The Stratford Motor Lodge, which closed in 2021, has occupied the corner of West Broad Street for many years. The site has been left vacant, however, plans to remodel the motel were recently announced. Installations such as a Wawa store and a senior center have been attempted, but both projects fell through.
According to an article on Patch, a website that reports on local communities, the team that created Dominion Wine and Beer in Falls Church City is behind the proposal to revitalize the property. They plan to introduce an indoor-outdoor restaurant concept, designed by Francois Frossard Design of Miami, and architect Matt Lee of Lee Design Studio.
Arash Tafakor, a member of the team working to remodel the site said in an interview with Patch that the smaller motel building will be repurposed into a kitchen and grab-and-go food area. The larger building that houses the hotel rooms will be replaced with a new restaurant space. In addition, some extra land will be allocated for outdoor dining space.
According to the Falls Church News-Press, Bristol Capital Corporation, a Bethesda-based commercial real estate company, currently owns the site. They acquired the property as part of the settlement of a civil action brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission against Todd Hitt, the imprisoned developer and investor.
Todd Hitt was incarcerated for deceiving investors about several development projects, which caused investors to lose roughly $20 million.
The Falls Church News-Press said that Hitt bought the Stratford Motor Lodge Property for $6 million in 2018 with plans to develop the site into a senior living center. These plans eventually fell through after the Falls Church City Economic Development Council objected to the project.
In late September, remodeling plans were released to the Falls Church Planning Commission on the abandoned motel.
Currently, the site plan is waiting to be reviewed by the Falls Church City Planning Commission, but there is a bright future ahead for the aging Stratford Motor Lodge that has long been a part of Falls Church City.
