Reston Gateway will greet Silver Line riders with 4.8 million square feet of mixed-use development at the north entrance to the Reston Town Center Metro Station.

The Board of Supervisors approved the aptly named new development on July 31 and it marks the first major new development on the north side of this station.

Boston Properties will redevelop the 33-acre site that sits between the rail stop and Reston Town Center. The property is located on the north side of Sunset Hills Road between Town Center Parkway and Reston Parkway.

The project will deliver new high-rise offices, residences, hotels, shops and restaurants within a quarter mile from the Metro station.

When fully built out, Reston Gateway will create nine blocks with nine new buildings:

Four office buildings totaling 1.8 million square feet

Three residential buildings with 2,010 units, including 16 percent designated as affordable housing

Two hotels with 570 rooms

162,300 square feet in retail and restaurants

As part of the original plans for Reston Town Center, the property was previously approved for 1.2 million square feet of development in the late 1980s. Today, it’s currently developed with two nine-story office buildings called Discovery Square that will remain, plus another two low-rise offices called Reston Corporate Center that eventually will be torn down.

First Phase Builds 2.1 Million Square Feet

Boston Properties will construct the project in two phases. The first will bring four new buildings to the property’s west side at the intersection of Sunset Hills and Town Center Parkway.

This area is currently home to a 613-space surface parking lot that once served as an interim county park-and-ride lot for the Wiehle-Reston East Metro station.

The first phase will erect almost 2.1 million square feet that includes:

28-story office building with 10,700 square feet of retail and restaurants

22-story office with 5,500 square feet of retail and restaurants

14-story hotel with 240 rooms, plus retail and restaurants

44-story residential building with 600 units

Reston Gateway has already secured its first major office tenant. Fannie Mae will lease about 850,000 square feet in one of the offices to be built in the first phase of development.

Library Street to Be Extended

Boston Properties will create a new local street grid as part of the project. This includes extending Library Street south from Bluemont Way to Sunset Hills Road. Two new roads, Century Street and Founders Boulevard, will run east to west, connecting Library Street to Town Center Parkway. Two new roads will bisect the development north to south, linking to Sunset Hills Road.

The developer also will widen Sunset Hills Road to three lanes going westbound, adding a shared or dedicated right-hand turn lane onto Town Center Parkway.

The project also features connections to the Metro station and W&OD Trail. In the second phase of development, an elevated pedestrian bridge will be built from a free-standing retail building to the station. A pedestrian and bicycle connection to the trail will be built, making a connection to Reston Town Center.

Up to Seven Acres in Parks

Overall, 30 percent of the project will be open space with up to 7.23 acres of parks. Boston Properties plans to locate about half of this park space along the property’s northern boundary in a Dominion Energy easement. Other urban parks will be spread across Reston Gateway, including a large central park.

Because the development triggers the need for a new athletic field, Boston Properties will meet this obligation through several options.

It could build a full-sized, synthetic turf field offsite at property that would be dedicated to the Fairfax County Park Authority. Or, it could build a new field on top of the Purple Garage at Reston Town Center. Or, the developer could contribute money to build a new field. As a final option, Boston Properties could dedicate 50,000 square at Reston Gateway for a performing arts center in lieu of the field.

Connecting Reston Town Center’s Urban Core

While the Reston Town Center Metro Station isn’t expected to open until 2020, Reston Gateway capitalizes on the increasing demand to be near this rail stop. It expands the vibrant, urban core of Reston Town Center that continues to draw tenants.

At the beginning of the year, Leidos announced it was moving its headquarters into a new, 276,000 square foot, build-to-suit office under construction at Reston Town Center.

Fortune 500 company Bechtel announced last month that it will relocate its headquarters from San Francisco to Reston. The global construction firm will consolidate its executive staff at another Boston Properties building, Reston Overlook, at 12011 Sunset Hills Road, on the south side of Reston Gateway.

Reston Gateway joins the massive Reston Crescent development that was also approved on July 31. This 4.1 million square foot project, the first approved on the south side of the Town Center Metro station, will be anchored by Reston’s first Wegmans.