New plans for a 276-unit apartment building are the latest and largest of three Langston Blvd proposals to enter the pipeline in recent months.
A site plan application filed last week would replace the longstanding Walgreens at 3130 Langston Blvd with a 12-story tower containing some 353,000 square feet of retail and residential space. This follows two other proposals along the corridor, including a 94-unit building at 1501 Langston Blvd.
These applications — collectively calling for the construction of 500 residential units — are in the jurisdiction of Plan Langston Blvd, the vision for the residential and commercial corridor that the Arlington County Board approved last November.
Ginger Brown, executive director of the Langston Boulevard Alliance, noted that Plan Langston Blvd took many years to progress through community engagement and planning processes, potentially giving developers time to prepare proposals.
“Given the extensive timeline, it’s not at all surprising that several projects were far along in their thinking,” she told ARLnow.
Brown also pointed out that all of the projects are still at the beginning of the site plan process, which will require further community engagement, review and revision. However, she expressed optimism about what they might ultimately mean for the area.
“If these projects are approved, the community will finally get to see some of the benefits laid out in [Plan Langston Blvd] such as a park, affordable housing, and transportation improvements,” she said. “[The Langston Boulevard Alliance] will continue to work to maximize the good that can come from these new developments.”
The 1501 Langston Blvd development would involve demolishing the current Air & Space Forces Association headquarters currently standing at that site. The project proposes to sell condos and offer a hotel-like “service with butlers, valets, spa services and high end amenities,” the Washington Business Journal reported.
The latest project at 3130 Langston Blvd would contribute to an envisioned “activity hub” of residential-over-retail buildings around the Lyon Village Shopping Center. The other project, near the Lee Heights Shops, would replace a one-story commercial structure with a residential building.
“Growth along the corridor is expected to occur gradually over the next several decades, consistent with the rate of growth in similar corridors in Arlington and the region,” county spokesperson Rachel LaPiana told ARLnow. “Property owners will make their own decisions about whether to maintain their property unchanged, rely on existing by-right zoning to guide any changes to their property, or use incentive-based planning and zoning tools to effectuate the Langston Boulevard Area Plan’s vision and recommendations.”
Overall, Plan Langston Blvd calls for a gradual replacement of the corridors aging strip malls and surface parking lots with taller, more walkable hubs of social and economic activity. In addition to the current mix of restaurants, grocery stores and other businesses, it calls for other types of commercial tenants, including co-working spaces, fitness centers, hotels, and childcare providers.
The plan calls for increasing the corridor’s overall housing supply from 10,225 units to between 19,600 and 26,300 units by 2075.
