MERRIFIELD, VA. — Retail developer Edens & Avant has broken ground for the development of Mosaic, a new mixed-use project located in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Merrifield. The 1.9 million-square-foot project will be situated on 31 acres near the intersection of interstates 66 and 495.
The first phase of the project will contain 400,000 square feet of retail space, a movie theater, a 150-room boutique hotel, 60,000 square feet of Class A office space and 114 townhomes. The retail component of the project is already two-thirds leased. One of the anchors will be Target. In addition, art house cinema Angelika Film Center will open an eight-screen theater. The third tenant announced is MOM's organic market. The project will open in fall 2012.
The urban-style project will contain several amenities designed to appeal to pedestrians. Walkways will be lined with trees, and the project will contain several public plazas. As part of the first phase, a 1-acre park is also being constructed.
“We view our project as the ember of a much larger urban plan that will be the catalyst of economic and community development for a much larger district,” said Jodie McLean, president and CIO of Edens & Avant, in a statement.
Steve Broyle, the developer's managing director, added, “We want to give the community a distinct place of its own. We are doing that by engaging multiple partners who share in our vision of creating a unique place where the community can gather, have distinct dining and shopping experiences, and slow down and enjoy a cup of coffee or a glass of wine with a good friend.”
Mosaic is also participating in the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED Neighborhood Development (ND) pilot program. LEED-ND is a new way to certify the sustainability of multi-building, master-planned projects that may fall outside of the program's traditional single-building criteria. It focuses on utilizing the principles of smart growth, New Urbanism and green building to create communities whose sustainability extends past just the buildings in them.
— Coleman Wood