Urban Atlantic Named Virginia Village Developer

Evaluation Committee’s recommendation

Following a closed session during its September 14, 2026, action meeting, the City Council accepted the Virginia Village Proposals Evaluation Committee (VVPEC) recommendation that Urban Atlantic Development be selected to expand affordable housing at the site. [For background on the bids in response to the City’s request for proposals, see the Pulse post Three Bidders Vie for Virginia Village Redevelopment, August 18, 2026, and the post that precedes it at the same link, City Receives Virginia Village Proposals, Launches Evaluation Committee, August 12, 2026.]

The Council voted 7-0 to proceed with Urban Atlantic’s alternative plan to redevelop the 1940s quadplexes owned by the City’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) [shown in green below, with the concept above incorporating 300 Shirley Street as well]. The development team said in its executive summary previously published on the City’s Virginia Village website that this alternative “works within existing boundaries of EDA-owned parcels, resulting in less affordable housing within Virginia Village” than the nearly 200 units they said they could deliver in six years through their recommended plan of “strategic land swaps and site acquisition.”

Urban Atlantic did not specify in its executive summary, and the City has not yet made public the precise number of affordable dwellings the selected alternative plan will deliver, although the team said its preferred 200-unit option would provide 45% more affordable housing.

This and other details may be forthcoming in the interim agreement that City staff and the development team will now formulate for the Council’s review and approval at its work session on September 22 and action meeting on September 28, respectively. That agreement will cover “early phases of design, site due diligence, and financial feasibility.”

A comprehensive agreement authorizing actual construction of an approved project, its operation and long-term maintenance, and its financing will be developed by early 2027, according to Community Planning Director Matt Mattauszek.

Draft drawing

A draft alternative visual concept posted on the City website on September 16 and shown above suggests there will be a five-story building next to the neighboring Tax Analysts building, a six-story building abutting Big Chimneys Park and Lucky Strike bowling alleys, and 10 market-rate townhomes—five on Shirley Street and five on Gibson Street. This drawing, however, carries with it the caution that it is “for illustrative purposes only” and will be refined as the project process advances.

Ten privately-owned quadplexes in the center of the site would remain in place but would be subject to special Virginia Village zoning still under consideration by the City Council. Mr. Mattauszek said during the Council’s August 31, 2026, meeting that a new third first reading of the proposed Virginia Village Overlay District may be needed, depending on the selected development proposal. [See Pulse post Virginia Village Developer Selection Delayed Until September 14; Citizens Criticize Lack of Proposal Diagrams, September 7, 2026.]

99-year ground lease and real estate tax abatement

Urban Atlantic maintains in its executive summary that both its alternative plan and more expansive proposal “are financially viable,” although “our Recommended Plan delivers more affordable housing, more community amenities, and is able to leverage an additional $4 million dollars of state-provided financial support, thereby increasing financial feasibility.”

In either case, the development team said they would not require “additional financial commitments from the City of Falls Church beyond contributing its existing land to a 99-year ground lease and granting a real estate tax abatement to facilitate the Project’s development and long-term affordability for many decades to come.”