County Board | ARLnow.com

County to Endorse Columbia Pike Realignment Plan, Fund Design of New Trail Segment

Published April 20, 2020 at 11:15AM

Columbia Pike realignment and Arlington National Cemetery expansion plan (via Arlington County)

The Arlington County Board is set to vote this weekend on the federal government’s plan to realign Columbia Pike to facilitate the southern expansion of Arlington National Cemetery.

Under the plan, Southgate Road, which runs from the entrance to Henderson Hall to the intersection of the Pike and S. Joyce Street, would be removed to make way for new cemetery grounds and interment spaces. Columbia Pike would be realigned near the Air Force Memorial to run directly down to Joyce Street rather than curving around the memorial.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published April 17, 2020 at 8:30AM

Local Business Owners Still Waiting for Loans — “Like many business owners across Northern Virginia, Cyrille Brenac is still waiting to hear back from his bank about his application to the Paycheck Protection Program… For Brenac, who lives in the Cherrydale neighborhood of Arlington, the money would help him rehire about 50 employees of his two French restaurants he laid off when the economy abruptly shut down as the result of the global COVID-19 pandemic.” [Connection Newspapers]

County Board Salary Raise Unlikely — “The COVID-19 health pandemic and resulting economic downturn have snagged another victim – big pay raises for Arlington County Board members. Raises totaling more than $50,000 spread across the five board positions, which were included in County Manager Mark Schwartz’s pre-virus budget proposal in February, have been red-lined out.” [InsideNova]

News

BREAKING: Former County Board Member Erik Gutshall Has Died

By ARLnow.com

Published April 16, 2020 at 8:45PM | Updated April 17, 2020 at 11:39AM

County Board member Erik Gutshall at 2018 organizational meeting

(Updated at 11:40 a.m.) Former Arlington County Board member Erik Gutshall has died after a battle with brain cancer.

Gutshall’s passing comes a month and a half after the initial word that he was hospitalized, and ten days after his sudden resignation from the County Board.

News

Arlington County Board Meeting Delayed

By ARLnow.com

Published April 16, 2020 at 3:50PM

This weekend’s Arlington County Board meeting has been postponed.

It’s a rare step during unprecedented times. The announcement was made today less than 48 hours before the Saturday morning meeting.

News

County Board to Consider Contract to Reconfigure Part of 23rd Street S.

By ARLnow.com

Published April 16, 2020 at 12:15PM | Updated April 16, 2020 at 1:47PM

First phase of the 23rd Street S. project (photo via Arlington County)

Update at 1:40 p.m. — The County Board meeting scheduled for this weekend has been delayed until Saturday, April 25.

At its Saturday meeting, the Arlington County Board is set to consider a construction contract for upgrades to a portion of 23rd Street S. in Crystal City.

News

County Board to Consider Extension for Rappahannock Coffee Redevelopment

By ARLnow.com

Published April 15, 2020 at 12:35PM

Rappahannock Coffee

The long-delayed redevelopment of the Rappahannock Coffee property along Columbia Pike is still alive — but is getting pushed back.

The Arlington County Board this weekend is set to consider a request by developer B.M. Smith to push the expiration date of its already-approved use permit back from July 1, 2020 to July 1, 2023.

News

County Board to Consider Temporary Concrete Plant for HQ2 Construction

By ARLnow.com

Published April 14, 2020 at 3:45PM

Amazon may deliver a concrete plant to the Pentagon City neighborhood to help with the construction of its second headquarters.

Developer JBG Smith is working with the tech and online retail giant to build the two-phase, 4.2 million square foot complex along S. Eads Street. JBG is asking the Arlington County Board to approve a temporary concrete batching plant at the empty, adjacent Pen Place site on the 1100 block of S. Fern Street.

News

BREAKING: Erik Gutshall Resigns from County Board

By ARLnow.com

Published April 6, 2020 at 6:40PM | Updated April 6, 2020 at 8:11PM

County Board member Erik Gutshall at 2018 organizational meeting

(Updated at 8:10 p.m.) Erik Gutshall, who was hospitalized with a brain tumor earlier this year, has resigned from the Arlington County Board.

Gutshall made the announcement Monday evening in a Facebook post. He has been absent from Board meetings for the past couple of months, and on March 1 revealed it was due to a brain tumor.

News

Arlington Improvising to Address Coronavirus-Driven Needs While Stopping the Spread

By Vernon Miles

Published April 3, 2020 at 3:50PM

Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey provides an update on the county's COVID-19 efforts outside Arlington Central Library (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

On Friday, Arlington Central Library was transformed into a storage space for donated goods, serving as a symbol for the county’s efforts to improvise solutions in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

The idea of today’s one-day donation drive was to “to collect unused, unopened containers of essential Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), cleaning supplies, and certain food to assist essential employees, nonprofits and community organizations with coronavirus (COVID-19) response operations.”

News

Redevelopment of Key Bridge Marriott Approved

By ARLnow.com

Published March 25, 2020 at 10:45AM

Rendering of the formerly proposed buildings for the Key Bridge Marriott site (via Arlington County)

A new development that will build new housing in Rosslyn while renovating one of the region’s oldest hotels got the green light from the Arlington County Board over the weekend.

The board approved the redevelopment of the Key Bridge Marriott site by a 4-0 vote. The project will include the renovation of the hotel — one of Marriott’s earliest hotels, which first opened in 1959 — as well as the construction of three new 16-story residential buildings, with about 300 rental apartments and 150 condo units.

News

County Approves New Towers in Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

Published March 24, 2020 at 10:45AM | Updated March 24, 2020 at 11:18AM

A rendering of a new 1900 Crystal Drive apartment building near Amazon's headquarters (via JBG Smith)

(Updated at 11:15 a.m.) More than 800 new residential units are coming to Crystal City.

The Arlington County Board on Saturday approved a site plan for a new development at 1900 Crystal Drive. Developer JBG SMITH is tearing down an aging office building and planning to build two residential towers with ground-floor retail space in its place.

News

New Home Improvement TV Studio Coming to Rosslyn

By Vernon Miles

Published March 24, 2020 at 9:30AM | Updated March 24, 2020 at 1:32PM

(Updated 1:30 p.m.) Fledgling media production company WBITN is moving into a Rosslyn condo building basement after approval at an Arlington County Board meeting on Saturday.

The approval allows WBITN — which stands for We Build It New — to move into a 4,172 square foot audio-visual studio on the lower level of the River Place South complex (1011 Arlington Blvd). The arrangement includes 15 parking spaces.