Which should come first for the Virginia Village redevelopment in Falls Church: Selecting a development partner, or considering zoning changes?

City leaders are facing a “chicken-and-egg”-type challenge as they tackle the major affordable housing initiative.

A decision will have to come soon, as city leaders hope to have an interim development agreement inked in the fall, followed by a full agreement nearly next year. At the June 8 Council meeting, officials discussed whether to prioritize zoning changes or partner selection.

Council member Arthur Agin said he believed consideration of zoning changes should come in advance of, or at the latest concurrently with, selection of a development partner.

“We shouldn’t be taking that acceptance of a developer until we’ve fully locked down the zoning,” Agin said.

City Manager Wyatt Shields said he wasn’t so sure. Shields affirmed staff’s position that an interim agreement with a development partner should come before finalizing land-use changes.

“It would be good for the public to interact with the specific plans [put forward by the developer]” before final action on potential zoning changes, Shields said. The Council could use that information to craft zoning changes for the 20-parcel Virginia Village site, he said.

The city’s Economic Development Authority (EDA) currently owns nine of the 20 lots, while the remainder are in private hands. Any zoning-overlay district for Virginia Village would apply to public and private parcels.

Council members on June 22 are expected to formally approve a request for proposal, seeking a development partner for the sites under EDA ownership. The city is expected to set a deadline sometime at the end of July for development proposals to be submitted.

City officials are seeking proposals focusing on three alternative development scenarios:

• Option 1: Rehabilitation of city-owned properties in Virginia Village with the potential for minor expansions, such as an additional floor or bump-outs of the existing buildings
• Option 2: Low-intensity redevelopment that would include razing the city’s properties and rebuilding up to four levels on the parcels
• Option 3: Larger infill redevelopment that would demolish the city-owned buildings and replace them with properties potentially up to seven stories tall in some areas

City officials also will consider hybrid proposals, combining elements of the three options.

Of the 20 fourplexes comprising Virginia Village, the city’s Economic Development Authority owns the following:

• A four-parcel strip at 2002-2004-2006-2008 Gibson Street
• A two-parcel strip at 310-312 Shirley Street
• Individual parcels at 302, 303 and 310 Maple Ave

The owner of a 10th lot, located at 300 Shirley Street, has contacted city officials with a request to potentially collaborate in the redevelopment. Additionally, other owners may now be in communication with city officials, or could be in the future.

The Virginia Village matter and the order of moving forward was not on the Council’s June 8 agenda, but Agin brought it up to Shields.