County Board members are approaching a vote on whether to provide a historic designation at the Melwood property, where they previously approved an affordable housing project.
A final vote on the property at 750 23rd Street S., in Aurora Highlands, is likely to come at the Board’s June 17 meeting, following a required public hearing.
County Manager Mark Schwartz has recommended Board members reject a proposed local historic district sought by preservationists to protect a portion of the former Nelly Custis Elementary School currently on the site.
That recommendation is at odds with the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB), whose members earlier this year voted 7-4 to support creating a local historic district incorporating the 1920s-30s portions of the former school building.
“As a result of these conflicting findings and recommendations, the County Board must evaluate and weigh multiple interests and priorities when deciding this request to designate the property as a local historic district,” staff said in a memo to Board members.
Odds favor rejection of the historic designation, for two reasons.
For one, Board members in recent years have been hesitant to impose historic-district status on properties where the landowners oppose the action. Additionally, the Board’s top policy priority in recent years has been creating additional affordable housing, which would be complicated by a historic district on the Nelly Custis site.
The parcel is owned by Melwood, which is partnering with Wesley Housing on a plan to raze the existing building and construct a five-story mixed-use apartment complex in its place.
Designating the oldest portions of the building as a local historic district would not, by itself, block redevelopment plans.
“In theory, this approach could permit the demolition of the 1962 and 1995 additions, provided that any new construction — such as a large addition — is designed to be compatible with the 1924-31 core,” Lorin Farris of the county’s historic-preservation staff wrote in a memo to Board members.
The development plan was approved by the County Board in February 2025, despite concerns raised by some in Aurora Highlands that the scale of development is out of proportion with the neighborhood.
While the redevelopment plan won County Board approval in a 4-0 vote, it has been on hold as the historic-district drama plays out.
This February, enough HALRB members decided the historic-district application, made by a local resident over objections of Melwood, had enough merit to move forward for consideration.
Dissenting panel members said the site, which underwent a 1960s-era expansion before closing as an elementary school in 1978, and then was expanded again in the 1990s, does not merit preservation protections.
After its closure, the elementary school was transferred by the county government to Sheltered Occupational Center of Northern Virginia as part of a land swap. This organization later was rebranded as Linden Resources and in 2018 merged with Melwood.
Since the early 1980s, the facility has been used to support and provide employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.
The county zoning ordinance lays out 11 criteria a property could meet to achieve historic-district status. HALRB members must find it meets at least two to move forward for final consideration.
The seven votes in support of preservation determined the property met the bare minimum: two.
