From 2000 until this February, the Kingstowne library sat in leased space at 6500 Lansdowne Centre, a shopping center whose other tenants include a CVS and a Dairy Queen. For a quarter century, the place where Kingstowne borrowed books, held meetings and got computer help was a storefront. Over 2026 that arrangement has been coming apart, and it's happening in several places at once. The library moved into a county building. Its old space is being cut into shops. The Towne Center, which has never had a single resident, now has two approved housing projects and a plan to turn the walkway between Regal and Panera into a real public plaza.
Put together, Kingstowne is separating where it shops from where it gathers. Each change below fits that pattern.
The library left the strip for a building made for it
Kingstowne Regional Library opened April 11 on the second floor of the new Franconia Governmental Center at 7130 Silver Lake Blvd. According to FFXnow's coverage of the opening, the crowd that day was "well into the hundreds."
The size difference is easy to measure. The new branch has 30,000 square feet, about twice the old library. It holds the 36,800 items moved from Lansdowne Centre plus 18,500 new ones. It also became Fairfax County Public Library's ninth regional branch, which put Kingstowne alongside Reston, Pohick, Sherwood and the other larger libraries in the system.
The bigger change is who the library shares a building with. The 90,000-square-foot governmental center also houses an adult day center, child care, a new police station, Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk's office and the Franconia Museum. At the dedication, Lusk said "Facilities such as this build community." The old branch shared a shopping center with retail tenants. The new one shares a building with other public services, and you can walk in at street level or come straight up from the parking garage.
The hours are longer, too. The branch is open seven days a week: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
Nine storefronts where the stacks used to be
The space the library left at Landsdowne Centre isn't being held for another community use. In June, FFXnow's morning roundup passed along a Washington Business Journal report that the center's owner is looking for contractors to split about 20,000 square feet, formerly the Kingstowne Library and the Center for Active Adults, into "nine new retail spaces."
The same report called the rest of Landsdowne Centre "fully leased," with CVS, Hangry Joe's and Dairy Queen among the tenants. No tenants have been named for the nine new spaces yet. Once they open, Landsdowne will be all shops, and the library and senior center will be up the road in buildings designed for them.
A Towne Center that was supposed to have residents in 1985
Kingstowne Towne Center was approved as a mixed-use complex in 1985. In practice it was built as retail and office space. FFXnow reported in September that the Board of Supervisors seems to be trying to deliver that original vision by attracting housing. Two votes this year did a lot of that work:
- May 5. Supervisors unanimously approved Halle Companies' plan to replace a parking lot with two buildings totaling 646 units. A 328-unit building at 5941 Kingstowne Village Parkway comes first, then a 318-unit building at 5961. An eight-level garage will serve both.
- Sept. 15. Supervisors unanimously approved BXP's plan to turn the nine-story office building at 5971 Kingstowne Village Parkway into 280 units. The first phase converts the office building into 120 units. The second adds a five-story, 160-unit addition on top of the existing three-story garage.
Halle's site has been in limbo for nearly 20 years. It was first planned for offices in 2008, then switched to housing that never got built. Neither project has announced a construction schedule. The current office tenants at 5971 are moving to another office building in the town center.
The Halle approval also dropped a requirement. The 2020 plan for the site called for retail on the ground floor of the buildings. Halle asked the county to remove that, and the board agreed. The developer kept the option of up to 4,500 square feet of non-residential space near the plaza, but said it will more likely become a lobby. So the new residents won't come with new storefronts. The Towne Center's existing shops and restaurants are expected to get the extra foot traffic. Lusk said as much: the added housing will bring more people to the community amenities.
The walkway between Regal and Panera becomes a plaza
Halle's approval also includes a redesign of the pedestrian plaza between the Regal theater and Panera Bread. According to FFXnow, the approved plan includes:
- A central turf lawn and a promenade
- A fountain feature
- A tree grove with movable tables and chairs
- An informal stage
- Shade structures and garden areas
- Two outdoor dining areas
Today that stretch is mostly a path between a movie and a meal. The new plan adds a stage, a lawn and chairs you can move around, which is the gathering function Kingstowne has never had in an outdoor space. Halle will build the plaza and then hand it to Federal Realty, which bought much of Kingstowne Towne Center, including the plaza parcel, in 2022 as part of a $200 million acquisition. Like the housing, the plaza is approved but has no construction dates yet.
The restaurant changes point the same way
With a plaza on the way, the shopping-center buildings around it are being reworked too. In September, FFXnow's morning roundup cited a Washington Business Journal report that zoning documents suggest Federal Realty plans to demolish the Uno building at 5935 Kingstowne Towne Center and replace it with a new restaurant, possibly a Sweetwater Tavern. Asked about it, Federal Realty said only that Uno "remains a tenant," and the franchisee said he "has not been informed by Federal Realty of a lease termination." For now this is a proposal, not a closure. Uno's own location page still shows hours, online ordering and reservations for Kingstowne.
Elsewhere, smaller openings have filled spaces that already existed:
- Potbelly Sandwich Shop, 7011D Manchester Blvd., at Festival at Manchester Lakes, in the former Jimmy John's spot. It was scheduled to open Sept. 15 with a grand opening Oct. 3. Northern Virginia Magazine included it in an Oct. 2 roundup of new restaurants.
- Japomen, 6460 Old Beulah St. in Hilltop Village Center, in the space DonutChew used to occupy. The Alexandria location page lists hours and online ordering.
Landsdowne's nine new storefronts, the possible Uno replacement and these openings are all shopping-center space being re-leased for shopping. The community side of Kingstowne's routine is the part that has moved somewhere else.
Where the fall calendar is now
The Kingstowne Farmers Market's 2026 season was scheduled to end with its Friday, Oct. 23 market. All season it ran Fridays from 3 to 7 p.m. in the Giant parking lot at 5870 Kingstowne Towne Center, per the Fairfax County Park Authority. Once that final scheduled Friday passes, much of the recurring local calendar runs through the new library. Here's what the library's November calendar lists at Kingstowne:
- Nov. 2: Intro to Home Energy Efficiency
- Nov. 3: Kingstowne Books & Brews
- Nov. 5: Tech Help Clinic and Daytime Book Club
- Nov. 10: An author event
- Nov. 14: FCPL Fix-It Clinic
- Nov. 24: All Fairfax Reads: Demon Copperhead book discussion
For Halloween, the Patch Kingstowne calendar lists a Trunk or Treat on Friday, Oct. 30 at Faith Fellowship Assembly of God, 7800 Telegraph Road. Patch suggests confirming details with the organizer before you go.
At Shepherd Homes Group, we keep track of changes like these because they shape everyday life in Kingstowne, from where the library sits to what ends up on the Regal and Panera plaza. If you'd like to talk about how the Towne Center's new housing and plaza plans affect your corner of Kingstowne, our team is glad to help. Contact Us.
