A longtime family-owned auto shop in Clarendon will close next month to make way for a redevelopment project.
After 85 years at 3211 10th Street N., Joyce Motors is closing for good on Friday, Oct. 10. The historic auto shop will host a farewell gathering at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 11, before shutting down to allow for a new mixed-use apartment building.
“We’re finally closing our doors after 85 years of operation,” Shelby LaTurno — whose mother, Susan Myers, owns the shop — told ARLnow. “You all have covered some of the development plans in the past, and it doesn’t feel right to have it close down without some acknowledgement of one of the old parts of Arlington that are quickly disappearing.”
In a Facebook post about the closure, Joyce Motors described itself as a “historical landmark and trusted auto repair shop.”
“Thank you loyal customers, employees & friends for supporting our family-owned small business for all these years,” Joyce Motors wrote.
The shop’s 32,000-square-foot site is slated to accommodate a new 11-story, 231-unit apartment building with ground floor retail. Developer Orr Partners intends to preserve and refurbish the old building, incorporating it into the new build.
The future apartment building has committed nine units of affordable housing.
The Arlington County Board approved Orr Partners’ original plans in February 2023. It also greenlit a July 2024 site plan amendment that increased the building’s gross floor area, lowered residential units from 241 to 231 and decreased parking spaces from 155 to 119.
Orr Partners did not respond to a request for an updated project timeline.
