A plan to consolidate and then subdivide three parcels in Falls Church to build 15 townhomes is heading to the Planning Commission.
The commission will be briefed on Madison Homes’ plans for the parcels at 701, 703 and 705 Park Avenue, just north of W. Broad Street, on Wednesday.
The 0.7-acre site is currently occupied by mid-20th-century homes that were repurposed for commercial use. Currently, they’re occupied by Case Design & Remodeling and EcoNize Closets & Blinds.
Madison Homes has proposed to raze the homes and replace them with townhouses of three levels plus lofts, ranging in size from 1,197 to 1,769 square feet. Each would have a one- or two-car garage, with vehicular access via N. Lee Street.
The proposal “is generally consistent with the land-use visions and urban design recommendations” for the area, planning staff said in a memo to Planning Commission members.
The Planning Commission will have final say on the request to subdivide the property, with a public hearing and action slated for Feb. 4. But a 2025 change in state law took away the power of many local planning commissions, including the one in Falls Church, to have the final say on site-plan projects.
That power is now vested in city staff, who will take Planning Commission recommendations into account but are not bound by them.
Known during the planning process as Lee Park II, the parcels are located in the city’s T-1 (Transitional) zoning area, designed for development that buffers residential housing from larger commercial and mixed-use properties.
Madison Homes received county approval to build the project’s first phase of 20 townhouse units in mid-2024. These are in the midst of construction at the southeast corner of Park Avenue and Lee Street.
The second phase will be constructed at the southwestern corner of the intersection.
Madison Homes has also completed work on townhouses at Park Street and N. Oak Street, a block west of the Lee Street construction.
Falls Church leaders have promoted the addition of varied housing options to the city’s inventory in recent years. Current estimates suggest the city’s overall housing stock, which stood at about 5,400 units in 2015, will grow to between 9,200 and 9,500 units in 2045.
