Construction taking place in the Springfield Town Center parking lot.
The urbanization around the Franconia-Springfield Metro Station is taking a step forward with the hotel-apartment construction progress on the southern end of the Springfield Town Center parking lot. The town center has a greater concentration on non-retail attractions and a shift towards placemaking, consistent with a national trend for shopping.
The site will contain 400 residential units and a five-story hotel in the parking lot area between JC Penney and a separate retail hub away from the center. Hanover R.S. Limited owns the apartments and Intermountain Management owns the hotel section, which is slated to open in 2028. PREIT owns the town center and has owned it for several years.
The Lego Discovery Center was an early arrival outside the retail genre, and it has events and an in-house Lego expert to assist with the big projects. They claim there are over two million bricks at the center and there is a team of Master Model Builders to help with the tough projects. Over on the dining side, big names include Yard House, Dave and Busters, Maggie McFly's, Maggiano's, Chipotle, Starbucks, and others.
Malls across the country are experiencing the same type of remake, said Andrew Brezina, principal at CRTKL, a global architecture, planning and design firm that works with both retailers and malls in designing spaces. Instead of being packed with retail shops and walk-up pizza places like Springfield used to be, they must be neighborhood gathering places where people can shop and dine and have access to services like healthcare, gyms, co-working and living spaces, said Brezina in an article in Forbes Magazine. The apartment-hotel project at Springfield Town Center follows that formula.
