development | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published October 9, 2018 at 8:55AM

Arlington Losing Big Office Tenant — “BAE Systems Inc. is moving its headquarters to Falls Church as part of a consolidation of its Northern Virginia office space… The move will also further ding Arlington County’s office vacancy rate, which at the end of 2017 was 20.6 percent.” [Washington Business Journal]

Hazmat Situation at Kaiser Permanente — Arlington County firefighters responded to a hazardous materials incident at Kaiser Permanente in Falls Church yesterday. Five people were evaluated by medics and, of them, two were transported to the hospital. [WJLA, Twitter, Twitter]

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published October 5, 2018 at 8:45AM | Updated October 5, 2018 at 9:02AM

WhyHotel Coming to Columbia Pike — “WhyHotel has just signed a deal for its second project in Arlington. WhyHotel signed on with Orr Partners to operate temporary hotel rooms in 150 of the 366 units in the Centro Arlington development… [which] is replacing the former Food Star grocery store at the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. George Mason Drive.” [Bisnow]

New Scalia Statue at GMU Law School — “As debate raged on Capitol Hill over a Supreme Court nomination that could shape the court’s future for decades, five justices gathered Thursday at a law school just across the Potomac River for the unveiling of a statue honoring an icon from its recent past — the late justice Antonin Scalia.” [Washington Post]

News

Virginia Hospital Center Expansion Set For Some Changes, But Remains Primed to Advance

By Alex Koma

Published September 26, 2018 at 10:45AM

A rendering of the planned Virginia Hospital Center expansion (courtesy photo)

The Virginia Hospital Center will need to wait a bit longer to kick off its coveted expansion project, but Arlington officials are largely optimistic that they’ve charted out a path to help the county’s lone hospital meet some community concerns and ultimately win approval.

VHC, and the county’s business community, pressed hard to earn a green light from the County Board this weekend, in order to start work on a $250 million expansion the hospital says it desperately needs to manage demand. But the Board chose to follow the recommendation of its planners instead, and push back a final vote on the project until December.

News

JBG Smith Changes Course on Crystal City Property, Flips From Residential to Office

By ARLnow.com

Published September 20, 2018 at 3:35PM

Despite continued high office vacancy rates, developer JBG Smith has abruptly reversed course on a plan to convert an aging Crystal City office building to apartments.

At an Arlington County Site Plan Review Committee meeting on Monday, the company presented an updated plan to renovate the 12-floor, 242,000 square foot building at 1750 Crystal Drive and modernize the building facade. The change comes less than a year after JBG Smith filed a plan to convert the office building into a 21-story residential tower, which in turn was a change in course from an approved circa-2015 plan to modernize the building and keep it as office space.

News

Ballston Quarter Delays Opening to Late October

By Alex Koma

Published September 19, 2018 at 10:45AM | Updated September 19, 2018 at 6:05PM

Ballston Quarter construction from Wilson Blvd

The developer behind Ballston Quarter is now promising a grand opening late next month, a minor departure from the September date originally targeted for the revamped Ballston Common Mall to begin welcoming customers once more.

Forest City is now targeting Oct. 25 for the development to open its doors “barring any unforeseen delays,” Forest City Regional Director of Marketing Jill Fredrick told ARLnow, via a PR rep. The bevy of restaurants and retailers set to call Ballston Quarter home won’t open all at once, but on a “rolling basis” over the next nine months, Fredrick added.

News

Developer Aims to Slash Parking Offered in Red Top Cab Overhaul

By Alex Koma

Published September 18, 2018 at 4:45PM

A 2015 rendering of the first phase of the Red Top Cab redevelopment (Photo via Arlington County)

The developer looking to transform the Red Top Cab properties in Clarendon into three mixed-use buildings now hopes to cut back on the parking offered on the properties, prompting some worries from neighbors.

The Shooshan Company is asking the County Board for permission to remove one floor from both of the underground lots planned for the site, a reduction of about 178 parking spaces in all. Work is set to begin soon on the long-delayed development, which will replace Red Top’s headquarters (located where Washington Boulevard meets 13th Street N.) and the lot the company once used for vehicle maintenance at 1200 N. Hudson Street.

News

Planning Commission Looks to Pump the Brakes on Virginia Hospital Center Expansion

By Alex Koma

Published September 12, 2018 at 2:45PM | Updated September 12, 2018 at 3:08PM

A rendering of the expanded Virginia Hospital Center (via HDR)

Arlington’s Planning Commission isn’t ready to lend its seal of approval to a major expansion of the Virginia Hospital Center, urging the county’s lone hospital to re-work its plans for the project.

The commission unanimously voted last night (Tuesday) to urge the County Board to delay its consideration of the project, perhaps providing a major speed bump for an expansion the hospital has claimed is essential for serving the county’s growing population in the coming years.

News

Plans Coming Together for Redevelopment of Ballston Harris Teeter

By Alex Koma

Published September 4, 2018 at 9:45AM

A rendering of a redeveloped Harris Teeter, seen from along N. Glebe Road.

Plans seem to be taking shape for a full redevelopment of the Harris Teeter and adjacent Mercedes Benz dealership lot in Ballston.

The grocery store’s owners are hoping to team up with a Georgia-based developer to build 700 residential units on the property with 83,600 square feet of retail on the ground floor of two buildings, including a newly renovated Harris Teeter store to replace the existing location.

News

Parking Plans Spark Debate Over Pentagon City’s PenPlace Development

By Alex Koma

Published August 28, 2018 at 1:45PM | Updated August 28, 2018 at 5:10PM

Parking lot plans at the PenPlace development in Pentagon City (via Arlington County)

Plans for a new parking lot at the large “PenPlace” development in Pentagon City are shaping up to cause a bit of friction between county staff and the project’s developer.

JBG Smith is hoping to build a temporary, 204-space retail parking lot adjacent to the development, located on a nine-acre plot of land along S. Fern Street and just off Army Navy Drive. But Arlington officials would much rather see the developer construct a lot roughly a quarter of that size, over fears that so much parking would contribute to a car-dependent culture in the area.

Opinion

Letter to the Editor: VHC Expansion Too Important to be ‘Held Hostage’ By Neighbors

By ARLnow.com

Published August 21, 2018 at 5:45PM

A rendering of the expanded Virginia Hospital Center (via HDR)

After many long months of debate, county officials are set to have their say next month on an extensive proposal for the Virginia Hospital Center’s expansion.

The project has attracted plenty of criticism from neighbors and transit advocates alike, prompting a brief delay of the county’s consideration of the 101-bed expansion of Arlington’s lone hospital.

News

Workers Start Cutting Down Large Dawn Redwood Tree in Williamsburg

By Alex Koma

Published August 21, 2018 at 3:45PM

Workers began cutting down a 114-foot-tall dawn redwood tree in front of a Williamsburg home today (Tuesday), just a few days after county officials announced they couldn’t find any way to save the tree and meet the demands of local conservationists.

Activists with the Arlington Tree Action Group told ARLnow that workers are now on-site at the property along the 3200 block of N. Ohio Street, removing branches from the massive tree in preparation for removing it entirely.

News

Report: Residential Development Surged in Arlington This Spring

By Alex Koma

Published August 20, 2018 at 4:45PM

Construction at 750 N. Glebe Road, to include apartments and an onsite Target

Arlington added more homes this spring than it has during any three-month period dating back to last summer, according to a new county report.

Between April 1 and June 30, the county saw construction work wrap up on a total of 278 new homes, including 236 apartments and townhomes and 42 single-family homes. The county totaled up these latest numbers as part of a quarterly analysis of development in Arlington.