Dulles Gymnastics Plans Relocation To New Loudoun County Facility

DULLES, VA — A longtime gymnastics academy in Sterling will relocate to another location within Loudoun County.

Dulles Gymnastics Academy, which dates back to 1972, will move to Arcola Center, 24730 Arcola Center Plaza in the Dulles South area of Loudoun County after the building is completed early in 2025, according to developer St. John Properties. It will be the first tenant in the 34-acre Arcola Center commercial development by St. John Properties.

"The new location is a game-changer for us in so many respects,” said Dulles Gynmastics Academy co-owner Deborah Walk in a news release. "We maxed out our potential in our existing building given space restraints and over time realized that we missed opportunities given the poor visibility of our site and the relative lack of amenities nearby. The Arcola Center location corrects each of these issues, significantly elevates our brand and will enable us to introduce additional programming and classes to take Dulles Gymnastics to the next level."

According to co-owner Jeffrey Walk, the new Arcola Center location will allow Dulles Gymnastics to offer more shows and demonstrations and have additional space for isummer camps. The location is also convenient for families interested in the academy's programs.

"We have learned that families do not wish to travel too far to access programming, and we were attracted by the high density of homes in the nearby area," said Jeffrey Walk in a news release. "For parents waiting for their children, they can spend time in the nearby shops and restaurants. The facility itself serves our purposes with the high ceilings and generous parking. We will also be able to install our trampoline pits into the building foundation, which will improve the safety of the equipment."

Dulles Gymnastics Academy provides exercise and fitness classes and training sessions from when they start walking to their 20s. Classes range from an introduction to gymnastics for preschool and kindergarten to advanced training for elite-level midle and high school athletes interested in competitions. The academy's Development, XCEL and Trampoline and Tumbling teams compete and are ranked nationally.

St. John Properties broke ground on the first phase of the Arcola Center commercial development last spring to fill expected demand for flex R&D (research and development) and office buildings. The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors had approved the rezoning to allow Arcola Center in January 2022.

“When rezoning the property, we explained that Loudoun is suffering from a severe constraint of
available flex/R&D product to support new and expanding companies," said Matt Holbrook, regional partner in Virginia and central Maryland for St. John Properties. "This lack of space is limiting local businesses, job creation, and economic diversity that the community desires. And with extreme land pricing and limited land availability in Loudoun, construction of new flex/R&D buildings is rare these days."

The development will include 10 buildings with up to 450,000 square feet collectively near the intersection of Loudoun County Parkway and Dulles West Boulevard. The first phase will deliver four buildings with 130,000 square feet collectively and have free parking and flexible suite sizes. The development seeks to accomodate a range of commercial uses, such as professional services, tech firms, light manufacturing, retail and logistics companies. Buildings are being designed to meet LEED certification for co-friendly practices.