Former Tysons Casino Site Near Greensboro Metro For Sale

Updated May, 14, (3:50 p.m.): This story was updated with comments by Supervisor Walter Alcorn (D-Hunter Mill).

TYSONS, VA — A car dealership lot on Chain Bridge Road once considered as a possible location for a Tysons casino is now listed for sale as a Home Depot-anchored mixed-use district, according to news reports.

The property in question, located at 2000-2050 Chain Bridge Road, has been the site of the Koons auto dealership since 1975. It's currently owned by 1902 LLC, an entity controlled by the Caldow family, according to Fairfax County deed records, Bisnow reported.

1902 LLC seeks to develop more than 2 million square feet of residential, office and restaurants. In addition, the development would include a 108,000-square-foot Home Depot and a 28,000 square-foot Home Depot Garden Center, either as a joint venture or a sole ownership, according to Bisnow. The owners hope to sell a 2.3-acre parcel near the Greensboro Metro Station and a 7.1-acre parcel along Chain Bridge Road.

1902 LLC will then work with the new owners to change the zoning of the entire 14-acre site from C-7, which encourages mixed use development around transit to PTC, (Planned Tysons Corner). This would allow “a variety of mixed-use and residential uses with significantly more density,” according to Bisnow's reporting.

Patch reached out to Supervisor Walter Alcorn (D-Hunter Mill) on Tuesday to get his reaction about the sale of the property, which is in his district.

"I am pleased it is not a casino proposal," he said, in an email. "By the way, it looks like it’s a proposed sale or long-term ground lease. Home Depot currently owns half of the property and any development proposal will need to conform with the adopted Comprehensive Plan for Tysons. I understand Home Depot and property representatives have had preliminary discussions with County staff about how that might be possible."

Provided the property is developed with the Comprehensive Plan in mind, Alcorn said it would benefit residents and property owners around the Greensboro Metro Station and beyond. But, the devil is always in the details, he added.

"This proposal is unrelated to any casino proposal in Tysons, and I continue to oppose a casino at any station along the Silver Line as proposed in the General Assembly earlier this year and last," Alcorn said.

Patch first broke the news last September that Comstock Holding Companies was seeking to build a casino at or near the Wiehle Avenue-Reston East Metro station, where the company has its headquarters.

As more details began to emerge last fall about a casino possibly being built in Reston, a source with knowledge of Comstock's plans told Patch the properties at 2000-2050 Chain Bridge Road were under consideration as the location of the proposed casino.

Further reporting determined that the "Toilet Bowl" building at 2070 Chain Bridge, was also part of Comstock's plan. That 8.7-acre property has been owned by Prim Tycon Courthouse LLC since 2004.

In Oct. 27, 2022, Comstock submitted a proposal for a mixed-use redevelopment near the Greensboro Metro Station in Tysons as part of Fairfax County's Site Specific Plan Amendment Process.

"The 14-acre property is currently developed with a Koons auto dealership and has been operating as such since 1975," Comstock said in its proposal. "As such, the site is largely, if not entirely impervious, with most of the land area consisting of asphalt parking lots. In this quadrant of Tysons, the property is bounded by the Tysons Square shopping center to the north and the famed 'Toilet Bowl' office building to the west. Meanwhile, directly across Route 7, the expansive five million square-foot Boro mixed-use redevelopment is well underway. A mix of office and retail/personal service uses abut the site across Route 123 to the south."

Despite its interest in redeveloping the property, Comstock ran up against the Tysons Urban Center section of the Comprehensive Plan, which governed planning for the two properties.

"With the office market reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Nominator and Owners believe a mixed-use development with a residential focus will better fulfill the dynamic, 24-7 atmosphere contemplated by the Comprehensive Plan for Tysons, as well as provide a more stable source of ridership for the Silver Line," Comstock said in its proposal.

Rather than pursue it any further, Comstock, on the advice of county staff and with the consent of Supervisor Walter Alcorn (D-Hunter Mill), opted to submit the nomination as a "placeholder," while county leadership and staff evaluated the current and future mix of office and residential at the project site. The proposal went no further in the SSPA process.

Prior to the start of the 2024 Virginia General Assembly session in January, State Sen. Dave Marsden (D-Burke) told Patch he was going to introduce a bill that would give the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors the ability to put a casino referendum on a future ballot. He said a convention center and performance space anchored by a casino should be built in Tysons.

Read Bisnow's Full Story: Tysons Car Dealership Hits The Market With Plans For 2M SF Project

"The Silver Line was created for high density development and business owners paid a tax to build the Dulles Access Road and the Silver Line," Marsden told Patch in November. "They paid to have that done and if we can put in a conference center in an entertainment district, anchored by a casino and some hotels, it creates a tremendous number of construction jobs, good union jobs, to work in those hotels."

After the start of the general assembly session in January, Marsden introduced Senate Bill 675, which was an expanded version of a similar bill he submitted and quickly withdrew in 2023.

Language in the bill outlined the requirements for a casino, with the location being within two miles of a major shopping destination, according to NBC4 News. At the request of the Reston Association, Marsden added language in the bill to remove Reston as a possible location for a casino. With those changes, the most likely place to build a casino would be at or near one of the Metro stations in Tysons.

Related:

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• NoVA Casino Without Referendum Possible With Budget Amendment: Report
• Casino Near Arlington Metro Station Should Be Studied: Chamber Blog

Read all of Patch's reporting on Comstock Companies' plan to build a casino on Metro's Silver Line in Fairfax County at Silver Line Casino.

Marsden told FFXNow that he would be adding language to Senate Bill 675 to expand the scope of the possible location for the casino to the abandoned Exclusive Automotive Group lot at 8546 Leesburg Pike near the Spring Hill Metro station in Tysons.

Tysons Development LLC acquired the property from the Cherner Development Group in 2020 for more than $57 million. Tysons Development is a joint venture of the Clemente Development Company and Khaled Juffali Co.

Although Christopher Clemente is the CEO of Comstock Holdings, Clemente Development Company is not connected to Comstock. It was founded by C. Daniel Clemente, father of the Comstock CEO.

Amid opposition by residents of McLean, Tysons, Vienna and Reston, as well as the owners of MGM National Harbor Hotel and Casino, in Maryland, the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations tabled SB 675 until the next legislative session.