Atilla’s Restaurant and its grocery store are both closing next month after nearly 50 years on Columbia Pike.
The well-known Turkish businesses are shutting the doors at 2705 Columbia Pike on May 29, long-time restaurant manager Sarah Engi confirmed to ARLnow.
Phase 2 of Amazon’s HQ2, including the signature “Helix” building, is a go.
The County Board unanimously approved the plans on the long-vacant PenPlace site in Pentagon City at its meeting on Saturday.
(Updated, 4/27) Work has finally started on a long-delayed “boutique multifamily development” in Ballston.
The development is taking place at 1031 N. Vermont Street in Ballston, the former site of Portico Church Arlington.
While there are thousands of affordable housing units in Arlington, there’s a smaller, unique portfolio under the county’s purview.
Homes that are part of the county’s Affordable Dwelling Unit Ownership Program are the only dedicated affordable housing in Arlington that residents can own, as opposed to rent.
This month’s cartoon by Mike Mount features a familiar theme: trees being cut down by Arlington developers.
It’s unclear whether the propensity for local developers to cut down trees is a uniquely Arlington thing, or whether the vocal opposition to certain trees being felled is the more Arlington-specific trait. Nonetheless, the toon touches on an issue that seems to come up frequently in the county, which is home to its own “Arlington Tree Action Group.”
Revamped Clarendon Restaurant Reopens — “With a new menu that offers Mexican food for all, Buena Vida Gastro Lounge is reopening its newly renovated restaurant in Clarendon this week, serving lunch and dinner and brunch on weekends. Buena Vida, at 2900 Wilson Blvd., also has a new executive chef, Jaime Garciá Pelayo Bribiesca, and a new décor created by CORE architecture+design.” [Patch, Instagram]
Group Wants More from Amazon — “While Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future (ASF) welcomes a new Amazon presence at PenPlace, we urge county leaders to strike a fair deal in this site plan review. As structured now, Arlington would trade world record bonus density — more buildable space — for unequal community benefits from Amazon.” [Press Release]
Jefferson Apartment Group has filed plans to redevelop the Clarendon Wells Fargo site with offices, retail space and apartments.
The company proposes to build a 128-foot tall, 12-story structure with 238 apartments, nearly 67,000 square feet of office space, about 34,500 square feet of ground-floor retail and 244 parking spaces across a two-level, below-grade garage.
(Updated at 12:55 p.m.) Plans are taking shape to rebuild the Arlington Career Center with improved amenities and, potentially, an additional 450 seats.
And it seems Arlington Public Schools is proposing a novel use for those seats: a middle school component to the Arlington Tech project-based learning program.
Rent on the Rise — “Living in Arlington, Virginia has its perks. ‘Young. It’s vibrant,’ said Arlington resident Robert Buck. ‘That’s why I moved here.’ However, those perks come at a price and for many, that price comes with a roommate… Arlington isn’t getting any cheaper according to a new study from Apartment List that says while rents are getting higher across the DMV they have gone up the most in Arlington by 16% over last year, compared to 10% in D.C.” [WUSA 9]
New Subdivision Gets New Name — “Toll Brothers has chosen a name for the luxury subdivision it is building on the site of the historic Febrey-Lothrop House, demolished one year ago. The winner? The Grove at Dominion Hills. The company was considering suggestions to name the new streets its 40 new homes will require off McKinley Rd. and Wilson Blvd. for the former landowners Febrey and Rouse. But on learning of Arlington’s street grid (new streets would have to be three-syllable “M’s” and N. 9th St.), the firm opted not to seek an exception from the county board, I’m told.” [Falls Church News-Press]
A four-story apartment building proposed for Green Valley is wending its way through Arlington County review processes.
The project would redevelop a gravel and asphalt parking lot at 2608 Shirlington Road with 27 market-rate units and three affordable ones atop ground-floor retail and a 38-space parking garage built into the hillside. Tenants will have access to a rooftop deck and pool.
A detached garage stands just across the street from the East Falls Church Metro station and a stone’s throw from an I-66 entrance and the Washington & Old Dominion Trail.
Elsewhere in the county, developers would be champing at the bit to turn this transit-accessible carport into an apartment building with ground-floor retail.
(Updated at 10:35 a.m. on 04/07/22) After one year of community engagement, plans for the second phase of Amazon’s second headquarters in Pentagon City cleared the Planning Commission on Monday night.
The project now proceeds to the Arlington County Board, which is slated to review the plans during its meeting on Saturday, April 23.
