The Arlington County Board has once again pushed back the deadline for a Rosslyn development project by three years.
The Board last week unanimously approved a three-year extension of development plans at Penzance’s One Rosslyn site, which date back to 2012.
Penzance does not plan to build the project for which it currently has approval. But the extension allows the property owner to come back as soon as next month with revisions to that 2012 document, rather than starting the development process from scratch.
The revised proposal calls for residential towers of 23, 27 and 29 stories, offering both for-sale and rental units. The towers would be set atop 15,000 square feet of ground-floor retail.
About 860 residential units are anticipated on the 2.3-acre site, located adjacent to Gateway Park.
The development plan itself seems less controversial than the question of whether approval will include a requirement for removal of the last remaining of three pedestrian skywalks that once had populated the immediate vicinity.
Seen by some as relics of 1960s urban planning, the skyways continue to have their boosters, who see them as the best way to avoid the possibility of crashes between vehicles and pedestrians in the busy urban corridor.
Representatives of a pedestrian-safety advocacy group and the North Highlands Civic Association turned up at the Board meeting. Both speakers pressed for studying the possibility of a new bridge over eastbound Langston Blvd, which would connect Rosslyn with points north.
Aaron Roberts, representing the civic association, called retention of an overhead crossing a “very serious public-safety issue.”
Others, including county staff and the developer, take a different view. They believe the best way to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety is a robust set of at-grade features.
A number of Board members said they are keeping an open mind on the issue.
“I’m still grappling, a lot, with the arguments for and against,” Board Chair Takis Karantonis said.
“There’s a lot of folks that want the bridge, then there’s a lot of folks that don’t want the bridge,” said Board member Julius “JD” Spain Sr.
“I appreciate where you’re coming from,” Spain told advocates for a new skyway bridge, but telegraphed his preference for a focus on at-grade crossings.
“Other cities do it — why can’t we?” he asked.
Board members Susan Cunningham and Matt de Ferranti seemed more open to a future skyway bridge connecting Rosslyn with North Highlands and surrounding areas.
“It’s a very personal and very intense question to get this right,” Cunningham said.
Advocates on both sides of the issue now have less than a month to sway Board members, before Penzance’s new plan comes to them.
“We’ll have a more in-depth conversation about everything” in July, Karantonis said.
Penzance’s new development proposal has an aggregate floor-area ratio (FAR) of 9.71, according to county staff. FAR measures the total interior square footage of a project divided by the square footage of the lot it sits upon.
Before heading to County Board action, the projects will be vetted at a Planning Commission meeting. That body has meetings slated for July 7 and July 9.
County Board meetings are set for July 19 and 22. They will be the last regular meetings of the body until mid-September.
The approved 2012 site plan allows a mix of office, residential and retail on the site. Should Board members turn down the new proposal for predominantly residential construction, Penzance could revert to that earlier site plan and move on from there.
Extension granted for second Rosslyn project
The expiring site plan for One Rosslyn was just one of many extended by Board members at their June 14 and June 18 meetings.
Another was the proposed Rosslyn redevelopment at 1401 Wilson Blvd and 1400 Key Blvd. A site plan approved by Board members in 2014 was set to expire on July 1, and on June 18 was extended to mid-2028.
The original plan by Monday Properties for the site included two towers, one residential and one office, plus ground-floor grocery store and public plaza. A revamped proposal is being readied for submission, county staff told Board members.
Currently, two 12-story office buildings occupy the parcels.
The site is notable for playing a role in the Watergate scandal. Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein would meet the Nixon-administration source they dubbed “Deep Throat” — later revealed to be FBI official Mark Felt — in the garage to receive information.
