Photo courtesy of Springfield Town Center.

“PEOPLE ARE COMING BACK TO SPRINGFIELD,” said Nancy-Jo Manney, executive director of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce. “Retailers are showing a lot of interest in locating here.”

The revitalization of the Springfield area began nearly five years ago when the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency consolidated its headquarter operations–relocating its 8,500 employees into a new $1.7 billion, 2.1 million square-foot building. Located on the south side of I-95 near the I-495 interchange, the building is within easy access to the newly constructed Franconia-Springfield Metro station.

The third-largest federal facility in the Washington, D.C. area, exceeded only by the Pentagon and the current FBI headquarters, the NGA relocation was a part of the congressionally-mandated Base Realignment and Closure Act of 2005.

The BRAC legislation required the General Services Administration to consolidate federal offices into long- term locations in lower-cost areas such as Fort Belvoir in Springfield. As a result, what was then a warren of outdated warehouse and flex space is now bursting with new office construction.

At the same time, retail businesses were rediscovering Springfield. The most visible evidence of the area’s new retail cachet has been the expansion and renovation of the iconic Springfield Mall. Rebranded as the Springfield Town Center, it is now one of the three largest retail centers in Fairfax County, along with Tysons Corner Center and Fair Oaks Mall.

The town center renovation on its original 80-acre site has encouraged construction of additional retail centers in the area.

“This is not the old Springfield Mall,” said Eric Christensen, general manager of the Springfield Town Center, at an October Business and Economic Summit hosted by Fairfax County and the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce.

“A lot of people haven’t been here yet, and we would like for everyone to come and check it out,” Christensen added.

The Town Center opened with about 55 percent occupancy on October 14, 2014 after a two-year renovation project. Since opening, it has grown to include some 150 tenants. Current occupancy has reached nearly 95 percent, according to Christensen.

“We have worked hard to create a community atmosphere with new restaurants, food service and entertainment offerings,” he pointed out. “We now have a healthy balance of national, regional and local merchants…and we welcome small, local tenants.”

“This is a golden opportunity for Realtors® in Northern Virginia to bring their local clients to the Springfield Town Center,” Christensen said. He urged local Realtors® to contact him at: Christee@preit.com.

“Our first priority has been to complete the retail center, and as we achieve that we will be moving on to our second priority of mixed-use development,” he explained. Plans are reported to include an additional 3 million square feet of new offices, high- rise residential buildings and a new hotel.

Meanwhile, the federal government is continuing to expand its footprint in the area surrounding the Town Center, fueling relocation to the area by government contractors such as General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.

At the top of the new projects list is Boston Properties construction for the planned 2020 move of the Transportation Security Administration headquarters, with its more than 3,400 employees. The TSA’s $316 million long-term lease of 622,812 square feet of new office space was announced in late August.

Nearby, surrounded by chain link fence, are the federal government’s existing GSA warehouse facilities. The location is still considered one of three finalists for a new FBI headquarters. The GSA’s reported plan is to trade the current FBI building in downtown D.C. for a new, state-of-the-art, two-million square-foot headquarters at an anticipated construction cost of roughly $2.5 billion.

Although the Trump administration put the project on ice in 2017, the GSA had already narrowed its plans to three locations, including two alternatives in Maryland, either Greenbelt or Landover. It is unknown whether the GSA will start the site selection process again from scratch if given a green light to proceed.

Even absent an FBI presence, the new TSA headquarters relocation is expected to stimulate demand for office and retail facilities, as well as residential housing for its employees.

“We’ll be seeing even more development as future projects continue to unfold,” Manney predicted.