Tysons (also known by its former official name Tysons Corner), a

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, such ...

(CDP) and

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is part of Northern Virginia and borders both the city of Alexandria and Arlington County and forms part of the suburban ring of Washington, D.C. ...

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 ...

, contains at least 18 high-rise buildings that stand or taller. Capital One Tower is currently the tallest building. Standing tall, it was completed in 2018. VITA Tysons Corner had previously held the record since 2015.

History

Development by the military and intelligence sectors in Tysons began in 1952 with the construction of a

microwave transmission Microwave transmission is the transmission of information by electromagnetic waves with wavelengths in the microwave frequency range of 300MHz to 300GHz(1 m - 1 mm wavelength) of the electromagnetic spectrum. Microwave signals are normally limi ...

tower, known as the

Tysons Corner Communications Tower Tysons Corner Communications Tower, also known as Site E, is a classified United States military microwave tower located in Tysons Corner, Virginia. The tower is administered by the United States Army from Fort Belvoir. History The tower was co ...

, by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. Built upon the highest elevation in Fairfax County, the tower relayed microwave transmissions between Washington, D.C., and government facilities near the

Blue Ridge Mountains The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. The mountain range is located in the Eastern United States, and extends 550 miles southwest from southern Pennsylvania through Maryland, West Virgin ...

to enable emergency

continuity of government Continuity of government (COG) is the principle of establishing defined procedures that allow a government to continue its essential operations in case of a catastrophic event such as nuclear war. COG was developed by the British government bef ...

. Tysons itself was a rural

crossroads Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to: * Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...

community until 1961, when the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

completed its

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

in nearby

Langley Langley may refer to: People * Langley (surname), a common English surname, including a list of notable people with the name * Dawn Langley Simmons (1922–2000), English author and biographer * Elizabeth Langley (born 1933), Canadian perfor ...

. This spurred

defense contractors Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...

to setup offices in Tysons. In 1962,

real estate developer Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re-lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to others. R ...

WestGroup received county approval to build its WestGate and WestPark office parks in Tysons which were among the first in the area. That same year, the county also approved plans for

Lerner Enterprises Lerner Enterprises is a company owned by Ted Lerner and his family that develops and invests in real estate in the Washington metropolitan area. The company has developed more than 20 million square feet of real estate. History The company was f ...

to build the

Tysons Corner Center Tysons Corner Center is a shopping mall in the unincorporated area of Tysons in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States (between McLean and Vienna, Virginia). It opened to the public in 1968, becoming one of the first fully enclosed, climate-contr ...

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a North American term for a large indoor shopping center, usually anchored by department stores. The term "mall" originally meant a pedestrian promenade with shops along it (that is, the term was used to refe ...

, which subsequently opened in 1968. Aerial shot of Tysons Corner, Virginia 2010

By the mid-1980s, the Fairfax County supervisors approved an easing of the county's height limit to allow for the construction of the never-built Tysons Tower office building at the intersection of the

Capital Beltway The Capital Beltway is a Interstate Highway in the Washington metropolitan area that surrounds Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States, and its inner suburbs in adjacent Maryland and Virginia. It is the basis of the phrase "inside th ...

and

Virginia Route 7 Virginia State Route 7 (VA 7) is a major primary state highway and busy commuter route in northern Virginia, United States. It travels southeast from downtown Winchester to SR 400 (Washington Street) in downtown Alexandria. Its ...

. By 1985, Fairfax County officials considered a plan to construct "gateways" which consisted of pairs of buildings as high as 22 stories or at key intersections along the Capital Beltway, the

Dulles Access Road State Route 267 (SR 267) is a primary state highway in the US state of Virginia. It consists of two end-to-end toll roads – the Dulles Toll Road and Dulles Greenway – as well as the non-tolled Dulles Access Road, which lies in the ...

, Virginia Route 7, and

Virginia Route 123 State Route 123 (SR 123) is a primary state highway in the U.S. state of Virginia. The state highway runs from U.S. Route 1 (US 1) in Woodbridge north to the Chain Bridge across the Potomac River into Washington from Arlington. It goes by f ...

. County officials sought to make Tysons into Fairfax County's "new downtown." The plan also called for proposing a rooftop height limit of as the maximum height for future construction projects. In June 2010, the Fairfax County supervisors authorized a plan to transform Tysons from an automobile-dependent suburb into a "walkable city." By 2011, Tysons had of office space; higher than the metropolitan areas of

San Antonio, Texas ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , subdivision_t ...

and

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

. Increased high-rise construction in Tysons was further spurred by the construction and opening of the Silver Line of the

Washington Metro The Washington Metro (or simply Metro), formally the Metrorail,Google Books search/preview

, which has four stations in Tysons: Spring Hill,

Greensboro Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte and Raleigh, the 69th-most populous city in the Un ...

Tysons Corner Tysons, also known as Tysons Corner, is a census-designated place (CDP) in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, developed from the corner of Chain Bridge Road ( SR 123) and the Leesburg Pike ( SR 7). Located in Northern Virginia between the c ...

, and

McLean MacLean, also spelt Maclean and McLean, is a Goidelic languages, Gaelic surname Mac Gille Eathain, or, Mac Giolla Eóin in Irish language, Irish Gaelic), Eóin being a Gaelic form of Johannes (John (given name), John). The clan surname is an A ...

. The

Capital One Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in McLean, Virginia with operations primarily in the United States. It is on the list o ...

Headquarters, under construction near the McLean station as of 2019, contains the tallest building in Tysons and the

Washington metropolitan area The Washington metropolitan area, also commonly referred to as the National Capital Region, is the metropolitan area centered on Washington, D.C. The metropolitan area includes all of Washington, D.C. and parts of the states of Maryland, Virgin ...

at , and is the second-tallest non-communication structure in the Washington metropolitan area after the

Washington Monument The Washington Monument is an obelisk shaped building within the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate George Washington, once commander-in-chief of the Continental Army (1775–1784) in the American Revolutionary War and the ...

(which stands ). 1775 Tysons Boulevard, constructed by Lerner Enterprises near Tysons Corner station, is the first building in Tysons to achieve platinum status under the

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...

(LEED) building rating system and among the first in the Washington metropolitan area. Tysons has the 8th largest retail square footage in the United States with . Tysons is home to the corporate headquarters of five

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States corporations by total revenue for their respective fiscal years. The list includes publicly held companies, along ...

companies:

Freddie Mac The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC), commonly known as Freddie Mac, is a publicly traded, government-sponsored enterprise (GSE), headquartered in Tysons Corner, Virginia.Capital One Capital One Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company specializing in credit cards, auto loans, banking, and savings accounts, headquartered in McLean, Virginia with operations primarily in the United States. It is on the list o ...

Hilton Worldwide Hilton Worldwide (legally Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc.) is an American multinational hospitality company that manages and franchises a broad portfolio of hotels and resorts. Founded by Conrad Hilton in May 1919, the corporation is now led b ...

Booz Allen Hamilton Booz Allen Hamilton Holding Corporation (informally Booz Allen) is the parent of Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., an American management and information technology consulting firm, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in Greater Washington, D.C., with 8 ...

, and

Gannett Company Gannett Co., Inc. () is an American mass media holding company headquartered in McLean, Virginia, in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

Tallest buildings

There are at least 18 completed or topped out skyscrapers in Tysons that stand at least tall, based on standard height measurement which includes spires and architectural details but does not include antenna masts.

Tallest buildings under construction or proposed

Under construction

The following buildings under construction in Tysons are expected to rise at least .

Proposed

There are numerous buildings proposed in Tysons that are expected to rise at least .

Timeline of tallest buildings

References

Explanatory notes :a. The

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

officially began referring to the

of Tysons Corner as Tysons in Summer 2016. The name Tysons was first unofficially adopted in 2012 by the Tysons Partnership, a nonprofit association of area businesses and stakeholders. :b. An asterisk (*) indicates that the building is still under construction, but has been topped out. Citations Further reading * *

External links

*
Tysons Development Activity
{{DEFAULTSORT:List Of Tallest Buildings In Tysons Buildings and structures in Fairfax County, Virginia Tallest in Tysons Tysons Skyscrapers in Virginia Tysons, Virginia