Jo DeVoe | ARLnow

Arlington seeks funding to increase bus service to Amazon HQ2 via Columbia Pike

Published January 26, 2023 at 2:30PM

Signs of construction of new bus stops along Columbia Pike (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Arlington County is applying for regional funding to run buses every six minutes between Fairfax County and Amazon’s second headquarters in Pentagon City during peak hours.

The Arlington County Board on Saturday authorized staff to apply for up to $8 million in Northern Virginia Transportation Commission funding. Funding would offset the operating costs associated with running 10 buses per hour during peak times for two years along a new Metrobus route dubbed the 16M, connecting the Skyline complex in the Bailey’s Crossroads area of Fairfax County down Columbia Pike, to Pentagon City and Crystal City.

News

Arlington to kick off variable-price parking pilot along two Metro corridors

By Jo DeVoe

Published January 26, 2023 at 1:30PM

Parking along 13th Street S. in Pentagon City near Amazon's second headquarters in 2019 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Next month, Arlington County will hold a community event to kick off a three-year parking pilot program that prices parking by demand in a few highly trafficked corridors.

This is the first official step forward since the Arlington County Board accepted a $5.4 million grant from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation for the “performance parking” program.

News

BREAKING: Arlington County Board gives green light to hearings on Missing Middle

By Jo DeVoe

Published January 25, 2023 at 7:45PM | Updated January 26, 2023 at 7:49AM

The Arlington County Board on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023 (via Arlington County)

(Updated at 8:20 p.m.) The Arlington County Board has taken the next step toward potentially allowing Missing Middle housing.

This evening (Wednesday), during its third meeting on a request to advertise public hearings regarding the proposed zoning changes, the Board voted unanimously to kick off two months of public discussion on a proposed set of options and alternatives.

News

Shortage of mental health beds pushes Arlington toward community-based care

By Jo DeVoe

Published January 25, 2023 at 3:55PM

A whiteboard at Arlington County's Crisis Intervention Center (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The following was funded, in part, by the ARLnow Press Club. Become a member today and support in-depth local reporting.

In Arlington and across the state, hospital emergency rooms are filling up with people in mental health crises, often handcuffed to gurneys and attended by law enforcement officers.

News

After more speakers and a disruption, County Board takes extra day to deliberate Missing Middle

By Jo DeVoe

Published January 25, 2023 at 11:15AM | Updated January 25, 2023 at 12:27PM

Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey during the Tuesday, Jan. 24 discussion of Missing Middle housing (via Arlington County)

(Updated at 12:20 p.m.) Some 200 speakers and seven hours of public comment later, the Arlington County Board will decide whether to authorize hearings on a proposal to allow “Missing Middle” housing later today (Wednesday).

The request to authorize hearings on the zoning proposal was originally placed on the agenda for the Board’s Saturday meeting. After a marathon hearing on Saturday, public comment on the item carried over into the Board’s Tuesday meeting. Rather than make a decision last night, Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said members will take an extra day.

Schools

BREAKING: Former Arlington teachers union president charged with embezzlement

By Jo DeVoe

Published January 24, 2023 at 5:30PM | Updated January 26, 2023 at 9:56AM

Former Arlington Education Association President Ingrid Gant delivered remarks during a press conference in September 2021 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 5:45 p.m.) A former president of the Arlington teachers union, who was ousted last spring, has been charged with embezzling more than $400,000 from the organization.

Ingrid Gant, 54, of Woodbridge, was arrested yesterday (Monday) in Prince William County on four counts of embezzlement. She was taken to the county’s jail and later released on an unsecured bond, according to a press release from the Fairfax County Police Department today (Tuesday).

News

JUST IN: VHC to build mental health and rehab facility at former urgent care site

By Jo DeVoe

Published January 24, 2023 at 2:35PM | Updated January 24, 2023 at 3:03PM

The entrance to the old Virginia Hospital Center building on S. Carlin Springs Road on Sept. 13, 2022 (staff photo)

VHC Health could break ground on a new mental health and rehabilitation facility at its old urgent care facility on S. Carlin Springs Road as soon as this year.

Arlington County and VHC Health — the new name of Virginia Hospital Center — announced a joint agreement this afternoon to expand behavioral health and rehab services through the proposed project at 601 S. Carlin Springs Road.

News

Zoning changes give urban farms, breweries and colleges a quick process for taking over office spaces

By Jo DeVoe

Published January 24, 2023 at 11:35AM

Area 2 Farms, an indoor vertical farm, is opening in Green Valley (staff photo by Matt Blitz)

Urban farms and breweries could be coming to a vacant office near you.

Over the weekend, the Arlington County Board approved a series of zoning changes aimed at tackling the stubborn office vacancy rate. They would allow the following tenants to move into offices by right:

News

County to widen some sidewalks and place utility lines underground in Virginia Square

By Jo DeVoe

Published January 24, 2023 at 9:30AM

Joe's Kwik Mart and an above-ground utility pole (via Google Maps)

Arlington County is preparing to make street improvements at the busy intersection of Wilson Blvd and 10th Street N.

The project will widen public sidewalks on both sides of Wilson Blvd and 10th Street N., between the Clarendon and Virginia Square Metro stations, and put existing utilities underground so that the sidewalks can be more accessible for people with disabilities.

News

County Board approves two apartment towers in Crystal City

By Jo DeVoe

Published January 23, 2023 at 3:30PM

Updated renderings of the "East Tower" at 2250 Crystal Drive in Crystal City (via Arlington County)

Two 30-story apartment towers proposed for Crystal City received a green light from the Arlington County Board on Saturday.

The proposal from JBG Smith will redevelop a block at the intersection of 23rd Street S. and Crystal Drive that is currently home to a vacant office building from the 1960s and, until demolition started earlier this year, a strip of one-story retail that included the restaurant Jaleo.

Feature

Crystal City agriculture-tech startup EarthOptics raises nearly $28M

By Jo DeVoe

Published January 23, 2023 at 12:45PM | Updated January 23, 2023 at 2:24PM

EarthOptics' TillMapper helps farmers decide if, when, where and how deep to till (courtesy photo)

Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn.

Crystal City agriculture-tech startup EarthOptics recently announced it has raised nearly $28 million in Series B funding.

Around Town

Sweet Science Coffee near Courthouse rebrands as SIMONA Café

By Jo DeVoe

Published January 23, 2023 at 11:40AM

People work and drink coffee at SIMONA Café in Lyon Village (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

The Arlington location of Sweet Science Coffee in Lyon Village rang in the New Year with a new name, SIMONA Café, and more food and drink options.

Despite the new offerings, “the coffee program is still a really good program,” says owner Jad Bouchebel, who remains a partner in the business. Sweet Science continues to operate under the original brand in D.C.’s NoMA neighborhood.