Two Columbia Pike Apartment Communities Slated for Redevelopment

Two apartment communities along the Columbia Pike corridor could soon be getting major facelifts.

Developers are planning to build a new three-to-four story affordable residential building to replace Arlington View Terrace, a 77-unit apartment complex at the 1400 block of S. Rolfe Street, according to a presentation last week to the county’s Form Based Code Advisory Working Group.

In a separate redevelopment proposal, developer Merion Companies wants to remake the 1940s Greenbrier apartment community made up of 179 residential units on S. Greenbrier Street. The project will be split into two phases, with the first phase seeing the north half of the community replaced by a six-story building with ground floor retail and residential above.

Designs for the project indicate the development could convert the drive that partially borders the complex into a “two-way alley” and add new roadways through the development that would potentially connect with S. Frederik Street to the east.

The project is being designed by D.C.-based KGD Architecture, which previously worked on the mixed-use building that replaced the Food Star along the Pike and a tower project in Tysons.

The total number of units planned for the Arlington View Terrace project is unknown, but they will all be affordable units, as per last week’s staff presentation, helping bolster Arlington’s dwindling affordable housing stock.

Arlington View Terrace is bordered by the Army-Navy Country Club to the south. Developers will need to request an amendment to meet county standards regarding setbacks and separation between the two property types, mixed-use residential and golf course residential zoning, the presentation says.

The working group is scheduled to evaluate amendments to the two development plans in July and September. The Form Based Code Advisory Working Group is then scheduled to review the plans again in the winter.

Both developments have to be approved through the Columbia Pike’s Form Based Code, which guides development and favors mixed-use buildings with retail on the ground floor and housing units above.

The developments are expected to apply for LEED Silver certification, unlike the proposed Westmont Shopping Center redevelopment, which staff noted is not seeking the green building designation.

Kim Klingler, the new Executive Director of the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization, said the “main theme” from residents who discussed the residential projects last week was “a lot of concern with access to and from Columbia Pike and making sure that these buildings have appropriate access.”

Klingler said that the Greenbrier development, which the developer is dubbing “Pike West,” may have redesigned roads too narrow for fire trucks to access both sides of the building. She told ARLnow today (Thursday) the developer acknowledged the problem and pledged the fix it during the meeting.

Hat tip to Chris Slatt. Images 3 and 7 via Google Maps, others via Arlington County,