A planned redevelopment project at the Arlington YMCA appears to have stalled, leaving some patrons concerned about maintenance issues with no sign of getting fixed.
The most recent site plans for the Virginia Square facility — calling for an 88,000-square-foot recreation center alongside a seven-story, 374-unit apartment building — were filed in August 2022.
A Site Plan Review Committee meeting happened in July 2023, but the project has gone quiet since then.
For the time being, county spokesperson Rachel LaPiana told ARLnow that the project is listed as “on hold.”
“To move back to the active site plan list, the applicant would need to contact the County and resubmit plans,” she said.
Meanwhile, regulars at the Y told ARLnow that maintenance problems like a leaky roof and potholes in the parking lot have been going unresolved.
“The run-down YMCA should be an embarrassment to the County,” one tipster wrote in an email. “It is certainly shocking to those who move here and do not expect a Y facility that was built more than 60 years ago and has not been maintained [or] updated.”
She noted, for instance, that one pool at the center closed for the pandemic and never reopened.
“But the bathrooms seem to work!” another tipster quipped.
The assessed improvement value at 3400 13th Street N. has fallen by about $336,000 since 2023, when it was listed at $1,713,700.
In early 2024, project attorney David Tarter told ARLnow that the development team was still addressing comments from county staff the previous summer.
“The YMCA proposal remains active and underway,” he said at the time. “Although it has taken longer than expected, the Y believes that all the input, thought and effort will make it a better project.”
Tarter added that “increased interest rates and other economic headwinds also present challenges, especially for a nonprofit.”
The attorney was unable to provide additional information when contacted for comment on this story.
If completed, the new recreation center would include indoor swimming pools, three indoor pickleball courts and convertible courts for squash, handball and racquetball, as well as fitness and multipurpose spaces. Tennis courts were axed in 2023 to the dismay of some members.
In the initial SPRC meeting in 2023, county planner Peter Schulz said the developer made several revisions that brought the project closer to resolving issues staff identified in 2022, including insufficient community benefits to justify 374 apartments.
County staff retained their reservations about the size of a planned open space on the western side of the property, Schulz said in 2023. Should the Y refile a revised set of plans, staff would analyze open space and how it would be used on a more granular level.
