development | ARLnow.com

Arlington Officials Not Satisfied with Amazon’s Plans for Going Green

Published October 15, 2019 at 3:35PM

Renderings of Amazon's new headquarters in Pentagon City depict people using the open space and retail areas after working hours (Image via Arlington County)

Arlington officials are asking Amazon to go back to the drawing board for its proposed headquarters in Pentagon City to put a greater emphasis on sustainability.

The 2.1 million-square-foot proposed office complex at the corner of 15th Street S. and S. Eads Street, is currently pending review by Arlington’s Planning Commission and County Board. If plans are finalized on schedule by the end of 2019, demolition is due to start early next year, according to JBG Smith’s Vice President of Development Matt Ginivan, with excavation then lasting through the end of the year.

News

Developer Skanska Buys Former Arlington Funeral Home Site in Va. Square

By Airey

Published October 15, 2019 at 1:30PM | Updated October 15, 2019 at 4:26PM

Rendering of original plans for the nine-story office building at 3901 Fairfax Drive. (Image via Arlington County)

A parking lot in the Virginia Square has a new owner, and potentially, a new future.

Swedish developer and construction company Skanska announced today (Tuesday) that it had bought the site at 3901 N. Fairfax Drive from an affiliate of of the Bernstein Management Corporation and intends to make long-stalled development plans a reality.

Around Town

Rosslyn Food Hall Frenzy: Three To Open in A Two-Block Radius

By Kalina Newman

Published October 10, 2019 at 1:30PM

By the summer of 2020, a two-block radius in Rosslyn will be home to three food halls: Common Ground, Happy Endings Eatery, and an unnamed concept at the soon-to-be redeveloped Rosslyn City Center.

Common Ground and Happy Endings will both be a part of the Central Place complex at 1800 N. Lynn Street. Common Ground will be on the second floor of the residential building, while Happy Endings will be on a lower level near Nando’s and Bethesda Bagels. Happy Endings is hoping to open in late November, Eater reported this week.

News

A New 240-Room Hotel Could Be Coming to Ballston

By Airey

Published October 10, 2019 at 10:00AM | Updated October 22, 2019 at 1:08PM

The long-shuttered Italian Restaurant Tutto Bene, as seen here in a 2018 street view image captured by Google Maps, could be replaced by a 10-story hotel (Image via Google Maps)

(Updated at 10:30 a.m.) A new hotel with several hundred rooms could be coming soon to Ballston.

Vienna-based developer Schupp Companies recently submitted plans to build a 10-story hotel with 240 rooms at 501 N. Randolph Street and 4019 5th Road N., according to the Arlington County website. Previously, the lot was home to celebrated Italian restaurant Tutto Bene before it closed in 2014, after 26 years in business.

News

JBG Has Big Plans for 23rd Street S. in Crystal City, But Redevelopment Could Displace Jaleo

By Airey

Published October 9, 2019 at 1:35PM

Rendering of JBG Smith's proposed new development at 2300 Crystal Drive (Image via Arlington County)

Two new, towering buildings have been proposed for the northwest corner of the intersection of Crystal Drive and 23rd Street S.

The pair are part of JBG Smith’s massive mixed-use development in Crystal City, which includes thousands of new apartments across five new buildings, along with a new office building. With Amazon’s HQ2 staffing up, the large-scale redevelopment could help house thousands as new workers flock to the area.

Schools

Marymount President Wants to Double School’s Size, Establish Itself As “Arlington’s University”

By Kalina Newman

Published October 8, 2019 at 3:50PM | Updated October 8, 2019 at 4:17PM

Marymount University's Main House, previously Rixey Mansion (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 4:15 p.m.) Marymount University President Irma Becerra isn’t slowing down.

With the 2019-20 school year underway and 455 students moved into the new upscale apartments at the newly-acquired “Rixey” building in Ballston, part of a $250 million investment in Marymount’s expanded Ballston presence, Becerra is continuing to push her Strategic Plan to double the Catholic university’s in size by 2024.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published October 8, 2019 at 7:30AM | Updated October 8, 2019 at 9:10AM

ACPD Provides Crystal City Shooting Update — “The Arlington County Police Department continues to investigate a non-fatal officer-involved shooting which occurred on August 28, 2019. The police department is committed to providing professional law enforcement services to the Arlington community while remaining transparent with the public regarding our operations. As a matter of transparency, the officer involved in the August shooting is Officer J. Clark.” [Arlington County]

Favola Endorses Dehghani-Tafti — State Sen. Barbara Favola writes in an endorsement of Democratic Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney nominee Parisa Dehghani-Tafti: “Parisa will work day and night to bring balance to a justice system that has relied excessively on jail time when diversion programs and common-sense drug laws would better serve us. I look forward to working with Parisa as I continue to fight for expunging the records of juveniles and decriminalizing marijuana.” [Twitter]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published October 4, 2019 at 7:30AM

A pedestrian and a cyclist along 15th St. S in Crystal City near the Amazon HQ2 site (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Update on Park Shirlington Plans — Owners of the Park Shirlington apartments are “advancing plans to build 612 new apartments and townhomes on the property and renovate 105 existing homes. That adds up to a total of 717 units on the 16-acre site, located just south of the Village at Shirlington and adjacent to Interstate 395. The developers plan to build 189 new apartments in a first phase of the project, then subsequently build about 267 more apartments and 156 townhomes, according initial plans presented to Arlington County officials.” [Washington Business Journal, UrbanTurf]

First Responders Train Caps for ‘Violent Incidents’ — “We take great pride in providing high quality training programs to citizens so that they can help us save lives. Last week, @ArlingtonVA police and firefighters trained members of the @Capitals administration staff in how to respond to violent incidents.” [Twitter]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published October 3, 2019 at 7:30AM | Updated October 3, 2019 at 8:40AM

New Grocery Store for Crystal City — “D.C.-based Dweck Properties is pitching a nearly 16,000-square-foot ‘urban format grocery store’ for the base of its Crystal Plaza apartments, according to plans filed with Arlington County this summer. Dweck is hoping to add roughly 38,000 square feet of retail to a plaza in front of the apartments, located at 2111 Richmond Highway.” [Washington Business Journal]

New Record High at DCA — “Washington is experiencing a beastly hot October day, unlike anything it has previously observed. The city exceeded its hottest October temperature ever previously observed, hitting 98 degrees, surpassing the mark of 96 degrees set on Oct. 5, 1941.” [Washington Post]

News

JBG Smith’s New Development Plans Include Twin Residential Towers Along 20th Street S.

By Airey

Published October 2, 2019 at 3:45PM | Updated October 2, 2019 at 4:02PM

(Updated at 4 p.m.) More detailed plans for part of JBG Smith’s massive new round of redevelopment near Amazon’s new headquarters are coming into view.

A preliminary site plan filing reviewed by ARLnow includes a 688,223 square-foot residential development in Crystal City — a pair of towers at 2000 and 2001 S. Bell Street — replacing an existing building at 2001 Richmond Highway and an adjacent parking lot.

News

BREAKING: JBG Smith Announces Massive Redevelopment Plan for Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

Published October 1, 2019 at 5:20PM

JBG Smith redevelopment plan map (Map via JBG Smith)

Property owner JBG Smith announced late Tuesday afternoon a major new redevelopment push in Crystal City in the wake of Amazon’s arrival.

The developer says it is planning to redevelop “approximately 2.6 million square feet of space across five multifamily buildings and one office building.”

Schools

Arlington Career Center Begins Design Phase of Expansion Project

By Kalina Newman

Published September 26, 2019 at 3:45PM | Updated September 26, 2019 at 4:30PM

Arlington Career Center (photo via Google Maps)

(Updated at 4:30 p.m.) Arlington Public Schools has established separate review and planning committees to kick off the design phase of its $185 million Arlington Career Center expansion project.

The Building Level Planning Committee (BLPC) and the Public Facilities Review Committee (PFRC) will meet ten times before March 2020, when the Arlington School Board is set to act on a concept design.