Belmont Bay is a

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

in northeastern

Woodbridge Woodbridge may refer to: Places Australia *Woodbridge, Western Australia formerly called ''West Midland'' *Woodbridge, Tasmania Canada *Woodbridge, Ontario England *Woodbridge, Suffolk, the location of ** Woodbridge (UK Parliament constituency ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

along the

Occoquan River The Occoquan River is a tributary of the Potomac River in Northern Virginia, where it serves as part of the boundary between Fairfax and Prince William counties. The river is a scenic area, and several local high schools and colleges use the r ...

Belmont Bay Belmont Bay is a body of water at the mouth of the Occoquan River between Fairfax and Prince William counties, Virginia. The bay covers about . The bay adjoins the Elizabeth Hartwell Mason Neck National Wildlife Refuge and Mason Neck State Park on ...

developed by Caruthers Companies.

History

The overall property of Belmont Bay stretches from Woodbridge station southeast to the

Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge The Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge is a National Wildlife Refuge located where the Occoquan River meets the Potomac River in Woodbridge, Virginia, United States between Belmont Bay and Occoquan Bay. The site, about half of which is wetla ...

, and is bordered to the east by the Occoquan River and Belmont Bay and to the west by other residential properties. This property was conceived in the 1980s as a

gated community A gated community (or walled community) is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences ...

with an

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ed ...

on land purchased by Preston Caruthers. The community is no longer gated and has slowly developed since and will be fully-completed in the 2030s. In July 2021, Caruthers Companies submitted a

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

550 million plan for the final phase of the Belmont Bay development project, located on a vacant field at the Occoquan River waterfront. This

mixed-use Mixed-use is a kind of urban development, urban design, urban planning and/or a zoning type that blends multiple uses, such as residential, commercial, cultural, institutional, or entertainment, into one space, where those functions are to some ...

area project designed by

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

-based design firm

Sasaki Sasaki () is the 13th most common Japanese surname. Less common variants are 佐咲, 佐佐木 and 笹木. Notable people with the surname include: Overview *, Japanese figure skater *, Japanese alpine skier *, Japanese idol and singer *, Japane ...

includes 749 owner-occupied high-density homes, 641

apartment An apartment (American English), or flat (British English, Indian English, South African English), is a self-contained housing unit (a type of residential real estate) that occupies part of a building, generally on a single story. There are ma ...

units, a freestanding

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

, retail space, and a

plaza A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

. This is a revision of the initial plans for development in this lot, which originally included 411 age-restricted homes, 505 hotel rooms, and 1.42 million square feet of retail space. Construction will begin in 2022 and continue over the next years from then.

Recreation

The

, which is located at

, Occoquan Bay, and Marumsco Creek, is located just south of the community of Belmont Bay and is accessible via Dawson Beach Road.

The Osprey's Golf Club

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

called The Osprey's Golf Club opened in 1997 as an amenity for residents of the newly developed Belmont Bay neighborhood. However, it later closed 18 years later on November 29, 2015, as it never made revenue for the developers, who said; "We've been supporting all of these losses over the years with sales of real estate to subsidize to keep the golf course open... the revenue is just not there. The sound business decision would have been to close it down years ago." Subsequent to the closure, the golf course was converted to a

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

and renamed The Osprey's at Belmont Bay. In 2019 as part of the North Woodbridge development project, the former golf course's open areas were considered to be converted to a

disc golf Disc golf, also known as frisbee golf, is a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target; it is played using rules similar to golf. Most disc golf discs are made out of polypropylene plastic, otherwise known as polypropene, which ...

course, however it was said in 2021 by Jay Sotos, development director for the project, that the developers of Belmont Bay proposed these open areas to remain as passive recreational areas and will be restored by

reforestation Reforestation (occasionally, reafforestation) is the natural or intentional restocking of existing forests and woodlands (forestation) that have been depleted, usually through deforestation, but also after clearcutting. Management A debate ...

and replanting native meadows.

Transportation

Belmont Bay is accessible by

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

via the Belmont Bay Harbor

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

, which has a boat refueling station and is located along the banks of the Occoquan River. Northeast of the community is Woodbridge station, located off

U.S. Route 1 U.S. Route 1 or U.S. Highway 1 (US 1) is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that serves the East Coast of the United States. It runs from Key West, Florida, north to Fort Kent, Maine, at the Canadian border, making i ...

, which serves

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

's ''

Northeast Regional The ''Northeast Regional'' is an intercity rail service operated by Amtrak in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic United States. In the past it has been known as the ''NortheastDirect'', ''Acela Regional'', or ''Regional''. It is Amtrak's busies ...

'' line and

Virginia Railway Express Virginia Railway Express (VRE) is a commuter rail service that connects outlying small cities of Northern Virginia to Union Station in Washington, D.C. It operates two lines which run during weekday rush hour only: the Fredericksburg Line from ...

Fredericksburg Line The Fredericksburg Line is a commuter rail line operated by Virginia Railway Express between Washington, D.C. and Fredericksburg, VA. Virginia Railway Express operates 8 weekday trains, and Amtrak trains serve a few of the stations on the line. ...

. The

Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission (PRTC) is an American public transportation system in Prince William County, Virginia, Stafford County, Virginia, and Spotsylvania County, Virginia, plus two adjacent independent cities, Manass ...

operates buses to the train station. In 2018, a fast ferry proposal administered by the Northern Virginia Regional Commission and presented by the Potomac and Rappahannock Transportation Commission which will connect with places to the north such as

Washington, District of Columbia ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

and

National Harbor National Harbor is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located along the Potomac River near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and just south of Washington, D.C. It originated as a multi-use waterfront devel ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

and will have its southern terminus at Belmont Bay went forward with further development.

Education

Located within Belmont Bay is the

George Mason University George Mason University (George Mason, Mason, or GMU) is a public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia with an independent City of Fairfax, Virginia postal address in the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Area. The university was origin ...

Potomac Science Center, a US$32 million 50,000 square foot academic and research center which opened on April 12, 2018. Belmont Elementary School serves the community.

References

{{coord missing, Virginia Woodbridge, Virginia Prince William County, Virginia Neighborhoods in Virginia