Brookfield Breaks Ground on $1.4B Project in Virginia

Rendering of Halley Rise. Image courtesy of Brookfield Properties.

Brookfield Properties announced it has broken ground on Halley Rise, its $1.4 billion mixed-use project in Reston, Va. The development firm is transforming a former 36-acre office campus into a 3.5 million-square-foot live-work-play neighborhood near the downtown area.

Located just off major thoroughfare Virginia State Route 267, the site formerly known as Reston Crescent will eventually house 1,500 residential units, 1.5 million square feet of office space, 250,000 square feet of retail space, five acres of open public space and brand-new streets and infrastructure. The groundbreaking kicks off the first phase of construction at the project, which is slated to be complete in 2022. The first phase entails 450,000 square feet of new office space, 640 residential units, 200,000 square feet of retail space and two new parks.

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Greg Meyer, executive vice president and head of the Washington, D.C. region of Brookfield Properties, said in a release that the project embodies the firm’s “placemaking philosophy.”

When fully complete in 2026, Halley Rise will include both condos and rental apartments, with 15 percent of the units set aside for the affordable Workforce Dwelling Unit program. The project is located directly adjacent to the new D.C. Metro Silver Line station in Reston, which is scheduled to open next year. The new Reston Town Center Metro Station will be located steps from Halley Rise, offering quick access to Dulles International Airport, Tysons Corner, Va. and the city center area of Washington, D.C.

Also included in the Halley Rise mega-project is an 842,000-square-foot building that will eventually be anchored by a Wegman’s grocery store, with 353 residential units to be built on top. A mixed-use tower at the site will feature more than 50,000 square feet of entertainment and retail. Green space and parks will be a big component of the project, with Brookfield dedicating 20 percent of the site to public open space. Optimus Ride, a self-driving vehicle tech company, is partnering with Brookfield at Halley Rise to offer office tenants rides to and from work within the live-work-play community.

Earlier this year, Brookfield Properties and general contractor Skanska announced the topping out of Fifth + Broadway, Tennessee’s tallest rental tower. Located in downtown Nashville, the 386-unit residential building is part of The Place at Fifth + Broadway, a mixed-use project comprising office, retail and entertainment space.