by Brianna Crandall — August 8, 2014—Real estate investment trust Macerich officially opened the first phase of its large-scale, mixed-use urban expansion at Tysons Corner Center in Northern Virginia July 24, including the 22-story Tysons Tower office building, signature outdoor Plaza, and a new mall entrance that connects the high-performing retail property with the new development. Tysons Corner Center has become one of the largest concentrations of retail on the East Coast outside of New York City.
Together with Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation, Macerich’s long-standing partner at Tysons Corner, the company is transforming this top retail center into an innovative, connected community, adding 1.4 million square feet of office, residential, hotel and retail uses.
Within the project, Tysons Tower is opening with more than 75% of its square footage leased, including marquee anchor Intelsat, the world’s leading provider of satellite services. Also opened July 24 was the new 1.5-acre elevated open Plaza, set 32 feet above street level, that will provide Tysons Corner with direct access to the expanded Metro Silver Line, which opened two days later on July 26.
The opening ceremony included the dedication of Early Bird, the public art project commissioned by Macerich and created by Workingman Collective, a local artist group led by George Mason University Artists Peter Winant and Tom Ashcraft. Early Bird is made up of over sixty individual bronze sculptures placed throughout The Plaza.
The Plaza also features landscaped “outdoor sitting rooms,” an interactive children’s play area named Cox Discovery Cove, and scheduled programming for individuals of all ages, including summer concert and movie series that began the first weekend.
As planned, the remaining elements of the Tysons Corner expansion, Tysons’ 300-room Hyatt Regency Hotel and 430-unit residential tower, Vita, are scheduled to open first quarter 2015.
“As we launch the exciting mixed-use urban community at Tysons Corner, it is clear this development is one of the premier projects of its kind in the country,” said Art Coppola, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Macerich. “This project leverages one of the nation’s top-performing retail properties into a sustainable urban community now linked by mass transit with the entire Washington, D.C. metro area. Already we see a strong positive impact for our retailers, as well as long-term benefits of this smart densification for the entire region.”
Macerich is master developer of Tysons Corner Center. The development team for the new Tysons Tower includes Hines (development manager), Gensler (architect), RTKL (master planner), and CBRE (leasing agent). The Plaza was designed and created by landscape architects Sasaki Associates Inc. and Rios Clementi Hale Studios.
