A key county advisory panel has recommended giving historic protections to portions of the former Nelly Custis School in Aurora Highlands.
The 7-4 vote by the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board on March 18 sends the matter to the Planning Commission and County Board. And it complicates efforts by Melwood and Wesley Housing to redevelop the 1.7-acre site at 750 23rd Street S. for affordable housing.
An Ace Hardware store is opening soon in Crystal City.
Arlington’s second Twins Ace Hardware is preparing to soft open at 2051 S. Bell Street on Tuesday, April 7, owner Jeff Smith told ARLnow. This will be followed by a three-day grand opening with “swag, gift bags, giveaways, and plenty of surprises” from May 29-31.
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].
Question: How does home value appreciation vary in Arlington by property type?
Answer: The Arlington VA housing market has appreciated by an average price of 49% and a median price of 39% over a ten-year period, but that appreciation is not evenly distributed across all property types.
Detached Homes Appreciate Over 60%
Those who spend the most on a home benefit from the highest appreciation rates, with detached home appreciation of 60%+ over the course of a decade, and new detached homes appreciating the most of any property type, at 65%.
Condos Appreciate 1-2% Annually
The worst performing category over ten years in Arlington is the one-bedroom condo, with appreciation close to 1% annually and just 15% over ten years. Two-bedroom condos perform moderately better, with an average annual appreciation closer to 2% at 28% over ten years.
Townhouses are the Goldilocks Property Type
More expensive than condos and less expensive than detached homes, townhouse/semi-detached properties fall right in the middle of cost and ten-year rate of appreciation, coming in at 40% over ten years. (more…)
Victims of crime in Arlington will soon have a more soothing and intentionally designed space to speak with an attorney about their experiences.
A planned “soft interview room” from the Arlington County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office is intended to create a greater sense of ease and safety during victim interviews. With pleasant art, a couch, blankets and a soothing color palette, the room — created in partnership with the nonprofit Project Beloved — will finish installation next week on the fifth floor of the courthouse.
Tap water in Arlington may have a distinct taste and smell of chlorine for a while as an annual cleaning of the county’s pipe network begins next week.
Starting Monday, Arlington will swap out its year-round disinfectant, chloramine, for chlorine — resulting in “a slight change in taste or scent when using the tap.”
*Mamistad Groups meet IN PERSON-only the introductory Zoom call is virtual. :)
Pregnancy and new mom groups are a lifesaver when it comes to normalizing those feelings we just can’t be prepared for.
Firefighters Warn on Cuts — The local firefighters union pointed to a call in which Rescue 102 was dispatched to a second alarm in Fairfax County: “If the proposed budget passes and Rescue 102 is cut… this would have left Arlington County with ZERO Rescue units available for our own residents.” [IAFF Arlington/FB]
Pentagon City Robbery — A man entered a store in the 1200 block of S. Hayes Street on Tuesday afternoon, asked to view merchandise and then shoved an employee when a display case was unlocked, stole merchandise and fled on foot, according to police. No injuries were reported. [ACPD]
Snowcrete Pile Finally Gone — Crews removed the last remnants of the “snowcrete” pile on 14th Street N. near N. Courthouse Road, nearly two months after January’s winter storm. The block had served as a dump site for snow removed from other roadways. [DC News Now]
Cape Raises $100M — Cape, an Arlington-based privacy-focused mobile carrier, raised $100 million in a Series C round co-led by Bain Capital Ventures and IVP. The company says it has “redesigned a telco from scratch” for government agencies and individuals concerned about surveillance. [Potomac Tech Wire]
Opower Alum Scales Carecubes — Carecubes, an Arlington-based startup founded by former Opower president Alex Laskey, raised $6.5 million in Series A funding for its pop-up isolation units designed to contain airborne infections in hospitals. The company has backing from DARPA and the CDC and customers across 13 states. [WBJ, Potomac Tech Wire]
School Traffic Enforcement — ACPD conducted “high-visibility enforcement and education in response to community complaints regarding traffic safety” around Yorktown High School and Dorothy Hamm Middle School on Thursday. [ACPD/X]
APS Employees of the Year — Arlington Public Schools named its 2026 employees of the year, including Kenmore’s Robin Stewart as Teacher of the Year, Jamestown’s Michelle McCarthy as Principal of the Year and Williamsburg’s Engelberto Zamora as Support Employee of the Year. [APS]
ACPD Community Meetings — Arlington police are hosting spring quarterly community meetings on March 24 at Macedonia Baptist Church (3412 22nd Street S.) and March 25 at Grace Community Church in Ballston Quarter. Topics include scam prevention and spring transportation safety. [Arlington County]
Dulles Mideast Flights Slashed — About two-thirds of flights from Dulles to the broader Middle East have been cancelled since U.S. and Israeli airstrikes on Iran began Feb. 28, according to MWAA. Middle East traffic accounts for about 10% of international travel through the airport. [FFXnow]
Shutdown Hits TSA Workers — A month into the DHS shutdown, TSA workers have missed paychecks, more than 300 airport security officers have quit and food banks across the region are stepping in to help. House Democrats are pushing to fund most of DHS while excluding immigration enforcement agencies. [Fox 5, Fox 5]
Winter Is (Finally) Over — The Capital Weather Gang has officially declared the winter of 2025–2026 over, after a season that was the coldest since 2002–2003. Highs are expected to surge into the 60s today and reach the 70s by Sunday. [CWG/X, Washington Post]
Drought Stabilizing — Most of the D.C. region remains in moderate drought, an improvement from the severe drought that covered much of the area from late December through mid-February, according to the Capital Weather Gang. About 2–2.5 inches of precipitation since March 1 has helped, but below-normal rainfall is expected through the rest of the month. [CWG/X]
It’s Friday — Expect mostly sunny skies with a high near 68, a big jump from the recent chill, but scattered rain showers are possible after 2 p.m. with south winds gusting up to 25 mph. Rain chances increase Friday night, with a low around 49. [NWS]
Good Thursday evening, Arlington. Let’s take a look back at today’s stories and a look forward to tomorrow’s event calendar.
The following articles were published earlier today — Mar 19, 2026.
Here is what’s going on Friday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Expect scattered showers after 2 PM with increasing clouds and a high near 68°F. Winds will shift from light south to southwest at 8–13 mph, with gusts up to 24 mph. There is a 30% chance of precipitation. Showers are likely Friday night, mainly between 8 PM and 2 AM, with mostly cloudy skies and a low around 49°F. Southwest winds will be 7–10 mph, with gusts up to 18 mph, and a 60% chance of precipitation, with expected rainfall between a tenth and a quarter of an inch. See more from Weather.gov.
“The best way to predict your future is to create it.”
– Abraham Lincoln
The MonumentCam screenshot above is used with permission of the Trust for the National Mall and courtesy of EarthCam.
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Spring is here, and so are the blooms across Arlington National Cemetery’s 639 acres.
The cemetery just released a video showcasing its grounds in full spring splendor: flowering trees, rolling green hills and quiet moments among the headstones.
A busload of middle schoolers had a rollercoaster of a morning earlier this week after a charter bus took a wrong turn onto a bike path next to Arlington Blvd.
The students from Kenmore Middle School and Thomas Jefferson Middle School were on their way to a music assessment on Tuesday morning when their bus driver, who was trying to follow GPS directions, ended up turning onto a paved pathway that runs alongside Arlington Blvd, police spokesperson Kiyah Daniell told ARLnow.
Historic preservation work began today (Thursday) on several structures and memorials near Arlington National Cemetery, resulting in lane closures on Washington Blvd and GW Parkway.
Through mid to late May, the National Park Service will be cleaning the Boundary Channel Bridge, repairing deteriorating mortar and conducting restoration work on the Seabees Memorial, the United Spanish War Veterans Memorial and the structural bases of the nearby eagle statues.
