sense of place would seem an impossible task in an area best known for a highway interchange so gigantic and soul-defeating that it has a name all its own.

But that is what is being attempted in the shadow of the Mixing Bowl, where developers and local officials are seeking to transform Springfield from a dreary hodgepodge of motels, fast-food joints and discount stores into a vibrant hub for southern Fairfax County.

A developer is planning a high-rise mix of apartments, offices, shops and a hotel hard by Interstate 95. The new owner of the timeworn Springfield Mall is proposing an overhaul that would add homes and offices to the sprawling site. And the Army is considering underused land nearby as the new home for thousands of well-paying jobs.

If the plans are realized, Springfield could become the region's latest example of an unremarkable suburban crossroads being converted into a miniature city, joining Silver Spring, Bethesda, Tysons Corner and other places where high-rise residences mix with offices, shops and restaurants near the Capital Beltway and the Metro.

Nowhere, perhaps, is this "build up, not out" vision as ambitious as in Springfield, where the convergence of a half-dozen major roads and highways has long undermined coherent planning and any sense of identity. Until recently, the closest the area had to a gateway landmark was a giant inflatable sheep advertising a mattress store that has since closed.

But Springfield leaders hope that the area's location near so many highways, as well as a transit station, could be turned to its advantage at a time when commuters are looking to shorten their trips. The time is right, the leaders say, considering that work is almost complete on the eight-year, $676 million project to untangle the Mixing Bowl, the juncture of three interstates -- 95, 395 and 495 -- just north of central Springfield. In addition, the military is to relocate thousands of uniformed and civilian personnel to southern Fairfax in the next decade.

"For years, people ended up in Springfield not because they called it home but because they got lost and took the wrong ramp," said Supervisor T. Dana Kauffman (D-Lee), who represents the area. "Folks finally realize that this is your version of the classic 19th-century place where the railroads come together. It's a transportation hub. Folks have suddenly realized it can be a destination unto itself."

The centerpiece of the desired transformation is "Midtown Springfield," a proposal by the developer KSI for nine acres now occupied by a motel, discount wine store, near-vacant office tower, veterinary clinic and two restaurants.

The proposal, which is to go before county supervisors in September, calls for three towers of 21 to 25 stories with 800 apartments and condominiums, a 160-room hotel, 40,000 square feet of offices and up to 100,000 square feet of retail space, all surrounding a central public plaza and gallery or auditorium. Parking garages and landscaping would buffer the buildings from I-95 and the huge flyover ramp that looms behind the site.

Greg Riegle, a lawyer representing KSI, said the developers recognize the challenge of drawing residents and shoppers to an area that will at least initially be marooned among less appealing buildings. He said they are confident that more redevelopment would follow.

"For decades, the community has articulated a desire to see Springfield function more as a traditional town with a mix of uses . . . that gives you reason to be there," he said. "We think the project will redefine the market."

To the extent that Springfield has had an anchor, it has been the big mall. Once a popular draw, it has become saddled with a reputation as a hangout for unruly teenagers and has lost shoppers from the relatively affluent neighborhoods surrounding it to Tysons Corner and Pentagon City.

Late last year, though, the mall was bought by Vornado Realty Trust, a New Jersey-based retail giant with grand plans to remake the 80-acre site. This summer, the county will consider a proposal for adding a hotel, housing and offices on the mall's vast parking lots. Vornado is planning to keep the existing structure but turn it "inside out" by adding outward-facing stores, including a grocery store.

Shoppers at the mall cheered word of an overhaul. Kate Lluberes , who was at the mall on a recent weekday only for an eye appointment, said she usually shops elsewhere even though she lives close by. "A lot of riffraff hang out here," she said. "No offense, but my husband and I went to a movie here one night and he looked around and said, 'Our kids are never working here.' "

Further fueling local optimism is the likelihood that, as part of the military base realignment process announced last year, at least one major agency will be moved to the Fort Belvoir Engineer Proving Ground, an 800-acre, mostly wooded former test site that now sits vacant.

Consultants are scheduled to provide their recommendations on the Fort Belvoir realignment next month, but Kauffman said a leading candidate to be placed at the proving ground is the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which would bring with it about 8,000 employees and civilian contractors from its current home in Bethesda.

Plenty of hurdles remain for the area, including the limited access to the Metro and commuter rail station, which sits off on the far side of the Franconia-Springfield Parkway, farther from the planned development than is the case in most other urbanizing D.C. suburbs. Residents at the KSI site would rely on shuttle buses to get to Metro. The mall is closer to the station, but it's an unpleasant walk that requires going through the station parking garage and then hurrying across several busy lanes of traffic.

Much of the land near the station is occupied by a million-square-foot federal government warehouse -- a profound waste of space, county officials say, given that the 70 acres could hold 2,000 housing units. They are urging the federal government to sell the site to developers interested in building offices and housing there, but the asking price has been too steep.

Other challenges were spelled out Friday by a nationwide panel of developers and planners from the Urban Land Institute, which is studying the area at the county's request. Daniel Brents, a planner from Houston, said bluntly that Springfield is "not a place," because it has "no boundaries," "no history or authenticity," "no meaningful skyline," "no natural amenities" and is a "civic vacuum" with "a freeway identity" and "architectural disharmony."

The panel suggested creating two distinct areas on either side of I-95 rather than trying to overcome the highway's division to create a unified whole. On the west side, where the KSI project would be, there should be a village center look, complete with a town green and plentiful restaurants, panel members said. On the east side, they suggested adding a civic center-type building near the mall to create a large-scale regional hub for all southern Fairfax.

"You need to have a place that you can take a postcard of and say: 'This is Springfield. This is where I've been,' " Brents said. As some in the audience chuckled, he added, "And it doesn't have to be the Spanish Steps."