$75M Loss In Homeowner Equity Possible With Reston National Golf Course Redevelopment

RESTON, VA— Local homeowners could see nearly $75 million in combined property equity vanish if a proposed redevelopment of the Reston National Golf Course moves forward, according to data presented at Thursday's Reston Association Board of Directors meeting.

Michele Hudnall, a Realtor with Real Estate of Northern Virginia and president of the Whitney Park East Homeowners Association, told the RA Board that the financial impact of the project would be felt "overnight" by those living near the 100-acre site.

"It's not a golf course story, it's a Fairfax County story, setting a big precedence in what open space actually is," Hudnall said.

The redevelopment plan involves 812 existing households. Analysis of tax records indicates that for 441 homes directly adjacent to the course, market values could drop from $318 million to $271 million upon the start of construction, according to Hudnall. This represents an average loss of more than $100,000 per homeowner.

The shift would leave 93 families in "negative equity," meaning they would owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.

In May 2025, Patch broke the story that attorney Mark Looney, made an offer on behalf of the golf course owners Virginia Investment Partners 2019 LLC and developer NVR Inc.to pay RA $8.5 million as part of an alternate plan in case the county rejects its proposal to redevelop the golf course property.

The alternative proposal was to amend the comprehensive plan to change the zoning of the entire 166-acre property from golf course to mixed-use, dedicating 80 acres to open space that could be used by the Reston community as parkland. The remaining 86 acres would be redeveloped into residential neighborhoods.

Beyond residential impacts, the county faces an estimated loss of $763,855 in annual tax revenue starting on the first day of the project. Projections suggest the county would not recover this cumulative loss until the third year of new condominium absorption.

Also See ...

• Reston National Owners Seek To Force Redevelopment Via Legal Clause
• Fairfax Supervisors Act On Controversial Reston National Redevelopment Proposal
• Nearly 800 Homes Could Be Built On Golf Course Thanks To $8.5M Payment

The current owners of Reston National Golf Course are seeking to bypass the Site-Specific Plan Amendment process by triggering a legal clause from a 1966 zoning approval. While the SSPA process previously resulted in two failed attempts to redevelop the land, the developers are now arguing that the 60-year-old approval remains valid.

"Can a 60-year-old approval override 55 years of subsequent development and two failed public processes?" Hudnall asked.

During the RA Board's Feb. 27, 2025 meeting, Board Member John Farrell (At-Large) told his colleagues that the golf course owners had submitted a proposal to redevelop and add 300 homes to Reston National Golf Course.

“The applicant has framed the application in such a way that they would ultimately be challenging the (Reston Planned Residential Community District) zoning ordinance," said Farrell, who is a land-use attorney. "The PRC zoning ordinance is the one that governs all of Reston, and if their challenge is successful, the amount of chaos that it would introduce to our community would be substantial."

Something in Farrell's phrasing sparked Hudnall's curiosity.

"I could smell it, just based on what he said," she told Patch, in a recent interview. "It was short and powerful, a small amount of words. 'This could be chaos.' And I'm like, 'What do you mean by chaos?'

Using her experience as a Realtor, Hudnell dug through county records and began posting her findings online:

• Reston National Golf Course: Three Applications the Press Missed and What They Actually Mean
• 306 Tiny Condos Was the Headline. The Commercial FunZone Is the Story
• Who Pays and Who Profits: The Financial Impact to “Re-Imagine” Reston National Golf Course

Recent filings reveal plans for a two-story, lighted commercial driving range, a standalone restaurant, indoor simulators, and nighttime golf facilities. Hudnall noted that the proposed "enhancements" would include significant lighting and netting between South Lakes Drive and Sunrise Valley Drive, effectively turning the area into a "commercial playground."

"How does this get approved? Why is it getting approved? Because it's not zoned commercial," Hudnall said, noting the project is being presented as an amendment to a deed or declaration rather than a traditional commercial rezoning. Because it is categorized as an "enhancement," the developer is not required to perform a traffic impact study despite the addition of hundreds of residential and commercial vehicles.

While the developer’s net profit is estimated at $130 million to $140 million with an expected exit by the second year of the project, residents expressed concern over the long-term changes to the community. Hudnall characterized the trend as "tiny condo syndrome," where Reston is being redeveloped "one acre at a time" into a "concrete jungle" rather than following a holistic comprehensive plan.

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and the Planning Commission are expected to evaluate the validity of the 1966 approval prior to a scheduled legislative vote on Nov. 4.

“In Virginia, any landowner may request that their property be rezoned, and this is a public process," Supervisor Walter Alcorn told Patch on Monday. "I look forward to hearing from the public as this proposal moves through the development review process.”

In 2016, the RA Board passed the following resolution stating its position on any efforts to redevelop the community's two golf courses.