Everyone in Mount Vernon has passed the big red barn at the Grist Mill Park at one time or another and for years, it’s looked the same. The barn and silo come from another time, and the surrounding gardens and ballfield seem to grow each year.

Real estate moguls Mark and Michael White, made a proposal under the Virginia Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act  to the Fairfax County Park Authority. 

The Whites propose now that the barn become a family-style restaurant run by the Whites to add a business to this area along Mount Vernon Highway. Mark and Michael White are looking at it as a way to enhance the area for many families living nearby and the newly improved bike trail could improve local access.

“My brother and I got the idea; the county needs a hub like that,” said Mark White.

So they whipped up a plan with local restaurateur Noe Landini and developer Victor Bonomi who are all partners in this venture. Landini is famous around Old Town Alexandria for several restaurants he’s been behind, and Bonomi is CEO of Tech24 Construction and known for his work on breweries and restaurants in the area.

Mark and Michael White are real estate agents in the area alongside their father Chris White, with Long and Foster Realty in Alexandria.

The hub White mentioned would be a multi-faceted place centered around the barn including a full-service restaurant, event space, outdoor entertainment and music venue, a bike rest stop, public restrooms and support infrastructure for future lighting at the playing fields. The team will own these business entities but the Fairfax County Park Authority will still own the barn.

The timeframe for this venture is a little loose at this point but the Request for Proposals closes on April 25. So far it isn’t clear if the county has gotten any other interest about this barn and surrounding property. It’s a big project with lots of details and with the county government involved, the procedure may take time. “There is a lot … to navigate so a timeline is difficult to do,” White said. After the RFP date, “we’re going to work out the details with the park authority,” he added.

On Feb. 6, the park authority officially acknowledged the White's action for the barn. "The Fairfax County Park Authority has received and accepted an unsolicited proposal under the provisions of the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002 (PPEA) for the redevelopment of the barn at Grist Mill Park in the Mount Vernon District," it said on the county website.

“During our master plan process for Grist Mill Park, we heard the community’s strong desire to find new and creative uses for the barn,” said Park Authority Executive Director Jai Cole in a park authority statement. “The Park Authority has long used public-private partnerships as a means of bringing high-value, high-impact amenities to our community parks. They expand creativity, opportunities for innovation and leverage outside resources for the benefit of our more than 16 million visitors each year.”

Grist Mill Park – located at 4710 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway in Alexandria – provides more than 75 acres of playing fields, garden plots, an off-leash dog area, playground, historic barn, trails and woodlands.