Silver Diner redevelopment teed up for Arlington County Board review this Saturday

Longtime plans to redevelop the former Silver Diner site in Clarendon are headed to the Arlington County Board for approval.

An 11-story, 290-unit apartment building with about 16,000 square feet of retail and a 10-story, 229-room hotel with a rooftop terrace and bar are proposed for the site, dubbed “Bingham Center.”

This Saturday, the Board is set to review the plans from owner TCS Realty Associates and developer Donohoe Cos., including a request for the county to vacate portions of a public alley and street. In exchange, Arlington would receive some $1.15 million in compensation, per a county report.

The new buildings would sit on a triangular parcel bounded by Wilson Blvd, 10th Street N. and N. Irving Street, across from Northside Social. They would replace the now-closed Silver Diner, the Lot beer garden, two brick structures called “The Doctors Building,” an auto repair facility and surface parking.

The 3200 Wilson Blvd property is near the Joyce Motors site which was approved for another significant development earlier this year, as well as the Wells Fargo development site that’s currently under review.

The project comes forward two months after the County Board approved a deadline extension request from TCS and Donohoe. They asked for more time to fix “unresolved design challenges” along N. Irving Street, particularly regarding the pedestrian experience.

The duo had proposed a loading area and hotel-serving facilities along N. Irving Street, which county staff previously noted deviates from the 2022 Clarendon Sector Plan. This plan, developed in anticipation of a handful of projects, including Silver Diner, envisions a walkable, retail-studded N. Irving Street.

Members of the Site Plan Review Committee agreed. They said the loading dock would create conflicts with pedestrians accessing a proposed plaza on N. Irving Street. They also had misgivings about the bricked-over, retail-less façade on N. Irving Street.

An early suggestion from TCS and Donohoe included adding a “living green wall,” but the county and the public said this did not address the issues of missing retail or pedestrian-vehicle conflicts.

Now, the county says the developers have found a solution and there are no outstanding issues.

TCS and Donohoe moved the dock to the forthcoming extension of 10th Road N. As part of the overall Bingham Center project, Donohoe will extend this one-block-long road east of the site so that it cuts through the site and intersects with Wilson Blvd.

In addition, the developers agreed to install windows into the kitchen that abuts the future “Irving Plaza,” envisioned in the Clarendon Sector Plan. The proposed green wall has been replaced with a “decorative element” intended to enhance the otherwise un-enlivened façade.

“This removes the curb cut and pedestrian conflict point from North Irvine Street and provides needed activation along the future public plaza,” the report says.

Arlington’s Planning and Transportation commissions unanimously supported the project but both advocated for the study of, or inclusion of, a mid-block pedestrian crossing at the new intersection of Wilson Blvd and 10th Road N.

County staff do not support this idea, citing unsafe pedestrian conditions here, per the report.

“Staff will work with the applicant… to ensure the streetscape along the project frontage and across Wilson Boulevard can support signalization and a midblock pedestrian crossing when future redevelopment supports a broader connected pedestrian corridor from North Irving Street to Washington Boulevard,” the report said.

The county report highlighted the community benefits to be delivered in exchange for the ability to go beyond the density allowed on the site. This includes pledges to set aside five 1-bedroom and ten 2-bedroom units as committed affordable units and construct a LEED Gold-certified building.

TCS and Donohoe have agreed to fund and construct Irving Plaza after a county-led design process. They will also contribute to off-site public space improvements in what the county calls the “Clarendon Revitalization District” along Washington Blvd.

Lastly, the duo will make transportation upgrades. Beyond extending 10th Road N., the developers will oversee the construction of a new alley and the widening of the sidewalk on the west side of Wilson Blvd, between 10th Street N. and Washington Blvd, to 10 feet.