LOUDOUN COUNTY’S COMMUNITY-OWNED NEWS SOURCE
LoudounNow
[ Vol. 4, No. 19 ]
[ loudounnow.com ]
[ March 28, 2019 ]
■ PUBLIC AND LEGAL NOTICES - PAGE 31 ■ EMPLOYMENT PAGE 40 ■ RESOURCE DIRECTORY PAGE 42
Supervisors Approve Key Metro Line Development BY RENSS GREENE
Lauren Fleming/Loudoun Now
The century-old water tower and mansion house on the 131-acre Graydon Manor property near Leesburg could once again be the center of attention if a nearly 240-unit co-housing village with a brewery and winery concept takes hold.
Graydon Manor Owner Aims to Build Co-Housing Village BY PATRICK SZABO To some, the 131-acre Graydon Manor property on the western edge of Leesburg represents a classic Gatsby-era residence. To others, it’s a reminder of a time in their lives when they visited the psychiatric ward while family or friends battled mental health issues. To Dave Gregory, the vacant property is a blank canvas that’s ready to be developed into something that will benefit the community more than ever before. Graydon Manor dates back more than a century to 1907, when the original property owner commissioned prominent architect Waddy Butler Wood to design the 11,000-square-foot colonial-revival-style mansion. Through the decades, the owners built additional structures on the property and, in 1957, it was converted from a private residence to a group home for epileptic children. It operated as a psychiatric center for the next six decades until the hospital closed and Gregory purchased it in 2016 for $5.5 million. At that point, Gregory, the principal of
the Zeeland NV property company that Gregory said works on “high-end” projects from schools to commercial centers, had a vision to bring new life to the property. In May 2018, the Board of Supervisors approved a plan for a 62,000-square-foot indoor and outdoor kennel to house up to 150 dogs and 60 cats. But Gregory said that project is essentially a backup to what he really wants to build there—a nearly 240-home co-housing village with a brewery, winery and a handful of accompanying amenities spread out among the property’s dozens of buildings. Those plans include 73 2,780-squarefoot single-unit buildings, 40 4,320-square-foot buildings with four units in each, two 3,240-square-foot buildings with three units in each, a brewery and a winery with views of Leesburg and Tysons Corner. Gregory said the residential component of the project would be built predominantly in the western portion of the property that abuts the Shenstone Farm neighborhood, and that it would mirror
the villages of northern Europe. He said that none of the units would be “crammed in” and that the idea behind the co-housing village is to develop a sense of community on a much larger scale than what exists in Loudoun’s typical suburban neighborhoods. “They fit a need that is universal,” he said. Gregory’s proposed brewery would be housed in three buildings on the property, one near the W&OD Trail, one in the mansion house and another adjacent to it. He didn’t disclose which brewery might operate there, but that it’s a “small, family-run,” “local, well-established group” that’s eager to get started on the project. He said while there is no deal for a winery yet, he has set aside a possible location to construct a new building for it, and that a restaurant could also operate there. As for the other surrounding amenities, Gregory envisions a multitude of different uses. Those include a greenhouse in a portion of the existing carriage house, a
County supervisors have signed off on a proposal for a development that will span most of the length of the railway in the median of the Dulles Greenway between the Ashburn and Loudoun Gateway Metro stations. The 158-acre, 3,706-home Silver District West proposal allows the construction of up to 381 townhouses and 3,325 apartments, and more than a million square feet of commercial development. It is proposed by Detroit-based Soave Enterprises, the developer of Brambleton, and will include some of the tallest buildings in Loudoun, including in many areas a minimum four-story requirement. And it is planned to be built out over decades. It also includes a county-estimated $84.6 million for infrastructure, including roads, bus shelters, and land for an 8.33-acre elementary school site and 23-acre Broad Run trail park. Supervisor Matthew F. Letourneau (R-Dulles) said accounting for inflation and interest, by the time the county would have gotten to those projects, those projects would be worth more like $131 million. The developer will be required to build a section of Shellhorn Road between Barrister Street and Lockridge Road, Barrister Street between State Street and Shellhorn Road, widening Loudoun County Parkway from Ryan Road to Shellhorn Road, and triggering a commitment by the Dulles Greenway to build a Barrister Street bridge over the Greenway. All of that work must be complete before the 600th residential unit opens in the southern portion of the development, which includes the planned townhouses. Loudoun County Parkway must be expanded
GRAYDON MANOR >> 46
SILVER DISTRICT >> 47
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