An ’80s themed bootcamp will take place in Rosslyn tomorrow to honor Ralf Hofmann, a man remembered as a passionate advocate for Arlington’s homeless and recent immigrants.
Hofmann, a former General Manager at the Hyatt Centric Arlington who was very active in several local charities, passed away on July 30 after a battle with a rare and aggressive cancer. All proceeds of the bootcamp will go towards a GoFundMe set up to support his wife, Heather, and their two sons.
Arlington police say the incident happened just before 4 a.m. Monday in a home on the 2700 block of S. Adams Street, in the Long Branch Creek neighborhood.
Investigators believe people living in the home “encountered an unknown suspect attempting to steal items of value” and then “yelled at the suspect, who then fled the scene in possession of the victims’ property prior to police arrival.”
This regularly scheduled column is written by Eli Tucker, Arlington-based Realtor and Arlington resident. If you would like to work with Eli and his team in Northern Virginia and the greater D.C. Metro area, you can reach him directly at [email protected].
Fannie Mae sets the rules for (most) residential lending and just released new requirements for condo loans. Here’s a link to the full release and I’ll highlight a few changes that have the biggest implications for Arlington/Northern VA condos.
Thanks to the always-on it, Trey Reed of Cross Country Mortgage ([email protected], 703.297.9382), for the notice and helpful explanation on these changes.
Elimination of 50% Investor-Owned (rental) Unit Limits
This rule caused mass confusion for years for condo boards/owners and is now eliminated.
Effective Immediately: The 50%+ investor-owned limit is eliminated for ALL loan types.
Why it Matters: This should increase the buyer pool for investor-heavy buildings which is good for values, but may push rental percentages even higher, which most owner-occupants consider a negative.
What to Watch: Many condo buildings with rental caps set them at, or just below, 50% because of this rule (I’m generally opposed to rental caps) so it makes sense that some buildings will drop their rental caps. On the other hand, the elimination of this rule may increase the number of investor purchases and owner-occupants may play defense by adding a rental cap. It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out over the next 2-3 years.
Increased Reserve Allocation to 15%
What Changed: For loan applications dated after Jan 4 2027, condos must budget at least 15% of their total income from assessments (condo fees) toward Reserve contributions.
Background Context: Previously, the requirement was 10%. Reserves are a building’s savings account for the maintenance and replacement of common elements (e.g. HVAC, roof, carpet, paint, parking garage, etc).
Between the Lines: Underfunded Reserves are the biggest financial risks for a condo association; and thus for the banks that lend to its owners. The minimum contribution requirement is an effort by Fannie Mae to reduce this risk exposure.
Why it Matters: This is a nationwide rule, but Arlington/Northern VA condos tend to be in a better financial position, with stronger reserve balances, than many others across the country and do not need 15%+ annual reserve contribution to properly maintain their Reserves. As a result, this rule will force these buildings, that have been financially responsible for years/decades, to increase condo fees unnecessarily to meet the new requirement. This will result in an unnecessarily overfunded Reserve account and put downward pressure on market values because monthly fees are higher. (more…)
Construction has wrapped up on improvements to Arlington Boulevard (Route 50) at the Manchester Street and Park Drive intersections.
According to Eric Balliet, transportation spokesperson for Arlington County, the road and lane closures around the project have come to an end and landscaping work on the surrounding area is expected to begin this fall.
Bicycling advocates are blasting newly revealed plans to simultaneously expand Arlington National Cemetery and realign Columbia Pike, arguing that the proposed changes could make cycling along the roadway more dangerous.
The advocacy group “Sustainable Mobility for Arlington County” claims the cemetery’s current expansion plans, designed to someday add 70 acres to the burial ground, “will squander a major opportunity to improve the bike connection between Columbia Pike and Pentagon City and arguably make cycling less pleasant and less safe.”
Join us for a crown-worthy evening at Penrose Square as we celebrate Arlington’s own Sandra Bullock with a special outdoor screening of Miss Congeniality.
Before the movie, create your own tiara with our friends at MOCA Arlington, then settle in for a hilarious night under the stars with one of the most beloved comedies of the 2000s.
This week’s Arlington Pet of the Week is Trixie, a 4-year-old cockapoo who is quite popular around the neighborhood.
Here’s what her owner, Lydia, had to say on her behalf:
This column is sponsored by BizLaunch, a division of Arlington Economic Development.
On a recent Thursday evening, The Alcove pop-up space in Rosslyn became an extra dimension for another seminar in the series ROC: Return on Creativity, an Arlington Asset.
(Update at 3:15 p.m.) Arlington National Cemetery is now back open to the public, after investigators determined that a bomb threat made this morning was unfounded.
Cemetery officials evacuated the burial ground earlier this morning, and now say the cemetery will remain open until 7 p.m. tonight, as usual.
Arlington is earning more high marks for its high-quality parks, this time winning the spotlight for its large number of amenities like playgrounds and nature centers.
A new report from the Trust for Public Land released today (Wednesday) ranked the county eighth in the country among large localities when it comes to park acreage per 1,000 residents. With 1,767 acres of parks in the county’s 26 square miles, Arlington has about 7.75 acres of parks for every 1,000 people, better than major cities like San Francisco and New York.
The students suing to block the renaming of Washington-Lee High School believe they have a powerful new piece of evidence to offer in support of their case.
The three W-L students behind the legal action claim that one School Board member, Vice Chair Tannia Talento, admitted in a recent conversation to a key contention of their lawsuit: that school officials failed to solicit enough community feedback on the name change before the Board’s June 7 vote on the matter.
