Potomac, Md.-based Foulger-Pratt Development LLC is seeking to rezone a majority of the parcel from business to residential use.
The property is at the intersection of U.S. 1 and Mount Pleasant Drive, next to Todos Supermarket. The parcel was designated for future neighborhood mixed uses in the 2019 North Woodbridge Small Area Plan.
The application says the development will have 240 affordable multifamily units. The site plan indicates it will be 147 one-bedroom and 93 two-bedroom units.
The application details an affordable, “transit-oriented” development to the U.S. 1 corridor within walking distance of the Woodbridge Virginia Railway Express station.
“This proposal envisions transforming an abandoned and blighted shopping center into a vibrant and transit-oriented community,” the application reads.
The property is owned by Stafford-based Jefferson-Marumsco 2 LLC. Foulger-Pratt, which owns numerous residential developments around the region, including Woodbridge Station at 1400 Eisenhower Circle, would purchase the property if the rezoning is approved.
Company representatives could not be immediately reached for comment.
The application was submitted by Stewart PLLC, a Washington-based law firm whose managing partner is former Board of County Supervisors Chair Corey Stewart. Reached by phone, Stewart declined to comment on the proposal.
The application seeks to rezone 7.6 acres from residential to business use, keeping .2 acres at the existing zoning.
The units would be across seven buildings, with a maximum height of 54 feet, and include 354 parking spaces and a 3,000-square-foot clubhouse. The entrance would be off Mount Pleasant Drive.
According to the submission, the developer projects that the 240 units would add a net of 552 new residents to the area and would be financed at least in part using the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, which requires that a portion be rented to residents making no more than a certain percentage of the area median income.
The submission states all 240 units would be considered affordable, but doesn’t specify at which income levels. Prince William County’s median household income is $107,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“The successful redevelopment of a brownfield site like Jefferson Plaza is inordinately difficult and costly, and it will require flexibility on the part of the county,” the submission reads. “It is, for example, economically unfeasible for the applicant to offer offsite improvements or offer cash proffers.”
Sometimes developers provide proffers, or cash payments to the county to offset the impact of projects on public services, such as schools, water quality and fire and rescue.
Board Chair Ann Wheeler and Woodbridge Supervisor Margaret Franklin have advocated for more affordable housing in the county, and the small-area plan calls for increased walkability, density and a mix of affordable and market-rate housing.
Leaders of both the county and the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments have discussed adding housing stock to keep up with job and population growth in the area. County planners are working on a series of transportation projects aimed at improving U.S. 1 for motorists and building better pedestrian connections to the Woodbridge VRE station.
MWCOG has estimated that from 2015 to 2040, employment in the area will increase by over 400%.
The property was most recently valued at $3.64 million. The improvements on the land – the shopping center buildings that currently stand on it – declined in assessed value from $1.57 million in 2005 to just $28,400 in 2021.
“North Woodbridge has been the subject of several studies over the years aimed at redeveloping the area …. In each case, increased development densities and incentivized investment in high-quality housing units were recommended,” the application reads.
County staff are reviewing the application and will eventually present it for a public hearing before the Planning Commission. After the Planning Commission provides a recommendation, the Board of County Supervisors has final say on the proposal.
No public meeting has been scheduled.
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