A proposal to replace two vacant office buildings in Rosslyn with about 830 residential units and retail has the support of the Arlington Planning Commission.
Planning Commission members on July 6 unanimously backed a Monday Properties plan for two 27-story mixed-use towers on 1400 Key Blvd and 1401 Wilson Blvd, a 2.1-acre site near Turnberry Tower. The plan comes with 29,000 square feet of retail, likely including a grocery store.
Leading up to the 8-0 vote, Planning Commission member Eric Berkey thanked the development team and staff for “taking a good project and making it great.”
Commission chair Denyse “Nia” Bagley also was positive, offering appreciation for outreach efforts during the planning process.
“The community does feel all of the voices were heard,” she said. “I am looking forward to seeing this project being completed.”
As proposed, the project would have a floor-area ratio (FAR) of 9.94. FAR measures the total interior square footage of development divided by the square footage of the lot. Typically, FAR of 10 is the upper limit for Rosslyn-area development.
The project aims for LEED Gold environmental certification, would have about 600 parking spaces and 385 bicycle spaces, and would provide publicly accessible community spaces.
Andrew Painter, a land-use attorney representing the developer, said the new plan is an improvement on one proposed 11 years ago but later abandoned.
“Every detail has been examined thoroughly,” he said. “Every detail has been debated, it has been refined. Every participant, public and private alike, has really approached [the effort] wanting to leave a real positive impact.”
Stuart Stein, representing the Radnor/Fort Myer Heights Civic Association, said his organization is generally supportive of the plan. The proposal “fits so well with the planning for its site, rather than asking for more,” he told commission members.
“It will be a welcome addition to Rosslyn and provides much needed additional residential units,” Stein said. “Many people in my community look forward to another grocery nearby.”
Stein did raise concerns about transportation and pedestrian safety, acknowledging it was part of a conversation that goes beyond a single development plan.
He pointed particularly to lack of easy turnaround spaces for individual drivers, taxis, rideshares and delivery companies. “Pickup and dropoff is a huge problem in Rosslyn,” Stein said.
The proposal calls for placing a supermarket at the corner of Key Blvd and N. Oak Street for prime visibility. Painter said efforts at recruiting a grocery tenant are ongoing.
In negotiations with the developer, county staff asked for a $6 million contribution to the county’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund. That funding would be in lieu of providing committed-affordable units either at the site or nearby.
Commission member Karen Guevara asked for further consideration of actual units rather than a monetary contribution.
“The community was interested in having on-site units or, at the very minimum, units that were dedicated for that corridor,” she said. “It just seems like it would be the adequate place to add that.”
Planning staff responded that, by their calculations, the $6 million in cash would support future development of 52 affordable units, more than four times the number the developer would be obligated to provide on the site.
The two buildings currently on the site have been unoccupied for several years, with the parcel previously serving as headquarters for the Transportation Security Administration.
Plans to redevelop the site date back more than a decade. In 2014, County Board members approved a Monday Properties plan for a mixed-use development with residential, commercial and retail development and a public gathering space.
Changing market conditions caused that development plan to be shelved.
“This is a rare opportunity to rethink what had previously been approved,” Painter said. “The [redesigned] project is stronger, it is more thoughtful.”
The 1960s-era buildings that will be razed to make way for new development were constructed by Westfield Realty, which in 2002 was rebranded as Monday Properties.
Westfield was responsible for a number of signature properties across Arlington, including the one-time home of USA Today and parent company Gannett on Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn.
