MEMBERS OF THE Falls Church Economic Development Authority, some shown here, were joined by Falls Church Mayor Letty Hardi (far right) and the City’s Chief Planner Jim Snyder (far left) at their monthly meeting Tuesday, where a wide array of development issues were discussed, including progress on the West End development. (Photo: *News-Press*)

Wellness Center Building Delivery Feted at Event

An historic and monumental step forward for the City of Falls Church was marked yesterday at a celebration attended by all the City’s A List leaders and representatives of the development community to signal the completion and opening of the first completed building of the massive 10-acre West End development on the site for the former high school.

The building is a six story, 125,000 square foot Class A building dedicated to medical services known as the Wellness Center of Falls Church. It faces directly onto Route 7 just southeast of the City’s academic campus that is home to the Meridian High School and Mary Ellen Henderson Middle School.

Among those present was Bob Young, chair of the City’s Economic Development Authority, who said in remarks to the News-Press, “This is the first office building constructed in the city since the Flower building was completed 15 years ago. It is LEED Gold (like the Flower building) and of significant size. Thus, it is an important milestone in the economic history of Falls Church and, hopefully, will encourage other new office buildings to be built.”

Invitations came from Linsey Groom and Jack Seher, senior associate of the Healthcare Advisory Practice of the vast global Cushman and Wakefield commercial real estate services firm, working in collaboration with the building’s principal developer, the equally vast Trammel Crow (The West End project’s overall principal coordinating developer is the Hoffman Development Group).

The Wellness Center is described as a “state of the art, six story, 125,000 square foot medical office building in the City of Falls Church.”

It is the first of a dizzying array of projects on the site that will begin to come into completion and to connect with seven acres of adjacent land to the north being developed by Virginia Tech, HITT Construction and Rushmark called Converge West Falls, and another 24 acres owned by WMATA around the West Falls Church Metro station, totaling what eventually will be some 40 acres seamlessly linked with a road through the center of them all linking Route 7 with the Metro station.

Yesterday’s celebration marked the first completed component of what over the next few years will unfold into this new megadevelopment.

Mary Beth Avedesian, Hoffman’s senior vice president of development who is overseeing the West End project, overall, told the News-Press yesterday that other components of the 10-acre project are being leased rapidly now that construction is approaching completion in parts, including one for a 10,000 square foot Tierra Cantada early learning and preschool program that offers a Spanish language component, a Seoul Spice outfit offering Korean comfort food, a Burger Fi fast casual outfit, a Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls and Ice Cream Jubilee that will be in a kiosk in the commons area between the two directions of the center road.

A 15-story senior living building on the site operated by Experienced Senior Living, going by the name of Reserve at Falls Church is going up, as is a Home 2 Suites by Hilton hotel with 146 rooms. There are 126 residential condos going in under the name The Oak, and 400 rental apartment units of all sizes under the name Alder.

A lease has yet to be completed for a large grocery store planned for the site, and other possible service and educational operations.