The demise of an anticipated development project at a busy Columbia Pike intersection has left a social and economic void in South Arlington.
It has also left many fingers pointing at an unnamed grocery tenant — which evidence suggests may have been an Amazon Fresh — for its role in the project’s failure.
A new Uniqlo in Pentagon City is hosting its grand opening this week, offering free treats, merch and manga-style portraits to select customers.
The Japanese fast-fashion brand will open for business at 10 a.m. tomorrow (Friday) following a taiko drum performance by the Mark H Taiko Connection. This will kick off an opening weekend of limited-time offers and giveaways at the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City.
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: It seems like listings lingered on the market longer than usual this summer. Is that reflected in the market data?
Answer: The summer real estate market is usually slower than spring, but since late June, this summer has felt unusually slow compared with past summer markets. I analyzed Arlington homes listed for sale in July and August, going back to 2016, and found that we did indeed experience a historically slow summer market.
5-Bullet Cliff Notes
Slowest Summer Since 2016
Fewer homes listed in July and August went under contract within the first ten days on market (my preferred measure of market pace) than any summer since 2016.
The condo market experienced the brunt of that slowness, with the percentage of condos under contract within ten days falling 17.9 points below the trailing ten-year average. Arlington’s detached/townhouse/duplex market, one of the most robust sub-markets in the country, was not spared either; falling 6.7 points below the trailing ten-year average.
Lingering Inventory
The clearest sign of a summer slowdown is the amount of inventory that remained unresolved at the end of August. 53% of the listings entered in July and August were still active, compared with about 31% in 2025 and 27% from 2023-2025.
Even among July listings, which had at least a full month to attract a buyer, 36% remained active: more than twice the recent three-year rate. As of Aug 30, ~25% of all active summer listings had accumulated at least 30 days on market, and 9% accumulated at least 60 days.
Showings Down, Active Inventory Up
Showing data shows that we have fewer buyers in the market, not simply more indecisive/deliberate buyers. In the week ending August 23, showings in Arlington were down 7.9% from the prior week and 26.4% from the same week last year.
There are also a lot more homes for buyers to choose from, with active listings (homes listed for sale) up 2% from the week prior and 21.5% from the same week last year. Buyers will take longer to make decisions when they have more choices.
The Arlington trends are consistent with other Northern VA/DC Metro markets as well. In the DC Metro, weekly showings dropped to five-year lows in late June and remained there during most weeks of the summer. At the same time, the week ending August 23 delivered the most new listings to the market of any year since 2021, for the same week.
Total active listings in the DC Metro have been above the same week in the prior year since the second week of January 2025.
Despite plans to close to the public, the doors to the View of DC observation deck in Rosslyn remain open for now while the property’s new owner finalizes some last-minute details.
Yesterday (Wednesday) was intended to be the last day visitors could access the deck at 1201 Wilson Blvd, according to the Arlington Economic Development website. The Arlington County Board last week agreed to exchange public access to the lookout, which offers free 360-degree views of D.C. and Northern Virginia, for a $14 million investment in renovations at nearby Gateway Park.
Pentagon MMA has brought a special honor home to Arlington from the birthplace of Muay Thai.
The Arlington Muay Thai and Jiu Jitsu Academy is now officially a certified and registered Muay Thai Gym Partner through the Sports Authority of Thailand and the Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand, making Pentagon MMA the only Muay Thai academy on the East Coast to have earned this distinction.
Upon receiving court approval, ARLnow plans to start publishing legal notices.
This page will compile recently published legal notices.
Event location
Bluemont Park
329 N Manchester St.
arlington, Virginia 22203
Join us for the LLT 5K Run/Walk, a community-powered fundraiser supporting Empower Latina and our mission to uplift, empower, and create opportunities for Latina women and girls. Whether you run, walk, or cheer from the sidelines, your participation helps make a meaningful impact. Lace up, show up, and empower Latina!
In the Team USA House at the Paris Olympics, the nation’s greatest athletes are cheering each other on every day to tunes curated by an Arlington resident.
James Morrison — stage name: TMMPO — is the team’s first-ever resident DJ. From noon to midnight in the historic Palais Brongniart, the Cherrydale resident is responsible for hyping up world-class athletes, including Arlington’s own Torri Huske, and helping their friends and family feel at home in France.
Arlington’s third Goodwill location on 5210 Langston Blvd is “not likely” to open later this month, as was previously reported.
The new Goodwill Donation Express will serve primarily as a spot for donation drop-offs, selling “a very limited amount of merchandise.” The operation was previously scheduled to open its doors on Sunday, Aug. 25 — according to a press release Wednesday — but “a few structural issues” still need to be addressed before doors can open, Goodwill spokesperson Brendan Hurley told ARLnow.
For at least the fourth time since late June, Dominion customers in Ballston and Virginia Square area are without power.
The outage started around 2 a.m. this morning, residents tell ARLnow, and an outage map shows it affecting roughly the same area as previous outages on June 24, July 15 and July 23.
More Construction for Crystal City — “JBG Smith Properties continues to say it anticipates getting nearly 10 million square feet of new development, mostly in National Landing… ‘shovel-ready’ by 2025. Matt Kelly, the Bethesda-based developer’s CEO, said in his July 30 second quarter letter to shareholders the company ‘expect[s]’ to get 18 assets ready to go for new development by the end of next year.” [Washington Business Journal]
Clarendon Barnes & Noble Robbery — “A witness notified a store employee that two suspects were stealing merchandise. A second employee located the suspects in the store who then began to yell at the employee before one suspect attempted to strike the employee. The employee then left the area to call police during which the suspects collected merchandise and exited the business without payment.” [ACPD]
APS Phone Policy Emerging — “Under the draft proposal, which will be aired at the Aug. 5 meeting of the School Board’s policy subcommittee: Elementary- and middle-school students would be required to have personal devices put away for the duration of the school day. High-school students would be required to have the devices out of reach during instructional periods but could access them at other times.” [Gazette Leader]
Grant for New Rosslyn Eatery — “A nonprofit supporting women-owned food businesses has handed out $5,000 grants to 10 food startups from the D.C. and Baltimore region, including makers of French macarons, beignets, Mexican-style popsicles, dumplings and more… Kam and 46, a Hawaii and Filipino food pop-up, recently opened shop in Rosslyn food hall Upside on Moore.” [Washington Business Journal]
Skepticism Over ‘Fittest’ Status — “I absolutely refuse to believe Arlington and D.C. are the top two healthiest cities in America. I lived in Arlington for around four years and I’ve lived in D.C. for nearly six. I’ve never seen any area of the country with unhealthier habits than the Washington, D.C. metro area. D.C. has the highest percentage of heavy drinkers in the entire country, according to data from the CDC. While the CDC doesn’t specify Arlington’s binge-drinking rates, I’m sure it’s nearly as bad.” [Outkick]
Trump Proposal’s Local Impact — From state Sen. Scott Surovell: “Has anyone noticed that Trump’s platform promises to move 100,000 [federal] workers out of the DMV (so does Project 2025)?” [Twitter, WAMU, WUSA 9]
GOP Questions Climate Spending — From the Arlington GOP, in response to Arlington naming a new top climate official to steer the county toward achieving carbon neutrality by 2050: “Your tax dollars at ̶w̶o̶r̶k̶ waste.” [Twitter]
Kaine Co-Sponsors Child Care Bill — “Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Katie Britt (R-Ala.) are unveiling two bipartisan bills Wednesday aimed at making child care more affordable through beefed up tax credits and grants for child care providers.” [Axios]
Local Man Convicted in Federal Case — “A 34-year-old [Arlington] man was convicted Wednesday of illegally accessing the private medical data of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg in 2019 but acquitted of posting the information to an online message board where conspiracists falsely claimed Democratic politicians were covering up her death.” [Washington Post, Dept. of Justice]
It’s Thursday — Showers and thunderstorms are possible after 5pm, with a mostly sunny and hot day reaching a high of 97°F and heat index values up to 104°F. Winds will be light and variable, turning west around 5 mph in the afternoon. On Thursday night, expect a chance of showers and thunderstorms mainly before 8pm, mostly cloudy conditions, a low around 77°F, and a 30% chance of precipitation. [NWS]
Good Wednesday 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 — Jul 31, 2024.
Here is what’s going on Thursday in Arlington, from our event calendar.
Showers and thunderstorms are possible after 5pm, with a mostly sunny and hot day reaching a high of 97°F and heat index values up to 104°F. Winds will be light and variable, turning west around 5 mph in the afternoon, and a 30% chance of precipitation. On Thursday night, expect a chance of showers and thunderstorms mainly before 8pm, mostly cloudy conditions, a low around 77°F, light south wind, and a 30% chance of precipitation. See more from Weather.gov.
“Life is short, live it. Love is rare, grab it. Anger is bad, dump it. Fear is awful, face it. Memories are sweet, cherish it.”
– Unknown
The MonumentCam screenshot above is used with permission of the Trust for the National Mall and courtesy of EarthCam.
Thanks for reading! Feel free to discuss the day’s happenings in the comments.
There’s something a little bit magical about picking up a foil for the first time — or drawing back a bow and watching your arrow fly true. It’s why fencing and archery have such a hold on kids and adults alike: real focus, real skill, and a thrill you don’t get from the usual sports lineup.
This fall, Nova Fencing & Archery Club in Bailey’s Crossroads is opening registration for both, with beginner classes for every age starting the week of September 12th. Fencing welcomes ages 7 to 12 and teens and adults 13 and up. Explore Archery, coached by USA Archery certified instructors, welcomes ages 8 to 12 and meets Tuesdays or Saturdays. And for our youngest fencers, ages 4 to 6, ABC’s of Fencing meets on Saturdays. All classes run eight sessions for $195, equipment provided, no experience needed — yes, even for grown-ups who’ve never held a sword or a bow before.
