New Senior Living Facility Along Lee Highway Approved

The Arlington County Board has voted unanimously to approve a new, 175-unit assisted living facility along Lee Highway.

The elder care center will replace a handful of single-family homes on a large parcel of property at the corner of Lee Highway and N. Taylor Street. In addition to more homes for seniors in need of memory care and assisted living services, the project includes environmentally-conscious features and a new 10,000+ square foot public open space.

It was approved despite some opposition from those in nearby townhomes and a condo building.

“Residents from Tazewell Place, a townhouse development located directly to the south of the site, have expressed concerns regarding parking along Lee Highway, light pollution, noise pollution and construction,” noted a county staff report. “Residents from Yorktown Condominium building directly to the west of the site have noted concerns regarding the rezoning request and also parking and traffic on Lee Highway.”

Plans for the facility were first reported in early 2019. Its approval at the Board’s Saturday meeting was made possible by zoning changes, allowing elder care facilities in more parts of the county, that were approved unanimously this past December.

More on the project and its approval from an Arlington County Press release:

The Board approved a plan for an assisted living facility, Artis Senior Living, at the intersection of Lee Highway and N. Taylor Street, in the Waverly Hills neighborhood. The six-story, 175-unit facility will include 80 units for memory care and 95 for assisted living, and a parking garage with 112 spaces. The project’s architecture will embrace biophilic principles, including bird-safe glass windows. The project will obtain LEED silver certification under the U.S. Green Building Council for sustainable design, construction materials, and energy efficiency.

Community benefits will include a 10,174-sq. ft. public open space on the southwest corner of the site that the developer will landscape with a lawn, flowering tree grove, benches, and rain garden, and maintain. A walking path through the public space will connect to Lee Highway and N. Taylor Street. The developer also will contribute $356,528 to the County’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund and will contribute to the County’s Utilities Underground Fund, and Public Art Fund.

“We know that Arlington needs more assisted living facilities to accommodate our growing number of residents who are seniors,” Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey said. “This project will provide much-needed quality assisted living for our seniors and new open space for the entire community.”

The Board voted 4-0 to approve a rezoning and the proposed Site Plan for the redevelopment. […]

The 2.79-acre site is currently comprised mostly of vacant lots and some vacant single-family homes. The new facility will be U-shaped, with two wings framing a private interior courtyard that will cover the parking deck. The building will include community rooms, medical, physical therapy and exercise rooms, locker rooms, kitchen and dining rooms, beauty salons, game and tv rooms, and three outdoor terraces for residents.

The Board, at its socially-distanced Saturday meeting, also approved a number of other notable items:

• “Renaming the Crystal City Business Improvement Service District to reflect its expanded boundaries… ‘The Crystal City, Pentagon City, and Potomac Yard at National Landing Business Improvement Service District.'”
• “Naming a new park after Selina Norris Gray, an enslaved woman who preserved Washington family heirlooms left behind in Arlington House by the fleeing Lee family during the Civil War.”
• “A $1.33 million contract with Ardent Company LLC to improve pedestrian access and safety on both sides of 23rd Street South between South Eads Street and Richmond Highway, in Crystal City.”
• “Two agreements with the federal government related to the Southern Expansion Project for Arlington National Cemetery.”

Satellite image via Google Maps