Paul Gilbert in front of the old Springfield businesses that will undergo changes with redevelopment.
As revitalization expert Paul Gilbert looked around in downtown Springfield, there were many things that were exactly as he remembered them from his childhood when he grew up in this area. In the world of economic vibrancy, “that’s not good for an area,” he said on a video called “Springfield Economic Development,” produced by Fairfax County.
In the Springfield Plaza area where Backlick Road was once the main street, many of the store fronts and buildings have been there for years and it doesn’t scream “new,” like comparable economic areas such as Tysons, Reston or The Mosaic that Gilbert compared it to. “Density is a big deal if you want businesses to survive,” he added. The stores need people buying things, the eateries filling the tables and the office buildings full of busy offices.
Franconia Supervisor Rodney Lusk (D) has a background in economic development and looks at this aging area the same way. A one-level storage facility right in the center of things is a place that needs work. “We need to make the building look more like an office building,” Lusk said.
According to the Fairfax County community revitalization information, the Greater Springfield/Franconia area has more than 10.7 million square feet of industrial flex space, 4.2 million square feet of office space, and 5.3 million square feet of retail space, including the Springfield Town Center that provides opportunities for the Springfield Commercial Revitalization District.
In October 2022, Fairfax County released a market study of the downtown Springfield area which divided the downtown area into six quadrants: Springfield Town Center; Inova/Metro; Transportation Security Administration Headquarters; North CBC; South CBC; and Brookfield Plaza. One of the action items on this study is called "Placemaking," and a step made in this direction is putting the "Springfield" sign on the pedestrian bridge from the transportation center in downtown Springfield to the Plaza shopping area. Both Gilbert and Lusk mentioned this gateway feature is a step in the right direction. This sign was added "to create a sense of place," Gilbert said.
Along with the sign, an apartment building opened in the Springfield Town Center parking lot whose residents can walk to the Metro station.
Schupp Companies, located in Vienna, Va., is one of the developers that bought a section of the old buildings and strip of commercial entities which they label as “Springfield Gateway Purchase,” dated 2016. “Springfield Gateway was purchased in May of 2016 and represents a tremendous potential for alternative development opportunities,” says the picture description on the website. Years ago, before “Veteran’s Bridge” spanned Old Keene Mill Road, this location at the Backlick Road-Old Keene Mill Road intersection was managed with a traffic signal.
According to Lusk's office, one of these parcels has recently come under new ownership and the owner is now working with Lusk on potential redevelopment. Currently, they have not yet submitted any application for redevelopment.