Business & Tech

Renovation of University Mall in the Works

Application would add to old buildings and build new buildings in addition to bringing a different feel to the center.

A popular shopping center along Braddock Road may be getting a long overdue renovation soon.

The proposed renovation of University Mall Shopping Center would include an expansion to existing buildings, renovation of a courtyard, and the addition of three buildings. A building in the corner of University Mall currently holding a financial institution would be demolished to make way for changes and expansions to the notoriously heavily trafficked Braddock Road and Route 123 intersection.

“The applicant is extremely excited to start this very much needed renovation in the shopping center,” Keith Martin, a lawyer representing Geo. H. Rucker Realty, said. “The mall is very dated but remains extremely popular.”

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Martin said that the company had been working on the application and the plans for renovation with neighbors, the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and Fairfax County for almost three years.

“If anything needs sprucing up and renovating, it’s that shopping center,” Braddock District planning commissioner Suzanne Harsel said. “It was state of the art in ‘72.”

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Under the application’s current plan, the shopping center would see a renovated Giant, a new bank and fast food restaurant, a new office building, two story additions to some existing parts, and even an elevator tower to the second floor of the center.

For the application to become a reality, the plans would have to be approved by all 10 stakeholders in a covenant, some of whom were present at the event. Harsel said that for the application to get site plan approval, the county attorney must be satisfied that the covenant in the plan is taken care of.

Nearby residents expressed support for the plan in general but concern about several portions of it.

“Who can argue with a 20 to 30 million dollar renovation of a shopping center nearby?” said Vice President Cliff Keenan of the nearby Country Club View Civic Association. “We certainly cannot. Many of the citizens who continue to shop at University Mall are very very excited.”

Keenan did list several concerns of residents, including whether people would cut through a local street to get to the mall, whether the number of parking spaces and trash receptacles would be increased, and how stormwater runoff would be affected. He also said that communication between residents and the company going through the application process has been sporadic, with some years in between conversations.

Several residents mentioned their concerns over the plan to construct four “subtly lit” accent towers in the shopping center.

“Why do they need towers?” Keenan said. “These are going to be things that are going to be observational from our neighborhood. And all we’re asking for is the opportunity to talk.”

Martin said that he thought the company was very forthright in their plans but were willing to work more with residents.

“We’re happy to sit down with them; we’re open to suggestions,” Martin said. “I haven’t heard one issue that we can’t answer right away. If the answer isn’t acceptable, we’re willing to roll up our sleeves and determine what is acceptable to each of them.”

Harsel and other planning commission members expressed concern that there seemed to be a disconnect between residents and the applicants. The commission deferred a recommendation on the plan until April, with hopes that the company would work out some of the issues with the community.


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