Why Tysons Is Decades Away From Where It Should Be, And Why That's OK

Tysons residents have much to anticipate before the community’s completion. Still, even though the blueprints for each pocket of Tysons may take decades to fully realize, it’s easy to see significant and shiny changes. For the 4-1-1 of what’s to come, join us for our Tysons Tidal Wave! on Tuesday, March 22, at 7:30am at 8280 Greensboro Dr.

Aaron Georgelas, managing partner at Georgelas Group and a speaker on the event’s executive outlook panel, says his firm’s shovels have already been in the ground for quite some time now, digging the gold mines of what will be the illustrious Tysons West.

Georgelas Group is currently developing its Spring Hill Station project, about 7M SF of living space. The firm has completed 400 apartments and the other 400 will be built by its partner, Greystar. On top of the desirable units he describes, Georgelas also opened the first-ever Tesla dealership in Virginia, which sits right across from its 12 residential buildings.

Aaron’s goals for the community, which he predicts will take around 30 years to realize, are for community revitalization and improving the environment.

"The vision for what we are doing over there is to create an environment where people can live, work and play—all while using alternate transportation," he says, "whether it’s an electric car or Metro, so to reduce our carbon footprint.”

Even though he says he won’t see his final mark in Tysons until around 2040, Aaron says he’s excited about what’s coming, and for the process of seeing the incredible community change before his very eyes. He’s already excited that he’s been one of the first people to start building the new Tysons.

“We’ve already gotten $250M of investment in Tysons West and we will definitely have first mover advantage and we have taken advantage of that,” Aaron says. “Over the next 30 years, I will have about 10M SF that I’ll develop, which is probably 6,000 residential units and another 4M SF of office and retail.”

Brian Tucker, executive director at Cushman & Wakefield, is moderating the executive outlook panel. The panelists will be giving updates on where their companies stand on building the three components critical to making the new Tysons a “24/7 work/live/play environment that we are all so excited about,” Brian says.

While the luxurious, touristy Tysons malls have already been a draw to the community, locals still need a lot more for it to be the kind of area they never want, or need, to leave.

"The goal, which is not overnight, is to create a walkable, pedestrian Tysons," Brian says, "so that people do not have to rely on their cars and they can walk to all those different destinations.”

That's Brian on the left, snapped in 2014 with colleagues Moe Hamilton and John Dragelin.

While passersby and current Tysons residents can see what’s going on in Tysons West, there’s a lot to be excited for what’s to come in The Boro, a soon-to-be full-swinging development in central Tysons.

It just got approval in January, and Kettler and The Meridian Group will be soon be breaking ground on this neighborhood, to be complete with residences, premier office buildings, an active central park and a wide spectrum of retailers and entertainment options.

Pam Tyrrell, SVP at Kettler (snapped, left, with colleagues Andy Buchanan and Leslie Furst) will be on our Fireside Chat about The Boro with Meridian's Gary Block. 

The Boro “will no doubt contribute to the vibrancy of the Greensboro Station neighborhood," she says. "Its proximity to Metro coupled with enhanced pedestrian connections and public spaces will provide a walkable environment for workers, residents and retail patrons to enjoy.”

Like Aaron, Pam is also excited to see the changes in Tysons over the next few years, saying “we’re excited to be a part of the evolution of Tysons and can’t wait to see how the Metro station neighborhoods transform in the next five to 10 years.”

She adds that through the process, Kettler and Meridian remain dedicated to keeping their goals aligned for the overall benefit of each office tenant, retail patron and resident.

Attendees will certainly learn a lot next Tuesday at our Tysons event about the community growing like (beautiful) weeds.

“I see this as a mixture between Reston Town Center and Georgetown, with transit mixed in," Aaron say. "We are modeled very much after what Robert E. Simon did with Reston Town Center, but everything is bigger, taller and very connected to transit."