Macerich Taps Developers for $600M Mixed-Use Suburban D.C. Project

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Macerich, co-owner and master developer of the 2 million-square-foot Tysons Corner Center regional shopping mall in McLean, Va., has taken a big step forward in the $600 million expansion of the property with the recent selection of a trio of developers. Hines, Kettler and Woodbine Development Corp. have come aboard to spearhead projects that will transform Tysons Corner Center into a mixed-use destination.

Located less than 15 miles outside of Washington, D.C., Tysons Corner Center first opened its doors to shoppers in 1968, and garnered attention as one of metropolitan Washington’s first fully enclosed, climate-controlled shopping centers. Macerich became Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.’s partner in the ownership of Tysons Corner Center in 2005, and soon after, completed the expansion of the 1960s-era mall with a 362,000-square-foot, three-level addition.

The planned redevelopment will be the asset’s biggest makeover yet. Tysons Corner Center will be transformed from a property that features only retail, to a property that also features office space, residential offerings and hotel accommodations.

Hines will spearhead the development of Tysons Tower, adding 500,000 square feet to the Tysons Corner submarket, where the call for premier office space is slowly but steadily growing. The quarter-over-quarter vacancy rate dropped from 17.4 percent to 16.7 percent, according to a second-quarter report by Cassidy Turley. In addition to providing increasingly coveted Class A space, the 22-story building is likely to lure tenants as the only office building in Tysons Corner with a dedicated Metrorail station, which is scheduled to come online in 2014.

Taking another step toward the creation of a live-work-play environment, Kettler will oversee the development of a residential high-rise encompassing 450 residences. As is the case across much of the country, there is a growing need for rentals in the area, spurred in no small part by the 55,500 people that Moody’s rating services estimates will migrate to suburban Washington, D.C., over the next four years. “Younger renters are entering the market as they find employment and create new households, thus spurring demand,” the Cassidy Turley report noted. The 28-story apartment tower will also provide underground parking.

Visitors in need of lodging will be accommodated at the Tysons Corner Center project, as well. Woodbine has agreed to build a high-end hotel with 300 guestrooms. Visitors, office occupants and residential dwellers alike will have easy access to the vast amount of retail options at the shopping center, as the new segments of the property will  all be connected via a one-acre, elevated outdoor plaza.

The multi-faceted expansion is on track for completion in 2014.