Construction of Tysons Corner Walmart To Start Soon

The first Wal-Mart in Tysons Corner is expected to start construction later this month just off of Route 7 on the former site of Moore Cadillac and Hummer.

The coming of Wal-Mart is another indication of the development that will unfurl across Tysons Corner with the coming of the new Silver Metro line and its four Tysons Corner stations.

The Lerner Company has started construction of an 18-story office building on Tysons Boulevard within feet of the new station in front or Tysons Corner Center.

The company that owns the first Tysons Corner mall has shorn its Route 123 entrance of trees and soon will demolish the strip shopping center in front of the mall. Why? Because they are building four new high-rise buildings.

Here are 5 things you need to know about the Wal-Mart development.

1. JBG, a well-known local development company, has purchased the old Moore Cadillac site on Route 7 at Westwood Center Drive and the Sheraton Premiere Hotel behind it.

The site already has a parking garage. The new 80,000-square-foot Wal-Mart, which will carry primarily groceries, will be built into that existing garage. Overhead will be a gym.

2. This is what's called an "urban" Wal-Mart. It's not the supersize suburban Wal-Mart in the middle of acres of parking. This is a smaller store that will serve its immediate neighborhood.

It's within walking distance of a new Metro subway station. Completion is scheduled for 2013, about the same time as the new Metrorail Silver Line subway is due to open. The line is now under construction down the middle of Route 7.

3. Westwood Center Drive, a narrow short road, is the only way in and the only way out. Westwood Road is also the only way to the Sheraton Hotel. Then there's Westwood Village, a quiet townhouse condominium community nestled adjacent to the Dulles Toll Road just to the west of Tysons Corner. Westwood Center Drive is the major way out for Westwood Villiage residents too.

"With the advent of a new, urban-style Wal-Mart, which is planned for construction next door to the Sheraton, residents fear unbearable traffic will become a fact of life for their community, "The Washington Post said in a published a story published recently.

4. The Wal-Mart, gym and and office building with 30,000-square-feet of space, comprise the first phase of a three-phase project planned by JBG.The company owns 16 acres and will start their development on that part of their holdings already zoned for commercial use.

5. They will need to get the rest of the land rezoned under the county's new mixed use zoning, which was adopted by the county board of supervisors last year, to turn Tysons Corner into a mid-size city with the coming of four Metrorail stations.

The completed project will include 1.6 million square feet over 16 acres including an office building, a high-rise residential building with 300 units and a small shopping area.