Mauvescraper Up, Macaroni Grill Down? Bids Sought for One Project, While Spectrum Bides Its Time With Fancy Plastic Boxes

Developers are now seeking bids for construction of the awesome mauvescraper on Reston Parkway approved by Fairfax County last fall, although ground is unlikely to be broken until a tenant is secured for the office building.

The tower RTC Partnership LLC is planning for 1760 Reston Pkwy is years away from development, not to mention delivery, but the beginning steps are in motion. The developer is collecting multiple bids for the project and will soon arrive at the project's development costs. It is also in discussion with potential development partners, Transwestern's Matt Bundy tells GlobeSt.com. "It is almost certain this will not be a spec development. We will wait until a tenant or tenants are secured before moving forward. That will make the financing easier."

Meanwhile, the massive Reston Spectrum development, which was also approved by the county last month, will likely take just as long -- if not longer -- to get rolling.

Lerner Enterprises, the owner of the shopping center that runs from New Dominion to Baron Cameron along Reston Parkway, is offering no timetable for redevelopment. The company says it is excited about the future, but has no immediate plans to begin building.

“Lerner is pleased that the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors recently approved the redevelopment plans for The Spectrum at Reston Town Center," the statement reads. "The longterm vision is to redevelop the current shopping center into a vibrant mixed-use. transit-oriented town center."

"While we are excited about the future, we have no immediate plans to begin and invite the community to continue to enjoy our great mix retailers and restaurants available at The Spectrum.”

Part of that "great mix," of course, is the fancy, soon-to-arrive Container Store, which is replacing the long-lamented Barnes & Noble, currently Reston's only (new) bookseller, when it closes its doors by the end of the month. We'd wondered aloud if Lerner would move forward with smashing up the center, given that the Container Store presumably signed a multi-year lease when they agreed to move into the space, and a "commercial real estate source" confirmed to our BFFs at Patch that most of the Spectrum retailers are somewhere on a continuum of a 10-year-lease.

So, we'll just have to sit in gridlocked traffic on Wiehele await the transformation of Reston into a high-rise, mixed-use nightmare model of urban redevelopment for a few more years. In the meantime, we can continue enjoying our carb-intensive meals on the front porch of the Macaroni Grill, watching Parc Reston go up across the street, and -- wait, what's that?

The free-standing buildings such as The Macaroni Grill or On The Border might be the first areas to be redeveloped because they are single tenants, he said.

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