The Block’s old home is becoming apartments

The place people remember

The food hall that started with a school bus

Before The Block, there was SnoCream and a converted school bus. Founder Arturo Mei sold Taiwanese-style shaved snow from the bus before finding a regular spot near the former Kmart. When he wanted more room, the vacant billiards hall nearby offered considerably more space than a dessert shop needed. A food hall became the answer.

The Block opened in stages in late 2016 and early 2017, bringing Asian food vendors and a bar together at 4221 John Marr Drive. Early businesses included SnoCream, Balô Kitchen, Roots and Pokéworks. Different orders could end up at the same table, which was part of what distinguished the place from a row of separate restaurants.

That history helps explain why this redevelopment is more than a change in building size. An existing, modest commercial space had made room for a new local destination. The next building will have retail space too, but its tenant mix and the cost of operating there will determine what can grow inside it.

Inside the old food hall

A 3.2-acre phase

What left and what remains

The Block, Pelicana, Kimen Ramen & Izakaya and B-Thrifty left the redevelopment section in 2025. The change affects roughly 3.2 acres at the northern end of the larger, 11.83-acre property. K Market and businesses elsewhere in Eastgate remain outside this construction phase.

There is a longer-term vision for additional redevelopment across the shopping center. For now, the building underway and the operating businesses around it are different parts of the story. A future town-center concept should not be read as an immediate demolition schedule for the remaining shops.

One familiar name has already found another home within Eastgate. In October 2025, Annandale Today reported that SnoCream had reopened inside Garden Social, taking over the small service window formerly occupied by Tiger Sugar. The food hall’s closure did not end SnoCream’s connection to this shopping center.

Where this phase sits

The building taking shape

The homes will be rentals

Eastgate is planned as rental housing, rather than condominiums for sale. John Moriarty & Associates, the general contractor, listed 268 apartments in a six-story building with 11,200 square feet of ground-floor retail in its May 12, 2026 update. Insight Property Group is developing the project with property owner Brian Kim; Hord Coplan Macht is the architect.

The reported unit mix includes one-bedroom and two-bedroom homes, plus some two-bedroom units with dens. Published market rents and final leasing terms were not verified for this story, so there is no reliable price tag yet for readers trying to work out whether they could live here.

Earlier accounts carry different apartment counts. The original zoning approval allowed up to 280; the county’s activity report describes up to 273, and the lender announced 272 in February 2026. The 268 figure is the contractor’s dated construction program. Those variations are worth knowing when comparing an older article with the project now being built.

Before: the restaurant strip

One-story storefronts in the section that closed in 2025.

Planned: homes above retail

An architectural view of the proposed building, rather than a photograph of completed construction.

Who the set-aside serves

How the 8 percent housing commitment works

The approved workforce dwelling unit commitment covers 8% of the homes, divided into three income tiers. Each share below is a percentage of all homes in the building.

The corresponding rents follow county limits. Area median income, or AMI, is a regional benchmark, and eligibility depends on household size. A 60% AMI limit does not mean an apartment is offered at 60% of its market rent.

The remaining 92% sits outside this specific workforce set-aside. That percentage alone tells us neither the eventual prices nor whether a particular household will find a home affordable. Prospective renters will need the actual rents, applicable income limits, fees and application details when leasing information is released.

Reading the public investment

The tax incentive was approved in 2023

On October 24, 2023, supervisors unanimously approved Eastgate’s eligibility for the county’s Economic Incentive Program. The accompanying fiscal analysis modeled a maximum partial property-tax abatement of $15,758,870, about $15.8 million, over ten years.

That estimate concerned the increase in assessed property value after redevelopment. Taxes on the base property value would continue. The calculation used the applicant’s projected completed value and the 2023 tax rate; it was not a cash grant or a tally of savings already received. Eligibility and completion conditions apply.

The date matters. Fairfax County now describes BUILD as the replacement for the earlier incentive program. The 2023 Eastgate estimate does not establish the project’s actual 2026 benefit or resolve how later program changes apply to it. Those details require a current, project-specific county determination.

The incentive belongs in the public discussion because it puts a financial value beside the redevelopment’s promised benefits. The housing commitment and public space are concrete parts of the plan; the final retail mix remains open.

The estimate in the 2023 record

Public space and resident amenities

Which spaces neighbors will be able to use

Approved plans include 23,858 square feet, about 0.55 acre, of publicly accessible park space. A civic plaza or pocket park and a linear park are planned, with seating, public art and bike racks described in the approved-plan reporting.

The pool, gym, club room and coworking space are residential amenities. They serve people living in the building and should be considered separately from the public park commitment.

For everyone else, the important test will be what the plaza feels like at street level. Can someone comfortably stop and sit without making a purchase? Do the routes through it feel welcoming? Can the storefronts and outdoor space support the sort of casual visit that brings people back? Those are questions for the finished place, beyond the amount of green shown in a rendering.

The retail question

The storefronts are still the biggest unknown

The published accounts have changed. In February 2026, lender ACRES named The Block as the future retail anchor. In May, Annandale Today reported that no retail leases had been finalized and existing shopping-center businesses were not expected in the new building. The contractor’s May update said retail leasing was underway without naming tenants.

The later sources reviewed do not confirm a comeback. Future commercial rents are also unverified, leaving an important question about which independent operators could afford to open here.

That concern predates construction. At the October 2023 Planning Commission review, commissioners discussed gentrification and preserving valuable family-owned retail. The applicant expressed an intention to maintain neighborhood character through comparable businesses. Intentions can guide leasing, but signed tenants and actual business terms will provide a much clearer answer.

The construction timeline

The target is 2027

Fairfax County’s activity report identifies the project as under construction and records approval of the revised site plan on February 12, 2026. A ceremonial groundbreaking followed on May 6.

The contractor’s May schedule targets leasing in summer 2027 and completion in the fourth quarter of 2027. Both dates can change. A leasing launch also does not establish an opening day for every apartment, shop and public space.

Construction underway

What to watch next

What would make a better Eastgate

The next chapter is already being built. More rental homes and a public gathering space give this corner new possibilities. The business departures show that change also carries a cost before those benefits arrive.

The details worth watching now are the rental terms, signed retail tenants, public-space access and construction milestones. Together, they will show how much of the new Eastgate becomes part of everyday Annandale life.