A 420-unit development project broke ground yesterday (Thursday) at the site of a former Holiday Inn and office building near Ballston.
The Holiday Inn, which closed in the spring, has been completely demolished to make way for a seven-story multifamily building with 420 units and around 380 parking spaces. That’s the first phase of a project that will also include a for-sale residential component with townhouses.
“We are proud to bring 420 new homes to the community and continue expanding our residential portfolio across the Mid-Atlantic with thoughtfully designed neighborhoods that provide access to transit, local amenities and the connections that make a place feel like home,” Chris Moore, senior vice president of development and construction at Hoffman & Associates, said in a press release.
Representatives from Hoffman & Associates, Snell Properties and Mitsui Fudosan America, Inc., took part in the groundbreaking ceremony at the four-acre site at 4600 Fairfax Drive, located about two blocks away from the forthcoming west entrance to the Ballston Metro station.
The former hotel — known as the Ballston Holiday Inn, although it was technically in the Bluemont neighborhood — was built in 1987 and had 221 rooms, according to a project page. The 162,800-square-foot office building was constructed in 1969.
Arlington County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti praised the project as helping to enable a shift away from obsolete office buildings to produce much-needed housing.
“You might disagree on other pieces of housing policy, but you’re going to agree that right next to a Metro, you should have additional housing supply,” de Ferranti said.
Michael Eastwood, executive vice president at Snell Properties, said that his team considered numerous options for the site, including converting the office building to apartments and rebranding the hotel, but settled on redevelopment as the best long-term investment.
“4600 Fairfax represents an important next chapter in our longstanding investment in Arlington,” Eastwood said. “As a company with nearly 80 years of history in this community, we take great pride in seeing one of our legacy properties evolve to meet the changing needs of Ballston.”
The $195 million project was financed through a senior construction loan from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group in May.
Construction is expected to last for about two years, with the first move-ins happening in early 2029.
