A developer’s plans to add 73 units while retaining the existing Shirlington House apartment building have cruised relatively unscathed through the county’s site-plan review process.
“It’s a good project,” James Lantelme, a member of the Planning Commission who serves on the panel evaluating the proposal, said on Monday.
The developer — Snell Properties — plans to build a seven-story building with 59 units of varying layouts, plus 14 three-bedroom “liner” duplexes that will front 31st Road S.
The existing, 436-unit apartment building was constructed in the early 1960s. Adding the new units elsewhere on the parcel will require changes to the current site plan, but can be accomplished without changes to the existing zoning classification, staff said.
The advisory group spent just one meeting discussing the project on 31st Street S. with its development team, compared to the more typical two meetings.
“We’re hopeful to get this through in one evening. We do want the conversation to be as thorough as possible, [but] we think the project is small enough,” said county planner Peter Schulz as the meeting kicked off.
Schulz was proved right. While panel members asked questions, and in some cases voiced concerns about issues ranging from affordable housing to trees, there was general agreement to let the project move forward to its next stops in the review process — county commissions.
Among the concerns raised was whether the additional development would infringe on the already constricted travel lanes on roadways in the Shirlington/Fairlington corridor.
“It’s already sometimes tight,” said Jennifer Davies, representing the Fairlington Citizens Association.
Particularly when buses are involved, “sometimes you have to pull off to the side,” she said.
Local resident Pattee Shen, who testified at the public-comment portion at the end of the meeting, voiced concerns about the impact to residents trying to get out of the 8.4-acre site.
Visibility limitations already exist, she said, and the new buildings may exacerbate the situation.
After consideration by the Planning Commission and other county advisory panels, the proposal will move forward for final action by the County Board. Depending on when Snell Properties submits updated plans, the matter could be considered as early as mid-summer.
The developer plans to retain existing garage and surface parking, although the total number of parking spaces will decline slightly.
Plans call for committed-affordable housing to be part of the package. How many units and where they would be located on the site remain to be worked out, said Matthew Allman, a land-use attorney at Venable LLC representing the developer.
Several committee members pushed for using some of the two- and three-bedroom family-sized units in the new construction for the affordable-housing component.
“As long as there’s a variety, that would make our civic association happy,” Davies said.
Nia Bagley, who serves on the Planning Commission and chaired the April 21 meeting, said the development, if done right, would augment an already nice part of the county.
“I was struck by what a lovely setting it is,” she said of the parcel.
The development proposal has been percolating since late 2023, when the developer first sketched out a plan that included slightly more units than are now sought. Snell Properties’ formal submission to county officials came last October.
The proposal calls for all-residential development, without retail or commercial components.
Snell became part-owner of the site in 1984 and has been the sole owner since 2006. The existing apartment building underwent a $20 million renovation in 2017-18.
The site is bounded by the Village at Shirlington, Park Shirlington, the Arlington Trades Center, 31st Street S. and I-395.
