More corporate hotel rooms and up to 1.8 million square feet of development are on track to come to Pentagon City following votes last weekend.
An approved amendment to the Pentagon City Phased Development Site Plan would allow for the redevelopment of two aging office buildings just east of the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City. The change does not come with specific plans for new development, but tentative proposals call for up to 1,675 new dwelling units and 70,000 square feet of retail space.
Meanwhile, a site plan amendment allows 30 residential units at the Millennium at National Landing apartment building to become hotel rooms for visiting corporate employees and clients.
Both changes received unanimous votes from the Arlington County Board but pushback from some community members.
Development plans
The redevelopment plans concern an area at 601 and 701 12th Street S. known as 12th Street Landing. The site is notable for being the former headquarters of the Transportation Security Administration.
Currently occupied by one vacant office building and another office building with a client whose lease is set to expire at the end of the year, the change would allow the area to be redeveloped with around three to four new buildings.
Following the County Board’s vote, up to 1,776,366 square feet of density could now be built in the site area.
One proposed development program would bring 1,253 units of housing, 527,000 square feet of office space and 70,000 square feet of retail. Another proposal would bring 1,675 housing units along with 200 hotel rooms and the same amount of retail space.
Buildings would be up to 350 feet in height, with no more than 75% lot coverage. Other proposed additions include the following.
- A 0.5-acre public plaza at the southwest corner of the site.
- Another plaza on S. Fern Street, across from a similar plaza planned for the PenPlace site.
- A protected bike lane on S. Fern Street.
- On-site committed affordable housing units, representing a minimum of 10% of net new residential density above the base.
“The developer expects to develop the site in phases over the next several years, rather than all at once, hence the approach of dividing their site into land bays,” a County Board report says. “No construction will be permitted on the site until a final site plan is approved for a specific land bay.”
The prospect of building hotel rooms in place of more housing drew criticisms from Unite Here Local 25, a union representing hotel workers in the D.C. area. Union representatives noted that hotel staff, especially non-union workers, often receive “poverty wages” and can’t afford to live in Arlington because of high housing costs.
“Our feeling is, if we are going to develop that area — and we’re, again, very much for development — that we should be building housing for workers like our own,” union representative Michael Haack said.
A representative for the applicant, Brookfield Properties, agreed to meet with union members and other stakeholders “at the right time,” but noted that a hotel, if it were to be built, would not come in the first phase of development.
Corporate hotel rooms
Another change approved this weekend will allow the Millennium at National Landing to begin operating up to 30 units at 1330 S. Fair Street effectively as hotel rooms.
This means that these rooms, which are already only available to certain corporate and government clients, can now be rented for spans of less than 30 days.
“Staff is supportive of the request as the additional hotel units are a desirable use as demand for hotel rooms has continued to increase since the pandemic,” a county staff report says. “Further, as the existing units are currently operated as temporary living solutions for corporate and government clients, staff does not expect this conversion to impact Arlington’s housing supply more generally, or have any adverse impacts on the neighborhood.”
The change came despite objections from representatives for the Aurora Highlands Civic Association and Crystal City Civic Association, who argued that replacing apartments with hotel rooms is contrary to the community’s needs.
“To have things that have already been built under the guise of the need for more housing be converted into [hotel rooms], seems inconsistent with what we’ve been told by the County Board, and the reasons why these units were originally approved,” said AHCA President Rachel Hicks.
Following direction from the County Board, the site plan amendment will expire in five years unless the Board re-approves it.
