The site plan to redevelop Rosslyn’s former Key Bridge Marriott has expired, raising even more questions for the future of the Langston Blvd property.
Plans for a renovated hotel and two 16-story residential buildings at 1401 Langston Blvd expired on July 1, county spokesperson Rachel LaPiana told ARLnow.
A County Board member has pledged that neither elected officials nor staff will try an end-around to raze the existing Melwood site for redevelopment until the historic-preservation process plays itself out.
“We have already implemented measures to ensure that no [demolition or use] permits are issued” before any decision by the County Board takes place, County Board member Julius “JD” Spain, Sr., said at the July 16 meeting of the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board (HALRB).
Arlington officials see the decision to phase out assisted living facilities at Culpepper Garden as part of a larger, nationwide problem with no easy fixes.
At a Saturday meeting, county leaders faced pressure to address the planned changes at the senior housing community, which are scheduled to go into effect next summer and impact more than 70 residents. However, they said that their ability to influence such issues is limited.
Arlington officials say they’re aware of deficiencies affecting pedestrians and bicyclists along stretches of N. Glebe Road between I-66 and Langston Blvd.
“The sidewalks belong to a different era — terrible and definitely not adequate,” County Board Chair Takis Karantonis said on Saturday.
New conversion projects on three aging, mostly empty office buildings in Arlington have caused the county’s office vacancy rate to drop by more than a full percentage point.
County leaders hope that these adaptive reuse projects, combined with newly approved standards for signage on commercial buildings, contribute to making Arlington a more enticing place for developers and corporate tenants alike.
More relaxed rules for business signage and lower speed limits on five roads are on the agenda for an upcoming Arlington County Board meeting.
Other items up for consideration at the Saturday meeting include the purchase of two homes to reduce flood risks, funding for an East Falls Church road project and grants to support seniors experiencing cognitive decline.
Numerous large-scale redevelopment and conversion projects are scheduled to go before the Arlington County Board at upcoming meetings.
A full slate of projects would bring a total of 1,535 new residential units and 344 hotel rooms to Rosslyn, Ballston, Shirlington, Crystal City and Virginia Square. They include both teardowns and adaptive-reuse projects involving underused office buildings.
Arlington Independent Media’s flagship FM station is back on the airwaves — but beyond that, the troubled nonprofit has effectively gone radio silent.
Arlington listeners tuning into 96.7 FM can once again catch lo-fi beats on AIM’s public radio station, WERA. Every now and then, they’ll hear a message inviting them to listen online at WERA.fm.
A working group on affordable housing met last week to explore possible solutions to ever-spiraling costs for Arlington’s low- and moderate-income households.
Though the hour-long meeting on July 1 didn’t resolve any core issues, members suggested that pushing developers to provide more funding to the county’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund might be the best way to get more apartments built in Arlington.
A proposed 845-unit redevelopment project in Rosslyn has won the support of the Arlington Transportation Commission.
The commission voted 11-0 in support of the project on a 2.3-acre site at 1901 and 1911 Fort Myer Drive, near Gateway Park.
Lower speed limits could be coming to some Arlington roads with high numbers of bicyclists.
A proposal going before the Arlington County Board on Saturday, July 19 would reduce speed limits on some designated “bicycle boulevards” from 25 mph to 20 mph.
County leaders are promising action after an audit found major deficiencies in the operation and oversight of a transit program serving Arlington residents with disabilities.
Identified issues with the Specialized Transit for Arlington Residents (STAR) program ranged from billing discrepancies to a lack of review of driver manifests by WeDriveU, which operates the paratransit program under contract to the county.
