Quick Summary
- The developer of Halley Rise, a roughly 36 acre district near the Reston Town Center Metro station, filed a revised plan on July 31, 2026, according to FFXnow.
- The revision moves office space toward the south side of the site and puts a hotel and 450 apartments on a different block. Total square footage is reported as unchanged.
- Fairfax County accepted the application for staff review on September 1, 2026. As of October 12, 2026, the county’s record shows staff comments issued September 22, a status of waiting for resubmission and no hearing dates, so nothing here is approved or scheduled for a hearing.
- The Wegmans, The Edmund, The Arbor, Panera Bread and a Chase branch are already open. The new offices and hotel have not been built.
In this post: The neighborhood that is half finished | What the new filing actually changes | The park plans | Why it takes this long | What to watch next | Sources and reporting limits | FAQ
The neighborhood that is half finished
If you have shopped at the Wegmans near the Reston Town Center Metro station, you have already been to Halley Rise. You may not have known the name. Fairfax County approved the project in 2018 under the title Reston Crescent, when Brookfield Properties was the developer, and the approval allowed up to 1,721 residential units, 380,000 square feet of retail, a hotel and more office space, around 4.1 million square feet in all at full build-out, according to FFXnow.
Some of that exists now. The Edmund and The Arbor apartments, the Wegmans, a Panera Bread and a Chase branch have opened. What hasn’t happened is the part that was supposed to give the district a daytime workforce: the new office buildings and the hotel. FFXnow also notes that a movie theater and a bowling and bocce venue that were once reported don’t appear to have panned out.
So when the current owner filed a revised plan at the end of July, it was less a brand new idea than a reshuffle of the unfinished half.
What the new filing actually changes
The filer is Halley Rise Holdings LLC, an affiliate of Massachusetts-based WS Development. According to county land records cited by FFXnow, it bought the undeveloped parcels and the One and Two Halley Rise office buildings for $42.7 million on July 22, 2025.
Here is the reported shape of the revision, as FFXnow described it on August 12, 2026:
- Offices move south. Two new office buildings totaling 775,000 square feet, including 75,000 square feet of retail, would go on Block D, close to the existing One and Two Halley Rise buildings. That spot was previously approved for a residential and office building.
- Block G picks up the housing and the hotel: 450 apartments and a 200 room hotel, with no office space.
- Block E loses the hotel. The plan still shows 23,200 square feet of retail there, but an existing parking garage stays, so near-term construction doesn’t look likely.
- Block H, the northwest corner, would hold a 391 unit residential high-rise, 800,000 square feet of office and 108,400 square feet of retail across that building and two smaller commercial buildings.
By the numbers: 841. That is the combined number of apartments proposed across Blocks G and H in the revised filing (450 plus 391), per FFXnow’s figures. The overall approved square footage is reported as unchanged.
The developer’s attorney, Amanda Williams of Cooley, said in a statement for the rezoning application that the swap “creates a greater critical mass of workplace environments” that supports a higher-density core.
The park plans
The open space is the part residents tend to care about. The filing reconfigures about 5 acres of parkland, according to FFXnow. It includes a pedestrian link called the Mews running from the Reston Town Center Metro station to Heafield Green, a multipurpose lawn with a food and beverage pavilion, a performance stage and play areas. A neighborhood park and gateway plaza in Block H would host bigger events.
Reston has a long habit of putting public space at the center of its development pitches, and this is in that tradition. Whether the final version looks like the drawing is a separate matter, which is true of every rezoning.
Why it takes this long
Nobody outside the developer can say exactly why the offices stalled, and I won’t guess. What is visible in the filing is that the offices are being clustered near the existing buildings on the south side instead of spread around the site. That is a reasonable reading of the plan, not a statement of the developer’s motives.
There is also the county process. When FFXnow reported on August 12, county staff were in the process of evaluating a separate proposal to redevelop the Reston Crossing offices to the north, and Halley Rise’s application had not yet been accepted for review. The county’s PLUS record shows it was accepted on September 1, 2026. Staff returned comments and requested revisions on September 22, and as of October 12, 2026 the record lists the application as waiting for resubmission. Acceptance only starts the formal review. It is not an approval.
What to watch next
Three things. First, when the developer resubmits revised plans in response to the county’s September comments. Second, whether a Planning Commission hearing and a Board of Supervisors date get posted, since none appears in the county record as of October 12, 2026. Third, whether anything breaks ground on the already approved blocks while the rezoning plays out. You can check the case yourself in Fairfax County’s PLUS development application lookup (record RZPA-2026-HM-00083), and we track this and other Reston projects on our Reston development tracker.
For anyone thinking about living near Reston Town Center, the practical takeaway is modest. Nothing about this filing changes what you can buy or rent there today. Over several years, though, a finished Halley Rise could mean more restaurants, more daytime foot traffic and more parks near the Metro. If you are weighing a move to this part of town, our Reston page has a broader look at the neighborhoods around the station.
Sources and reporting limits
- Angela Woolsey, “Halley Rise developer seeks to finish Reston neighborhood with revised office, park plans,” FFXnow, August 12, 2026. Source for the figures in this post, including the July 31, 2026 filing date, the $42.7 million purchase, the 2018 approval details and the block by block numbers.
- Fairfax County PLUS record RZPA-2026-HM-00083, accessed October 12, 2026. Source for the September 1, 2026 acceptance, the September 22 staff comments, the current status and the work location. No hearing dates were listed as of that date. Please check the county’s case page before relying on this post.
- Building heights were not given in the FFXnow article, so none are stated here.
- Proposed plans change during review. Treat every number above as a proposal.
FAQ
Is the Halley Rise revised plan approved?
No. Fairfax County accepted the application for staff review on September 1, 2026, according to the county’s PLUS record (RZPA-2026-HM-00083). Staff returned comments and requested revisions on September 22, and as of October 12, 2026 the record lists the application as waiting for resubmission. No Planning Commission or Board of Supervisors hearing is listed yet. Acceptance starts the review. Hearings and votes would come later.
Where is Halley Rise?
It sits south of the Reston Town Center Metro station and covers roughly 36 acres, per FFXnow. Fairfax County’s record for the revised application lists its work location as 12010 Sunrise Valley Drive in Reston.
Will the plan add more total development than was already approved?
FFXnow reported that the overall square footage is unchanged from the 2018 approval. The mix and the location of buildings are what the filing shifts.
Which parts of Halley Rise are already open?
Per FFXnow: The Edmund and The Arbor apartments, a Wegmans, a Panera Bread and a Chase branch.
If you are curious how Reston’s growth around the Metro might fit with a move, reach out and I will talk it through whenever you are ready.