In 2011, when Comstock Holding Cos. began building a 3-million-square-foot mixed-use development near a future subway stop in Reston, Va., took a measured approach, designing and constructing several buildings over nearly a decade that eventually became Reston station. With its first efforts completed and leased, Comstock decided to step up its efforts and engage in its next 3 million square foot development phase: Reston Row.
The plan called for a 1.3 million-square-foot underground parking garage, a 28-story, 530,000-square-foot hotel and condominium building, a 28-story, 500,000-square-foot residential building, and two offices measuring 320,000 sq. ft. and 300,000 sq. ft. Comstock decided to design and build all the projects simultaneously, using one general contractor: Davis Construction. At first, the buildings were largely developed without tenants, meaning the design and construction teams would have to remain flexible while staying on target to deliver the entire project in roughly four years. The first project began in 2021, with completion of the final building in the fall of 2025.
The project is located near Metro’s Silver Line, which connects Dulles International Airport, Loudoun County and the Washington, DC metro area.
Photos and renderings courtesy of Comstock Cos.
A New Neighborhood
Built next to Reston Station, Reston Row was envisioned to complement Comstock’s early development and create a neighborhood feel, says Tim Steffan, Comstock’s chief operating officer.
“We needed to increase the footprint of what we’re trying to create here, which is really the beginning of a small town,” he says. “We need to create a larger common area with a very lively common theme, which we didn’t necessarily have at the time at Reston Station.”
The resulting design for Reston Row called for pushing the buildings to the perimeter of the 8.5-acre site and creating more public space in the center, says HKS principal Steve Radke.
“Comstock really wanted to create a sense of place that was active,” he explains. “Activating the ground level and linking it to Reston Station were really important considerations in the initial design and massing.”
“We needed to increase the footprint of what we’re trying to create here, which is really the beginning of a small town.”
— Tim Steffan, Comstock COO
Each building would also have its own unique design that complemented the development without strictly adhering to a uniform aesthetic. Although HKS designed the two office buildings and the residential building, Radke says different designers from the firm were used “so that each would have a different look and feel.” The hotel and condominium building, which will be the first JW Marriott in Virginia when it is completed in September, was originally designed by Nunzio Marc DeSantis Architects of Dallas with WDG now serving as the architect of record.
Meanwhile, Davis sought consistency where possible in order to streamline means and methods. “We had to make sure it wasn’t too complicated,” says Dan Preston, principal of Davis Construction.
Among the consistent options, all structures are post-tensioned concrete. Davis also used only one company, Schuster Concrete, to handle the entire concrete scope of the project. While a megaproject could be overwhelming for a general contractor or a single prime subcontractor, Preston says it worked to the team’s advantage. Because the designs were somewhat dynamic as the needs of newly signed tenants emerged, Preston says his team was able to strategically use labor throughout the campus.
“On single projects, the impact of changes can be huge from the point of view of the tower crane rental time to the departure and return of the workforce,” he says. “We have an entire campus here, so we can move the workforce around the site, work on the priority list and mitigate some of those impacts on Comstock. This allows [Comstock’s] vision that still happens without major financial or scheduling implications.”
Reston Row is being built adjacent to Reston Station, creating a combined 6 million square feet of space.
Photos and renderings courtesy of Comstock Cos.
Stay flexible
While each building presented its own challenges, one of the most daunting aspects was parking.
Crews dug approximately 70 feet below grade to make room for the five-level parking garage. As work was about to begin, Comstock asked to delay construction of half of the garage. Davis accommodated the change with the commitment that the entire site would be excavated at once. Eventually, crews removed about 600,000 cubic meters of dirt from the site.
The garage sits directly below all the buildings, so the design had to take into account the structural demands of each. Each building sits on massive foundations that are usually 8 feet deep. Some reach almost 100 feet in the longest dimension. Carrying the cargo through the garage proved tricky, especially at the hotel’s loading docks. The docks are located inside the garage and have an open width of up to 70 feet to allow tractor trailers to turn and back into the space. Massive steel members, imported from Germany, were used for the long spans, with members up to 25 feet long spliced.
The 243-room hotel will feature luxury venues and approximately 25,000 square feet of event and meeting space.
Photos and renderings courtesy of Comstock Cos.
Another change during construction was the decision to alter parts of the structure within the hotel. The larger condo spaces are at the top of the building, and Comstock decided it needed to be customized for the tenants.
“We changed the post-tensioned concrete structure to conventional post-and-beam concrete to allow for greater flexibility in creating new openings and relocating shafts,” says Doug James, senior project architect at WDG.
In another change, a tenant request led to adding a pool on top of one of the office buildings. Radke says the design was easily able to adapt to the change. “We extend flexibility to our designs,” he says. “In this case, the building was designed to support additional floors [in the future]so we said it could have a pool but no extra floors.”
Even with completion on the near horizon, changes are being considered. Preston says Comstock is looking for ways to link the hotel’s ballroom to a neighboring four-story structure called the jewel box.
“We’re entertaining outdoor terraces or other connections to expand this ballroom,” he says.
The residences will consist of 94 condominium homes.
Photo by Bruce Buckley for ENR
Efficiency efforts
Throughout the project, Davis sought innovative efficiencies. In one of the office buildings, Davis worked with the design team to create prefab panels with large single-pane windows that would be glazed in the prefab yard, transported to the site, picked up from trucks, and ·locate in their place.
Each bay was approximately 10 feet high by 10 feet wide, and the panel design could accommodate up to three bays in each. Based on solar studies, each panel uses one of three different shading designs built into the panel. The largest panels weigh about 22,000 pounds.
“We had to make sure it wasn’t too complicated.”
—Dan Preston, Principal, Davis Construction
“We were afraid of breaking glass on the trip from the prefab yard to the site,” recalls Preston. “So we built a model, loaded it on a truck and paid someone to drive it around the ring road two or three times. It went well.”
Finally, 613 pieces of glass were installed in 240 prefabricated panels. Only one panel was damaged in transit. The panels were installed at night, when the team was able to take one lane of traffic and more cranes were available.
“Once the work hit its stride, we were doing eight to 10 panels a night,” says Preston. “We were wrapping the floor of a building in just under a week.”
While Davis has several large subcontractors, each building has sets of smaller contractors that are also in the mix. Preston says that when considering how to manage repetitive tasks, the team adopted the Takt planning system for scheduling and tracking. In the Takt system, work packages are divided into blocks of time that are consistent regardless of task or contractor size.
Comstock is considering connecting the hotel’s ballroom to a neighboring building, one of several changes made to the dynamic project.
Courtesy of Comstock Cos.
“We would take a floor plate and come up with a Takt time that everyone had to collect before moving on to the next area,” he says. “We chose five days. If an assistant manager says they need seven days, we tell them they need to have the right staff to do the whole job in just five days. If someone says they can do it in two days, that’s fine, just continue after five days.”
Preston says the system has reduced the hassle of subs finishing early or late and causing scheduling problems for the subordinates who follow.
With the final core and performer contracts completed in the fall, the team now looks toward future equipment packages as new tenants sign up.
One office building was completed in May 2024, and the other is scheduled for September, when the hotel and parking garage should also be completed. The first occupancy of the residential building is expected in October.
