Centex Development in Falls Church Stalls

A combination of astronomical asking prices for land and recent residential market trends has Centex Homes reconsidering whether to move forward with its planned role in the development of Falls Church’s City Center village project, to be located at the intersection of South and North Washington Streets and W. Broad Street. The City Center project will contain a public town square, along with a hotel, new grocery store, retailers, office space, and a mix of residential options, including up to 1,000 condo units, over the next decade (though this, too, is now uncertain). However, the job of purchasing the needed land for this project has proven problematic, as landowners are asking between $2.5 and $5.7 million an acre on the north side of W. Broad – the location of the first two blocks of the project that Centex (teaming with Federal Realty) is tasked to develop. Given the significant distance to the nearest metro station, Centex is re-evaluating the worth of this project, and is now in discussions with the city and landowners on the next step, if any. Meanwhile, while the north side of W. Broad is up in the air, the south side of this project, which is being developed by Atlantic Realty, appears to be moving forward, as most of this land has already been bought or acquired.