Casino Planned In Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station Area By Comstock, Leaders Say

RESTON, VA — Comstock Companies wants to build a casino at or near the Wiehle-Reston East Metro Station, several local officials told Patch.

The possibility of a casino being built along Metro's Silver Line in Fairfax County first came to light during the final days before the end of the first half of the 2023 Virginia General Assembly session, when similar bills were introduced by Sen. David Marsden (D-Burke) and Del. Wren Williams (R-Stuart).

Patch reached out to Comstock several times by phone and email requesting an interview with CEO Chris Clemente or a statement about their plans for Reston Station and a possible casino. As of 2 p.m. Monday, no response had been received.

Currently, the Virginia Code only allows for casinos to be built in host cities with a population of least 1 million and a county executive form of government. Fairfax County is the only locality in the state to fit that description, according to the Washington Business Journal, which broke the story in January.

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Language in Marsden's bill narrows the location of a "casino gaming establishment" to "within one quarter of a mile of an existing station on the Metro Silver Line, (ii) part of a coordinated mixed-use project development, (iii) outside the Dulles airport flight path, and (iv) outside the Interstate 495 Beltway.

With the opening last November of Phase II of the Silver Line extension, Fairfax County now has seven stations where a possible new casino could feasibly be located: Tysons, Greensboro, Spring Hill, Wiehle-Reston East, Reston Town Center, Herndon, and Innovation Center.

Much of the speculation at that time concerned the Innovation Center Station located south of the Dulles Toll Road at 13747-A Sunrise Valley Drive in Herndon. But Patch recently learned from several sources that Comstock was planning to build a casino at or near Reston Station.

Although Marsden and Williams' bills were both withdrawn, they did not disappear. Marsden told Patch on Thursday that he would likely reintroduce the bill if he's re-elected to the Virginia Senate in November. He is currently running against Republican Mark Vafiades.

If the General Assembly passed a bill, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the bill, and Fairfax County met all of the requirements, a referendum would be added to a ballot for an upcoming election. That would mean all Fairfax County voters could vote on whether to allow a casino to be built.

"I think the county is interested in taking a look at it," Marsden said. "It's going to be a referendum. We've started down the road of a severe downturn in the commercial real estate business. People who needed 50,000 square feet of office space now need 5. It's going to devalue the market and there's going to be less taxes because there'll be a lot more in the way of vacancies."

In July, Stephen Tarditi, director of market intelligence at the Fairfax County Economic Development Authority, told the Board of Supervisors that the office market was a "lagging economic indicator" and the vacancy rate was well above pre-pandemic levels, according to FFXNow.

In 2022, the county had 6.6 million square-feet of leased office space in 2022, which was 37 percent above pre-pandemic levels, FFXNow reported.

"We need to start looking towards the future of having a broader economy in the county or broader revenue stream other than property taxes and the things that we usually get money from," Marsden said. "You've got to find ways to replace that as the world changes."

Marsden said he thought Wiehle Avenue-Reston Station was one of the locations Comstock was considering for a casino.

"Just for my purposes, my opinion is that Tysons would be a better location," he said. "Actually, the Tysons market isn't quite so bad, because people want to be where the action is. It's all the outlying office buildings that are struggling."

Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn said that he's heard "conflicting rumors" about where Comstock wanted to build a casino.

"They have not talked with me about it," he said. "I oppose putting a casino on the Silver Line and Comstock should be aware of my position on that, it has not changed since I first became aware of casino interest in the Dulles corridor late last year. The land around these stations is already valuable for so many other socially beneficial uses, and plopping a casino into these emerging transit oriented development communities during their formative years is a bad idea.”

Patch also reached out to Sen. Jennifer Boysko, who is running for reelection in the new 38th District, which includes the Reston area.

"I am aware that Comstock would like a casino at the Reston station and I am not supportive of such a proposal," she said, in an email. "I strongly opposed this same proposal when it was raised last year. I do not believe that the community wants to have a casino in Reston."

Virginia currently has two casinos, Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Bristol and the recently opened Rivers Casino Portsmouth. A third casino, Caesars Virginia, is slated to open next year in Danville. In addition, Fairfax County residents can cross the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and gamble at MGM National Harbor in Maryland.