Fairfax County supervisors on Monday delayed a vote on the long-awaited overhaul of Springfield Mall after an unresolved issue among landowners knocked the project off course.
County officials and mall owners alike had hoped for a quick rezoning approval that would have allowed the ambitious redevelopment to move forward. The makeover would install new retail, hotel, office and living space on the site of the languishing mall, as well as trails, parks and other improvements.
The delay is rooted in a disagreement over details of the project among the four owners of the 80-acre mall property, officials said. County supervisors Monday agreed to delay the rezoning until July.
“For me, this is a very difficult thing to have to do, because the community has embraced this project, and county staff has moved mountains” to keep it on schedule, said Lee District Supervisor Jeff McKay.
McKay said one of the landowners, Target, has not reached an agreement on proffers, which are contributions to roads, schools and other services a developer makes in exchange for a rezoning.
Mark Looney, a lawyer with Cooley Godward Kronish LLP who represents the owners, said the delay was simply a matter of “making sure we dot the i’s and cross the t’s.”
Looney would not go into specifics on the disagreement. How it affects the project’s schedule is not known, he said.
“We in no way, shape or form have altered our desire and commitment to get this done,” he said. “Some things take time, we have to work through it, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”
The Fairfax County Planning Commission in February recommended approving the mall revamp.
Overhauling Springfield Mall has been one of the county’s top revitalization priorities for years. Eclipsed by better-regarded shopping centers in Tysons Corner, the mall garnered an undesirable reputation as a symbol of suburban decay. Officials hope to use the revamp to reverse that image.
