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_Fountains at McLean Category

Prices Flat at the Fountains at McLean in Tysons Corner

Tysons Corner is bustling these days with the completed HOT Lane, Silver Line metro nearing completion and the Tysons West and Walmart. Many new communities will now be within walking distance to the metro for the first time – Fountains at McLean is one of them.

The number of sales in 2012 were slightly up from 2011 at the Fountains at McLean. Read the rest of this entry »

Ash Grove Historic Site and park in Tysons Corner

After writing about the old graveyard on Colonel Lindsay’s old estate in the Idylwood area I thought of another interesting local site in Tysons Corner. That is the 12.3 acre Ash Grove historic Site in Tysons Corner.

The original home on Ash Grove was built about 1790 by Bryan Fairfax for his son Thomas Fairfax (the Ninth Lord Fairfax.) The original site was 5000 acres that, in addition to the manor house, had a farm and a manor house. Ash Grove was sold to the Sherman family shortly before the civil war and remained with them until the 1960′s. The manor burned down in the 60′s and was rebuilt.

Ash Grove was dedicated to the Fairfax County Park Authority in 1997 as part of the development of Tyson’s Village. The historic main house and outbuildings are located out of the floodplain while the majority of the property is in the floodplain along Old Courthouse Spring Branch Stream Valley. today a park.  The structures are not currently open to the public but there are plans to open it for special events in the future.

Ash Grove is located off Rt 7 behind the new Walmart being built at the Tysons West site and the new silver line metro has added a stop nearby. It is bordered by a condominium and townhome community called Westwood Village.

For more information about Ash Grove, Fairfax County has a very nice publication from 2000.

Walmart Opening in Tysons Corner Soon

As we wrote about last year, Walmart is coming to Tysons West in 2013. It is next to the new metro stop on the Silver Line through Tysons Corner. There is no exact date for the opening of the Walmart -  deliveries for office locations have been indicated to be early 2013 so hopefully by the summer.

The urban style Walmart will be about 78,000 sq/ft.  For comparison – the new “urban style” Target in Merrifield is about 163,000 square feet.  So, this new Walmart is half the size of that Target – not a monstrosity by any measure. Read the rest of this entry »

New Tysons Corner Transportation Taxes

To pay for the extensive walkability upgrades planned in Tysons Corner the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted to create a special Transportation Service District last week. It is estimated the new tax will generate $250 million for area improvements over the next 40 years.

As of now, the tax rate is set to take effect in January 2014 and will apply to both residential and commercial property. It has been estimated that the rate may be 6 to 8 cents per $100 assessed value. The tax district will only be for owners of residential and commercial property in the Tysons Corner area (presume the 22102 and 22182 zipcodes.)

There is opposition to the tax, especially from residential residents that believe that either a) all county residents should pay as the improvements will benefit more than just the residents, or b) Residential properties should be exempt.

Fairfax County seems sympathetic to excluding residential from the new tax as the share of revenue that would be generated from residential properties would be small. State law may prohibit such differential treatment of residential vs commercial so a special bill has been proposed that may make an exception in this case.

To me it seems fair to exclude residential homeowners in this case – the commercial landowners will benefit the greatest from the improvements in the heavily developed areas of Tysons Corner. The majority of residential areas in Tysons will see little direct benefit.

Looking to purchase in Tysons Corner? Contact us!

Don’t Wait For Spring To Sell Your Home!

The Tysons Corner(Vienna and McLean) real estate market ended 2012 strongly. While the number of homes being listed remained typical, the number of sales in October and November jumped significantly. The continued availability of low interest rate loans no doubt played a role as did the strong economy in the area.

Looking at the graphs it is obvious that sellers in Tysons Corner prefer to put their homes on the market in March and April. Purchasers seems to feast on those listings and do their closings during the summer.

Read the rest of this entry »

Fountains at McLean Sales Update 2012

There is great excitement in Tysons Corner these days with the HOT Lanes and new Silver Line metro nearing completion. Many new communities will now be within walking distance to the metro for the first time – Fountains at McLean being one of them.

The number of sales in 2012 seems to be on track for the Fountains at McLean. This year there has been 11 sales so far (versus 15 in 2011 and 24 in  2010.)

The prices in 2012 are still struggling to recover from 2005. While prices have been pretty stable from 2008/2009, the prices do seem to have trouble getting any upwards traction.  The average price for a 1-bedroom at the Fountains at McLean is so far at $216,143 (up from $195,618 in 2011.) The average 2-bedroom price went down a bit so far to $295,500 (down from $304,500 in 2011.) Read the rest of this entry »

Homes for sale near the new Silver Line metro

With the development of the new Silver Line metro the communities near the new metro stations are getting more popular.  As Tysons Corner is a commerical area more than a residential one, the number of residential communities is limited.

In addition to the great feature of having a metro within walking distance, there are also lots of related development taking place – see our various articles on the area developments for more information.

Here is a list of some of the Tysons Corner communities that will benefit:

Mclean station
Gates of McLean, The Westerlies, The Colonies, Encore, Hallcrest Heights, Hunting Ridge, Morgan at McLean

Tysons Corner station
Parc Crest, Lillian Court, Rotonda

Greensboro station
Rotonda, Lillian Court

 Spring Hill station
Rotonda, Fountains at McLean

If you are looking for a great property in Tysons Corner, see the 5 Reasons We Rock for Buyers and contact us today.

How is the market in Tysons Corner?

Based on the first five months of 2012 the Tysons Corner (Vienna and McLean) market this year will remain strong. Based on the data this year, the spring market pretty much mirrored 2011 market with the same amount of homes coming on the market. The number of closings are up some but overall I expect this year to be the same as last year.  For the rest of the summer we’ll probably be at about 65 homes a month selling before things start to slow down again.

If you look at the graphs, it is obvious that sellers in Tysons Corner looove to put their homes on the market in March and April. Purchasers seems to feast on those listings and do their closings during the summer. 

So, what should you do if you want to time the market? In general, buy and sell when you are ready. That being said, many will try to use the market trends to their benefit. So, here are some thoughts on using the trends to your advantage.

As a seller, to avoid the March-April rush you could try listing in January or February. That way you may take advantage of any pent-up demand from the winter months. Alternatively you could try listing in May. Your new listing will look attractive with few days on the market as compared to homes having been listed in March and April. You may also take advantage of the high number of closing sales in the June-August time frame.

If you have a choice – when should you purchase a home? You could try to get an early start on the large inventory being listed in March and April instead of joining the crowd purchasing in May-July.

Every situation is different and the above may or may not apply to you. We know the Tysons Corner area and we would love to meet with you to discuss how we can help you buy or sell a home.

Tysons West Brings New Development & Walmart To Tysons

Tysons West is a new development adjacent to the Tyson West metro stop on the new Silver Line through Tysons Corner. The property was formerly occupied by the Moore/Cadillac/Hummer dealership. The project will include urban Walmart, 24-hour fitness, a renovated Sheraton Premier Hotel and a variety of other restaurants, offices, retail and residential rental units.

The location is of course fantastic – right next to the metro stop and Dulles Toll road puts you within easy reach of Washington DC, Dulles Airport, I-66, I-495 and not to mention Tysons Corner Mall. The project started in 2011 and is scheduled for completion in 2013 – the same time the new Silver Line is scheduled to open.

Some details:

• 250,000 sq/ft Retail/office in phase 1
• 300-400 residential rental units
• 440+ hotel rooms (already existing)

1br/1ba at Fountains at McLean For Sale

We are just about to list a ground level 1br/1ba at the Fountains at McLean. The unit is inside one of the controlled access buildings and comes with one garage spot. The Elm model is 626 sq/ft and has a nice balcony overlooking the interior courtyard with trees, flowers and fountains. There is also a great storage closet on the balcony.

The unit has just been refreshed with new flooring and paint and is ready for you to move right in.

Read the rest of this entry »