A planned apartment complex is set to have even more affordable housing.
Speakers at an Arlington County Board meeting on Tuesday were divided in their thoughts about the Board’s unanimous vote to approve 88 units of additional affordable housing at 1900 S. Eads Street, in the Crystal City area.
Most spoke in favor of the change, which will make 743 of 844 planned units at Crystal House Apartments affordable.
Area resident Ben D’Avanzo said many of his neighbors are seeing high rent increases and struggling to make ends meet. While he said the neighborhood “wasn’t thrilled” with the original approval process for the apartment complex, D’Avanzo has since come on board with the project.
“This is something that is incredibly important to approve and I urge you to do so,” he said.
But Stacy Meyer, vice president of the Aurora Highlands Civic Association, has had no such change of heart.
She pointed out that the complex’s planned affordable units lack previously proposed amenities such as full balconies and a rooftop pool — a shift that she sees as “unfair to its future residents.”
Meyer argued the county’s approach to updating the Crystal House site plan, initially approved in 2019, circumvented additional opportunities for input. By pursuing changes to each building as separate minor site plan amendments, she said, the plans did not receive additional oversight from bodies such as the Site Plan Review Committee.
“The county appears to be working without regard to the future residents, fiscal transparency, the neighborhood income impacts or equitability in schools,” she said. “It’s a heavy-handed approach that we believe needs tempering.”
A letter from the AHCA to the county argues this approach “leads to the slippery slope that produced the failed inequitable public housing of the last century.”
It also took shots at the design, saying it “looks like an economy hotel.”
“When it comes to publicly financed buildings, low-income housing residents deserve the same building quality as the market, just as low-income students deserve the same education and low-income patients deserve the same medical treatment,” the letter says.
To make this development possible, the Board approved a $12.2 million low-interest loan from the Affordable Housing Investment Fund to the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH).
Board member Maureen Coffey noted that most of the planned units are for families and very low-income people, which she believes is key to meeting community needs.
“This is a really impressive and really important thing to do, to get that deep affordability, not just in a one-bedroom or a studio,” she said.
Amazon, which has its HQ2 near the Crystal House Apartments, has played a prominent role in this development project.
The company put up $381.9 million so that the nonprofit Washington Housing Conservancy could purchase the 16-acre site in late 2020, stabilize rent for the 828 existing units and build more than 500 new units.
The purchase was part of its commitment to create and preserve affordable housing as rents rise amid its growing presence. Amazon later donated the land and development rights to the county.
Last January, the county selected APAH and Bethesda-based developer EYA to oversee construction of Crystal House Apartments’ new buildings. Construction is slated to begin in spring 2025 and finish by the end of 2027, per the county presentation this week.
The Lot in Clarendon, now under new ownership, has been re-christened Arlington Beer Garden.
However, craft beer fans will need to wait a bit longer for its debut. Yahya Yasini, one of the new owners, told ARLnow the beer garden at 3217 10th Street N. could open in about a month.
“Our plan is to do grand openings sometime in mid-April,” he said. “So just keep an eye out on Instagram.”
Following its grand opening in 2019, The Lot quickly became a local favorite, gaining particular prominence during the pandemic. Initially, it was expected to remain open for only a few years before being demolished and redeveloped.
However, delays in the planning and approval process extended its lifespan.
ARLnow previously reported the beer garden intended to make last year its final hoorah.
The current plan is still to demolish The Lot and other nearby buildings, including the now-shuttered Silver Diner, to make room for a mixed-use apartment and hotel complex known as the Bingham Center. The Arlington County Board unanimously approved the project last year.
But Yasini said he has come to an “understanding” with the property owners that it may be at least another few years before the site is redeveloped.
“When that time comes, we’ll get into that,” he said.
The property was lively yesterday (Tuesday) with new staff, who could be seen moving new heat lamps and drawing up plans for the area when ARLnow stopped by.
Plans for the site, including the new beer list, are still being finalized, says Yasini. He and his business partners plan to release more updates on the venture’s official Instagram page in the weeks ahead.
Hat tip to numerous tipsters
The old Harris Teeter in Ballston is set to close next month but shoppers won’t need to wait long to use the new location across the street.
Harris Teeter has posted signs around its old and new location announcing that its 600 N. Glebe Road location will close on Tuesday, April 2 at 2 p.m., with the new store at 624 N. Glebe Road opening at 9 a.m. the next day.
A Starbucks kiosk inside is also being built and will open on the same day as the grocery store, according to a spokesperson for Harris Teeter. The spokesperson noted there will be a free sampling event the day before the official grand opening.
Starbucks also confirmed the opening in a statement to ARLnow.
“Starbucks is always looking for great locations to better meet the needs of our customers, and we are happy to confirm that we will be opening a new location at 624 N. Glebe Road in Arlington, VA in the spring of 2024,” a Starbucks spokesperson write. “This new Starbucks location is licensed and operated by Harris Teeter licensee.”
That will put the coffee chain in more direct competition with homegrown Good Company Doughnuts & Cafe on the western side of Glebe Road. Starbucks will also compete with itself — its location at 4000 Wilson Blvd, which opened less than a year ago, is about 2-3 blocks away.
ARLnow reported last month that the Georgia-based developer, Southeastern Real Estate Group, LLC, started leasing the 310 apartment units above the new store last fall and was close to completing the first phase of its three-phase development. Construction on the apartments, dubbed URBA, began in 2020.
The first phase was initially slated to finish last fall, with the second phase expected to start in the summer of 2024. Southeastern and Harris Teeter have not given a timeline for the start of phase two.
After the new Harris Teeter opens and the old site is demolished, the remaining 733 planned apartments will be built.
The second phase includes 197 apartments and a 0.6-acre public park on the existing Harris Teeter site. The third phase will add another 226 apartments and more than 10,000 square feet of retail space, for a total of 77,575 square feet of retail across the development.
The development also includes underground parking with 942 spaces and the extension of N. Tazewell and N. Randolph streets.
Signs for the new Ballston Harris Teeter are up, signaling that the first phase of the three-part project is nearing completion.
Last month, the owner applied for an occupancy permit for the new grocery store, which tenants do before they can officially move in. Inspection is still pending, per the county website.
Leasing began last fall for the 310 units above the new grocery store at 624 N. Glebe Road, developed by the Georgia-based developer, Southeastern Real Estate Group, LLC, per a website for the apartment complex. Construction on the apartments, dubbed URBA, began in 2020.
Additionally, Southeastern and Harris Teeter commissioned a mural by Brooklyn-based artist Olalekan Jeyifous that pays tribute to the legacy of the Ballston miniature golf course, which was a fixture along Wilson Blvd for over 50 years until its closure in 1989.
The rest of the planned 733 apartments will be built after the new Harris Teeter opens and the old building at 600 N. Glebe Road is torn down.
The second phase will include 197 apartments and a 0.6-acre public park where the current Harris Teeter stands. The third phase will add the remaining 226 apartments and more than 10,000 square feet of retail space, culminating in a total of 77,575 square feet of ground-level retail.
There will also be below-grade parking garages, with 942 parking spaces total. Southeastern will also extend the existing N. Tazewell and N. Randolph streets into the site.
The first phase of the project was initially expected to wrap up this past fall, with the next phase slated to begin in summer 2024. Southeastern did not respond before ARLnow’s publication deadline.
(Updated at 12:30 p.m.) Arlington County is home to one of the busiest Goodwill donation centers in the country and this location, on S. Glebe Road, is now being teed up for redevelopment.
Last week, Planning Commission members recommended the Arlington County Board approve plans from Goodwill and affordable housing partner AHC to redevelop its storefront with a 6-story building consisting of a new retail and donation center, 128 units of affordable housing and space for a child care center.
The Board is set to review the proposal — which includes requests to rezone the property and label it a “revitalization area,” a designation intended to boost AHC’s application for low-income housing tax credits — on Saturday.
Still, some criticism over pedestrian safety for elderly residents and children tempered that enthusiasm, as did questions to affordable housing partner AHC Inc. about its ability to manage an affordable community following livability issues residents and advocates revealed at the Serrano Apartments on Columbia Pike.
“There’s just so much to love about this project,” said Planning Commissioner Leo Sarli. “We cannot have enough housing… childcare or upcycling — which is what Goodwill does — which again, keeps things out of landfill and has a massive environmental impact.”
Despite all this, he had lingering pedestrian safety concerns around the site entrance, given all the foot and vehicular traffic that apartments, retail and childcare are expected to generate. This led him to propose that the Planning Commission recommend the County Board defer its approval until Goodwill addresses them. While other commissioners likewise stressed their pedestrian safety concerns, his motion failed 9-1, with one abstention.
They later supported a resolution from Vice-Chair (and Arlington County Board candidate) Tenley Peterson to recommend county staff continue to work with the applicant to design streets around the building that use “pedestrian-forward design practices.”
“We don’t want to let the perfect be the enemy of the good,” she said. “This project offers so much value to the community.”
Land use attorney Andrew Painter said the proposal actually improves pedestrian safety by separating donor, resident and retail traffic, reducing surface parking from 54 spaces to four accessible ones and closing one of two existing site entrances.
County staffer Kevin Lam, meanwhile, assured Planning Commissioner members that transportation staff thoroughly reviewed the proposal and do not believe the site poses a significant safety issue, though it is a “conflict point between pedestrians and vehicles.”
Like Peterson, the Transportation Commission approved the project, though several had pedestrian safety concerns. Chair Chris Slatt said commissioners hope these are addressed post-approval and commended Goodwill for transportation upgrades it has committed to, including one-way parking access, fewer surface parking spaces and a wider, raised sidewalk across the driveway.
Two development proposals in Clarendon and Virginia Square are facing delays.
Last week, ARLnow reported that St. Charles Catholic Church was suspending its church redevelopment plans for now, citing economic conditions. Two other projects nearby likewise cite the country’s economic outlook as one reason progress is taking longer than expected.
One project replacing the Wells Fargo bank — which saw a notable attempted robbery last year — and its parking lot, led by developer Jefferson Apartment Group, is expected to pick up the pace soon. The other, from the YMCA, may take a bit longer.
For both, Arlington County is waiting on revisions to their site plan applications, according to Dept. of Community Planning, Housing and Development spokeswoman Erika Moore.
JAG proposes to demolish the bank and build a 12-story, 238-unit apartment building with 67,000 square feet of office and 30,000 square feet of retail space, including a replacement bank, which will no longer have a drive-thru. The Verizon telephone switching station will remain, screened from view.
The last public review opportunity for the Wells Fargo development was a site plan review committee (SPRC) meeting last April. Since then, says Moore, staff have not requested any major changes, however, “the developer has been reconsidering the proposed mix of uses on the site.”
She added that the developer has signaled it will soon file a revised site plan for the property, at 3140 Washington Blvd and 1025 N. Irving Street.
“Jefferson Apartment Group continues to advance the 4.1 site plan for the mixed-use redevelopment of the Wells Fargo/Verizon site in the Clarendon area of Arlington County,” JAG Senior Vice President Greg Van Wie said in a statement. “JAG has made some important changes to the plan and will resubmit to the County in the coming weeks.”
Economic conditions have forced the developer to move the start of construction, however.
“While market conditions have created financing challenges, JAG remains committed to commencing the project later this year,” Van Wie said.
Meanwhile, the development team for the Y continues to address comments from county staff made last summer but has yet to refile plans, project attorney David Tarter told ARLnow.
“The YMCA proposal remains active and underway,” he said. “Although it has taken longer than expected, the Y believes that all the input, thought and effort will make it a better project.”
The Y proposes a 7-story, 374-unit apartment building as well as a new 87,850-square-foot recreation center facility with indoor swimming pools, three indoor pickleball courts and convertible courts for squash, handball and racquetball, as well as fitness and multipurpose spaces. Tennis courts were axed last summer to the chagrin of some members.
He said the project is complex as it includes a new YMCA and apartment building “on a site with a steep grade and other issues.”
“Increased interest rates and other economic headwinds also present challenges, particularly for a non-profit,” he added. “We have additional work to do, but look forward to providing a new state-of-the-art facility and programing to better serve the broader Arlington community.”
Development plans for St. Charles Catholic Church in Clarendon have descended into planning purgatory.
The brick church, which occupies a large piece of land near Northside Social and George Mason University’s Arlington campus, has assembled plans to redevelop the property with a new church building and parish center, affordable housing and underground parking.
Progress was continuing apace. As of December 2023, members of a special committee — of the pastor, diocesan representatives, parishioners and other stakeholders — holding discussions with the development partner, LCOR, and hammering out financial planning details, according to an update that was removed from the website this week.
Now, the church is taking a break due to current economic conditions, Fr. Don Planty, the church’s pastor, confirmed to ARLnow yesterday evening (Thursday).
“The rise in interest rates over the last year negatively impacted our developer’s financing capabilities — as it did for residential and commercial real estate projects everywhere,” he said in a statement. “We have suspended the project to evaluate our options or until financial conditions in the real estate sector improve.”
The idea to redevelop has been in the works for a few years now. The church filed conceptual plans in November 2022 proposing a 429-unit apartment building with a courtyard in the center, a rooftop pool and ground-floor amenities. The church will be connected to the parish center, with meeting rooms and an event space, by cloistered gardens.
Parking, currently on Fairfax Drive, would have moved underground and an alley would connect the church and apartment building. Fairfax Drive was slated to be redesigned as a walkable plaza, with a new “West End Plaza” located in front of the church on a county-owned parcel.
But these plans may not lie dormant forever.
“It is absolutely our intent to redevelop the site — it is simply a matter of when,” Planty said. “We will continue to pray that with a new and more beautiful parish site, we can more effectively continue our mission to bring the Good News of Jesus to the heart of Arlington and serve our community.”
St. Charles is situated among several other development proposals — from planning to construction — that are poised to significantly change the neighborhood. In response to all the planned development activity, the county updated the Clarendon sector plan to include a study of this subsection.
Other projects include the Silver Diner/The Lot, Joyce Motors, Wells Fargo/Verizon and YMCA sites, as well as George Mason University.
GMU broke ground on its $235 million expansion project, dubbed FUSE at Mason Square at 3351 Fairfax Drive two years ago and is set to finish construction by the end of 2025.
Last year, the Arlington County Board approved the Joyce Motors project, replacing the automotive shop with an 11-story apartment building with ground-floor retail that preserves the building’s historic façade. It also approved the Silver Diner project, which will see a new hotel and apartment building replace the restaurant, The Lot beer garden, two brick structures called “The Doctors Building,” an auto repair facility and surface parking.
The Wells Fargo project has not yet advanced to Planning Commission or County Board review and the YMCA project is still under an earlier county review process.
Tomorrow (Friday) is the last day to submit feedback on a proposed 370-unit apartment building in Crystal City.
The design is less than half the height recommended in the Crystal City Sector Plan, but developer JBG Smith argues that it would function on a more “human scale.”
The potential building site is located on “Block W” at 2451 Crystal Drive, near Reagan National Airport.
The lot currently contains a small, JBG Smith-owned workout park, playground and seating area, as well as an off-ramp to an access road. A 7-story building overlooking 35-38,000 square feet of open space would replace the off-ramp and part of the existing park, according to a presentation by the developer.
JBG Smith plans to keep the volleyball courts and might relocate other current park features.
The new development would prioritize 2-bedroom units. The project would come with a green roof as well as a courtyard that residents could access. An area adjacent to the park would be dedicated to retail space.
“While not a high-rise or tower composition, the 7-story design works well within the overall framework of providing human scale in a comfortable, pedestrian environment,” JBG Smith development analyst Karolina Pazdrazdis said.
County staff noted concerns about how the new development proposes to reroute an existing service road in a way that would limit access to the adjacent park. The building is also much shorter than the sector plan recommends.
“The applicant has chosen to envision a building that is 85 feet in height, which is well under the 200-foot building height envisioned by the sector plan,”county planner Krissy Walentisch said.
This proposed building deviates from county guidance in other ways. Walentisch said there is a significant overhang — exceeding sector plan recommendations — between the building’s “tower,” composed of floors 3-7, and the building’s “podium,” or ground floor and first floor.
The county feedback form asks residents to provide feedback on the building placement and design, as well as its impact on the current park.
Following community feedback, a Site Plan Review Committee is scheduled to hold its first meeting on the development proposal next month. After this committee meets twice, the development will go to the Planning Commission and Arlington County Board, though dates for this have yet to be set.
Meantime, other JBG Smith projects in Crystal City are also moving forward.
This week, the developer announced that the final beam had been placed atop two residential towers at 2000 and 2001 S. Bell Street, formerly Crystal Plaza. Both the 25-story West and 19-story East towers are slated for completion in the spring of 2025.
Late last month, JBG Smith also filed a new conceptual site plan proposing to redevelop a Crystal City office building. Application materials depict a 15-story office building divided into three sections, slightly off-centered from each other, at 1800 S. Bell Street.
About a year of construction remains for two apartment towers replacing a Crystal City office building.
The final beam was placed atop the two residential towers at 2000 and 2001 S. Bell Street, formerly Crystal Plaza One, this week. Developer JBG Smith and its project manager, Balfour Beatty, announced the “topping out” construction milestone on Monday.
“Congratulations to the team for accomplishing this major achievement,” said Dan Novack, Balfour Beatty’s president for the Mid-Atlantic region, in a press release. “We look forward to continued progress and ongoing collaboration with our owner, industry partners and the local community in providing a premier living development for future residents in the evolving National Landing area.”
Both the 25-story West and 19-story East towers are slated for completion in the spring of 2025 and will offer a combined 775 units with a variety of floor plan options, per the release. The towers will have more than 22,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space as well as rooftop decks and pools.
In terms of public benefits, JBG Smith will add a public park space next to the East tower. It will also build an extension of S. Bell Street, connecting to S. Clark Street, with bike lanes, as well as a new alley south of the East tower.
The development is a stone’s throw from the revamped Central District Retail shopping plaza, or “Crystal Square,” home to taqueria Tacombi, bakery Mah-Ze-Dahr and other shops. It will be near a forthcoming second entrance to the Crystal City Metro station, a planned Virginia Railway Express station, now expected to wrap up in 2026, and pedestrian bridge linking Crystal City to National Airport.
The county approved the project in May 2021 after holding a public hearing. Demolition work began shortly after and JBG Smith broke ground about a year later, in January 2022.
Under the revised site plan, JBG Smith said it would contribute $3.36 million towards the county’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund and $137,495 toward a utility undergrounding fund, as well as $75,000 for a public art installation, according to a 2021 presentation from the developer.
Developer JBG Smith filed a new conceptual site plan late last month proposing to redevelop a Crystal City office building.
The building, located at 1800 S. Bell Street, was leased by Amazon until its lease expired in 2023.
Ahead of Amazon’s planned departure, JBG Smith signaled its plans to “take off-line and entitle [the property] for alternate uses,” per a quarterly investor package from last summer. Amazon has another lease at 2100 Crystal Drive set to expire this year.
Now, the developer is in the early stages of advancing plans for what to do with 1800 S. Bell Street, which is directly north of the Crystal City Marriott hotel and across the street from the Crystal City Metro station.
The tower could get the redevelopment treatment as early as 2026, per JBG Smith’s report.
Application materials depict a 15-story office building divided into three sections, slightly off-centered from each other, with an “architectural feature corner” recommended in the Crystal City Sector Plan.
The sector plan identifies the west border for street improvements and the northeast corner for intersection improvements. It recommends a maximum height of 300 feet.
A floor plan map shows the ground floor will have a bike room, lockers, an “amenity/service” space and two retail spaces along S. Bell Street.
The plans also show “interim conditions” near Route 1. The Virginia Dept. of Transportation proposes to lower elevated portions of the road through Crystal City to grade, turning it into a lower-speed “urban boulevard.”
The transportation agency is also mulling at least one pedestrian bridge or tunnel at 18th Street S., near the Metro station, to improve safety. VDOT’s study of Route 1 is still in its second phase, which is set to wrap up by this summer.
JBG Smith filed the conceptual site plan to get county feedback on right-of-way design, “including interim and permanent conditions relative to Route 1 street improvements,” and project timing, “relative to ongoing right-of-way improvements and coordination with VDOT,” as well as site layout, according to its application.
The county offers the conceptual site plan option to “provide guidance to prospective applicants in the preparation of land use development applications through the preliminary identification of major policy, Zoning Ordinance, County Code, and/or process related issues.”
The facade of the new 36-story Hilton in Rosslyn is nearing completion but it could be nearly two years before the hotel welcomes its first guests.
Meanwhile, the project’s residential counterpart, Rosslyn Towers, is close to being done, with new tenants expected to move in within a few months, the developer tells ARLnow.
“We are excited to open Rosslyn Towers at The Key this spring,” said Greg Raines, a spokesperson for Dittmar Company, the developer of The Key.
While there is no firm data yet, Raines said the plan is to start leasing the 500+ apartments in the Rosslyn Towers building, at 1900 N. Fort Myer Drive, by April 1.
Dittmar’s goal for the 331-room hotel is to hold a grand opening sometime in the last three months of 2025, says Raines.
“We are excited to deliver both properties as we believe both are best in class and are exciting additions to Rosslyn, Arlington, and the surrounding [D.C.] area,” he said.
In September 2019, the Arlington County Board approved plans redevelop the 18-story, 50-year-old Rosslyn Holiday Inn with a residential tower of up to 25 stories and a hotel with up to 38 stories, with 37,000-foot conference center and 14,000 square feet of retail. The former hotel came down in a well-documented controlled implosion.
In 2021, the Arlington County Board approved a site plan amendment to adjust the hotel’s square footage to accommodate more parking and conference space, and increase the number of residential units from 523 to 536.
Dittmar said it would provide a cash contribution of $215,000 to the Affordable Housing Investment Fund to offset the requested additional density, per a 2021 county report.
One year later, Hilton announced it had signed an agreement to run the high-rise hotel.
While the residential tower looks finished, construction crews were still putting final touches on the exterior of the hotel when ARLnow visited the site yesterday (Tuesday). Last month, the company submitted applications for elevator and fire inspection permits, according to county records.
Dittmar also plans to share details regarding a new “destination restaurant” below the residential tower in the coming weeks, says Raines.