news from Supervisor McKay, July 14th

When I was growing up in Lee District, Springfield Mall was a vibrant and modern retail center with stores like Garfinkels and W. Bell Company.  Times changed; other malls were developed and redeveloped, yet Springfield Mall’s 80 acres of stores and restaurants remained fixed in time with an absentee owner who saw no reason to invest in his property.  The results were all too obvious – B – list retailers, questionable security, and customers who preferred to shop at Tysons, Pentagon City, and anywhere that wasn’t Springfield Mall.  A few years ago Vornado Realty Trust, one of the country’s largest owners of retail and office property purchased the mall, intending to rebuild it as a smart growth, mixed-use development with retail, office, and residential. 

For years, the community has asked that something be done about the state of the Mall and with today’s rezoning, the community will see its wish fulfilled. This project includes a number of community amenities including a grocery store, dog park, tot lot, athletic courts, fitness center, and state-of-the-art movie theater.  A number of other community investments that are part of this case include construction of an artificial turf field for Lee High School, a substantial contribution to the Lee District Rec Center, $4 million toward the Springfield Regional Road Fund, improved access to Metro from the Mall (estimated at about $2.6 million a year, and $200,000 a year for five years to enhance Springfield’s TAGS circulator bus system.

The rezoning approved on Monday, July 13th by the Board of Supervisors on a 10-0 vote includes significant office space—especially desirable in these tough economic times. The most exciting part of this project is that in addition to the office and residential mix there will be a fully renovated 2.1 million square foot mall. 

This project is much more than a simple mall upgrade. This rezoning has the potential to change the image of Springfield, showcasing it as a regional center for business and shopping.  It transforms the mall into an amenity for our community—one long overdue and welcome.