Herndon Sues Comstock Holdings To Regain Downtown Property

HERNDON, VA — The Town of Herndon filed a lawsuit in Fairfax County Circuit Court on Friday asking that Comstock Herndon Venture, LC transfer ownership of a 5-acre parcel at 770 Elden St. to the town.

In 2017, Herndon and Comstock entered into a contract to use the property as part of its redevelopment project for the downtown area. As part of the agreement, Comstock was required to return the property to town ownership if the Reston-based developer did not follow through with the project.

If the project moved forward as planned, it would have dramatically reshaped the downtown area with a number of improvements, including 273 luxury residences; more than 17,000-square-feet of boutique; restaurant and retail space; cafe space, an arts center with indoor and outdoor spaces; an arts plaza and walkways; 330 town parking spaces; 396 residential/retail spaces; and three public plazas with outdoor seating and dedicated art.

On Dec. 6, 2024, Comstock Holdings’ CEO Christopher Clemente sent a letter to the town manager that said:

“After significant discussions with Herndon and after good-faith diligent efforts, Comstock has concluded that, without limitation and among other issues with regard to the Project, the Project Costs and commercially reasonable financing are materially greater than anticipated and result in the Project being economically unfeasible, the legal structure for the Project has become overly complicated, and the Conditions Subsequent cannot be satisfied by the Outside Satisfaction Date.”

In January, the town notified Comstock that it was exercising its right under the 2017 contract and asked the company to transfer ownership of the property back to Herndon.

That transaction has not taken place, according to a statement issued by the town on Friday.

Although the town and Comstock originally signed a comprehensive agreement in 2017, the pandemic and rising construction costs prompted the developer in April 2022 to exercise its right to pause the start date of the project by two years.

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Then in April 2024, Comstock and the town agreed to push the project start date back to Aug. 15, 2024 to give them time to restructure their contractual agreement to reflect the realities of 2024.

According to the terms of the agreement, Comstock had an outside satisfaction date of Dec. 10, 2024 to notify the town of its intention to move forward or not.

Patch reached out to Comstock Holdings for a statement about the lawsuit. This story will be updated once that response is received.

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