10340 Democracy Lane

10340 Democracy Lane is a site in the Old Town Fairfax Activity Center where a developer is exploring a potential multifamily residential redevelopment. The concept proposes replacing approximately 59,983 sq ft of existing office space with a 6-story multifamily residential building totaling approximately 434,000 sq ft on 3.22 acres — consistent with the small area plan's recommendation for new construction (residential, commercial, or mixed-use) with a six-story height limit. As of early 2026, the project remains in the pre-application phase; staff have held concept meetings with the applicant, but no formal application has been submitted. The Planning Commission received a pre-application briefing on February 9, 2026, followed by a City Council pre-application work session on February 24, 2026, presented by City Planner Clara Schweiger. The March 9, 2026 Planning Commission staff report confirmed both briefings had occurred and referenced the project among ongoing pre-application discussions.

Proposal at a glance

Tax map parcel(s): 57 2 20 4E 001

Extracted from the city's submitted documents; each figure traces to the text it came from.

• Floor area (existing) — "approximately 59,983-square-foot office building with surface parking"
• Dwelling units (existing) — "currently developed with an approximately 59,983-square-foot office building"
• Dwelling units (proposed) — "approximately 260–280 residential units, with structured parking"
• Stories (proposed) — "fully contained within a six (6)-story building"
• Parking spaces (proposed) — "458 spaces proposed, minimizing on-street and spillover impacts"
• Site area (proposed) — "rezone approximately 3.22 acres from CR Commercial Retail"

Official record

The potential applicant is proposing to redevelop the property with a six-story multifamily building featuring 260-280 residential units, with structured parking. The subject site is currently developed with an approximately 59,983-square-foot office building with surface parking. The subject site is currently zoned CR Commercial Retail in the Future Transition Overlay District. The subject site is located within the Activity Center Place Type as designated in the Comprehensive Plan.

• Requests: The applicant proposes to rezone approximately 3.22 acres from CR Commercial Retail to PD-R Planned Development Residential and Transition Overlay District. Potential applications include a rezoning, master development plan, special exceptions, and a major certificate of appropriateness.
• Address: 10340 Democracy Lane, Fairfax, VA 22030
• Applicant: Evan Pritchard Wire Gill, LLP
• City record

2026-02-09 — Planning Commission Regular Meeting/Work Session

Agenda item 8a: Pre-application briefing for a potential multifamily residential development located at 10340 Democracy Lane (watch the moment)

• Outcome: Staff presented the pre-application briefing for a potential multifamily residential development at 10340 Democracy Lane. No formal action was taken; this was a work session item.
• [8a] The Planning Commission received a pre-application briefing for a potential multifamily residential development at this location during the work session.

2026-02-24 — City Council Meeting

Agenda item 12c: Work Session: Pre-Application Briefing – Multifamily Residential Development at 10340 Democracy Lane (watch the moment)

• Outcome: City Planner Clara Schweiger presented the pre-application briefing for a potential 6-story multifamily residential building on 3.22 acres, replacing approximately 59,983 sq ft of office space with ~434,000 sq ft of residential. No Council action was taken.
• [12c] The site at 10340 Democracy Lane was the subject of a pre-application briefing for a potential multifamily residential redevelopment on 3.22 +/- acres.

2026-03-09 — Planning Commission Regular Meeting/Work Session

Agenda item 9: Staff Report (watch the moment)

• Outcome: Mr. Nabti provided updates on recent City Council actions and upcoming planning activities, including: adoption of the Urban Forest Master Plan (Feb 10), support for the Affordable Housing Strategic Plan and introduction of Small Area Plan zoning ordinance amendments (Feb 17), updates on the Level of Services Study and pre-application discussions for Courthouse Plaza and 10340 Democracy Lane (Feb 24). Upcoming items noted: City Council work session on small area plan zoning amendments (Mar 10), possible cancellation of next Planning Commission meeting, Comprehensive Plan Implementation Group meeting focused on Northfax (Mar 18), and Open House for Small Area Plan zoning ordinance amendments (Mar 26).
• [9] A pre-application work session discussion on the proposal at 10340 Democracy Lane was held at the February 24, 2026 City Council meeting.

Open questions

• No formal application has been submitted; it is unknown when or whether the applicant will submit one.
• No Council or Commission action has been taken; formal review and any required zoning or land use approvals remain ahead.
• The Planning Commission is expected to receive an update on the related Level of Services Study in April 2026, which may affect how development impacts are addressed for this and similar projects.

Member commentary

No recorded member positions yet.

Screening-level estimates of the economic and fiscal effects of 10340 Democracy Lane. Figures are decision-support context with named assumptions and sensitivity ranges — not predictions. The full analysis has the interactive assumptions panel and maps; methods documents every formula.

Headline estimates

• New residents: 479 (range 378 – 598) — households x persons per multifamily unit (Rutgers CUPR bedroom-mix multipliers)
• Annual capture: project's own ground-floor retail: $0 — Huff model over individual retail POIs: joint destination+mode choice, P(j,m) ~ A_j * w_m * exp(-b_m t_mj), CES category spend; clusters are a reporting rollup; own retail competes as a destination
• New annual spending arriving on foot: $777k (range $125k – $4.1M) — walk-mode share of the joint destination+mode Huff choice, summed over businesses; walking loses to driving with walk time, so the remainder of the mode-split budget arrives by car
• Real estate tax increase: $1.0M (range $1.0M – $1.3M) — projected minus current RE tax
• Net annual fiscal impact — naive per-capita method: −$1.6M (range −$2.6M – −$424k) — incremental new recurring revenue minus service cost (upper-bound cost framing; allocates fixed citywide costs)
• Net annual fiscal impact — marginal framing: −$5,714 (range −$1.2M – $1.1M) — incremental new recurring revenue minus service cost (only services that scale with new residents)

Method notes, caveats, and non-headline metrics live on the analysis page.