Rumor: Is Tall Oaks Shopping Center Changing Hands? (Update: Confirmed)

Now even the owners may have abandoned the Tall Oaks Stucco Wasteland Shopping Center.


A (very) Confidential Restonian Operative forwarded this document, which purports to show that the deed for Tall Oaks has been transferred from its current owners to a "Tall Oaks Development Company." If the document is to be believed, the transaction was worth $14.3 million.

As those of us (sort of) in the news business would say, we cannot independently confirm this news (translation: a few minutes of Googling turned up nothing). But it would make sense. As we've pointed out before, the current owners haven't exactly been aggressively marketing the center as more and more tenants have moved out. And the whole master plan process has given a semi-official green light to developing Tall Oaks into something less strip mall-y and more residential with some neighborhood-scale amenities.

We've also heard the new owner is a well-known developer -- but again can't confirm that. The one thing we can say with some confidence is that it's not a shell company for "Susie de los Santos," hellbent for revenge.

For the first time since all the rumors about Blooms, things might be getting interesting in Tall Oaks.

Update: Our BFFs at Reston Now have confirmed the sale, including some new information about the buyers:

Tall Oaks Development Company is based in McLean, and records show it shares an address with the Jefferson Apartment Group, a local company that has developed more than 18,000 rental units with a value of more than $3 billion in 10 east coast states, including Virginia.

Locally, the Jefferson Apartment Group has developed, among others, the Residences at the Fairfax County Government Center, Tellus in Arlington, The Asher in Alexandria and the Jefferson at 14W, a seven-story, mixed-use luxury development in Northwest DC.

The shopping center would have to be rezoned to be developed as a residential property, but county officials have been nudging things in this direction with the master plan work anyway.