development | ARLnow.com

Vihstadt, Garvey Hope to Revisit Site Plan Review System

Published December 9, 2014 at 1:05PM

Last week, ARLnow.com reported that Arlington’s site plan application process prohibits the county from receiving funds for schools when developers build bigger buildings, including apartments and condos. If the county wants to start receiving funds directly from developers to offset school costs, the site plan process has to be modified.

“I believe it is time to start a community conversation as to how we might consider adjustment to the site plan system to be more cognizant of school needs,” Vihstadt told ARLnow.com. “This won’t happen overnight, and it may require legislation in Richmond, but the bottom line is we need to be more creative and proactive in planning for and accommodating the growing enrollment trends in our schools, and we need more tools to do so.”

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New Office, Residential Towers Planned for Crystal City

By Ethan Rothstein

Published December 5, 2014 at 11:25AM

Vornado's rendering of its redevelopment plans for 223 23rd Street S.

Vornado is planning a new 25-story office tower and a 28-story apartment building at Crystal Drive and 23rd Street S.

The redevelopment plan would demolish the current, vacant office building at 223 23rd Street. In addition to building the two new buildings — which would be two of the tallest in Crystal City — Vornado is planning on building a 13,000-square-foot park on the site, adjacent to the residential tower, and a 4,000-square-foot pocket park along Crystal Drive.

Around Town

New Townhomes Could Replace Four Houses in Ballston

By ARLnow.com

Published December 3, 2014 at 1:30PM

Sixteen new townhouses could be coming near the corner of Washington Blvd and N. Stuart Street in Ballston, tearing down several single family homes in the process.

The project, called the Ballston Oak Townhomes, would build two, eight-unit buildings with four stories and private garage parking between 1124 and 1138 N. Stuart Street. The property’s owner is an LLC registered to Eric Ritland, the owner of home construction company Georgetown Builders.

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Why Doesn’t Arlington Ask Developers for School Funding?

By Ethan Rothstein

Published December 3, 2014 at 12:05PM | Updated December 3, 2014 at 12:47PM

In Arlington, when a developer wants to redevelop a property to replace it with a bigger, taller building, the county often receives funding for affordable housing, transportation, streetscape improvements and public art. These “community benefits” from the developer are usually worth millions of dollars.

None of it goes directly to Arlington’s public schools, facing a capacity crisis with no end in sight.

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County Board Could Heighten Green Building Standards

By Ethan Rothstein

Published November 11, 2014 at 12:00PM | Updated November 12, 2014 at 10:23AM

The County Board could approve measures on Saturday to increase the green benchmarks it requires of developers who are seeking more density than zoning allows. The change in the Green Building Program would coincide with the U.S. Green Building Council’s update to its LEED certification system, which raises the standards by which buildings are approved for silver, gold and platinum ratings.

According to the county’s staff report, a working group from the National Association of Industrial and Office Parks, after reading staff’s recommended changes, “expressed concern that the proposed changes will make it more costly to do business in Arlington, claiming that the additional costs will be reflected in residential and office rental rates.”

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Construction Begins on Ft. Myer Heights Apartment Tower

By Ethan Rothstein

Published November 5, 2014 at 5:30PM

Rendering of the Union on Queen apartments (image courtesy The Bozzuto Group)

Construction on 193 new apartments — including 78 affordable units — in the Fort Myer Heights neighborhood has begun, and county officials and developers celebrated today with a groundbreaking.

The project, called Union on Queen, will raze three buildings to erect a 12-story tower, which will contain 181 apartments. The two buildings that make up the Pierce Queen Apartments, built in 1942 on the 1600 block of 16th Street N., will be gutted, but preserved and renovated. They will be converted into 12 affordable units.

Around Town

Board to Consider 20-Story Apartment Building in Pentagon City

By ARLnow.com

Published November 5, 2014 at 4:15PM | Updated November 6, 2014 at 2:07PM

Existing office building at 400 Army Navy Drive

Update on 11/6/14 — Board consideration of this apartment building has been delayed until December.

The Arlington County Board is slated to consider a 453-unit apartment building that’s proposed to replace a vacant Pentagon City office building this month.

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‘Boutique Luxury’ Apartments Set to Open in Lyon Park

By Ethan Rothstein

Published October 22, 2014 at 3:45PM

An apartment building that bills its units as “boutique luxury” apartments says it’s a month away from leasing,

The Hyde, at 3119 9th Road N., is an 18-unit “exquisite rental residence,” according to developer Clark Realty Capital, that is still under construction but is expected to begin taking tenants next month. The apartments range from one to three bedrooms averaging 1,400 square feet each. When construction began, the project was referred to as 9th Road Residences when construction began a year ago.

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Construction to Start This Month on New Crystal City Apartments

By Ethan Rothstein

Published October 8, 2014 at 4:30PM

The building, at 1720 S. Eads Street, is being developed by Kettler and will be called m.flats, the same name of a recently opened Kettler apartment building on K Street NW in D.C.

The development, which was approved by the Arlington County Board last February, will be 11 stories tall with 198 units, comprised almost entirely of one- and two-bedroom apartments. There will be 176 spaces of underground parking, a “gaming area, fitness center, street entry bike room, and an all-season landscaped courtyard with fire and water features.”

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published October 8, 2014 at 9:30AM

Civ Fed Votes Against Tall Buildings — The Arlington County Civic Federation has voted to urge the Federal Aviation Administration to adopt stricter rules regarding skyscrapers around airports. Such a rule, intended as a safety measure in the event a plane suffers an engine failure on takeoff, could impose a moratorium on future tall buildings in Crystal City and Rosslyn. [InsideNova]

Walk and Bike to School Day — Arlington Public Schools participated in International Walk and Bike to School Day this morning. Students and parents across the county ditched their cars and made their way to school on foot. [Arlington Public Schools]

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Red Top Cab in Clarendon to Redevelop as Apartments?

By Ethan Rothstein

Published September 29, 2014 at 4:45PM | Updated September 29, 2014 at 5:15PM

Red Top Cab's facility in Clarendon in 2014 (file photo)

(Updated at 5:15 p.m.) Red Top Cab is exploring redeveloping its two properties in Clarendon as apartment buildings with ground floor retail.

Red Top has occupied those parcels for decades under owner Neal Nichols, who founded the taxi company in 1964. Nichols has partnered with Ballston-based developer The Shooshan Company with the intent of redeveloping its business office and large surface parking lot at 1200 N. Hudson Street and its communications center at 3251 Washington Blvd, ARLnow.com has learned.

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Civic Federation Could Debate Rosslyn Building Heights

By Ethan Rothstein

Published September 26, 2014 at 1:30PM

The FAA announced in April that it was considering changing the regulations around airports to accommodate “one engine inoperative” planes — aircrafts that have an engine fail on takeoff and can’t ascend into the air as fast. The new rule, if passed, would restrict the heights of buildings in the area surrounding airports, which could impact redevelopment in Rosslyn and Crystal City.

County Manager Barbara Donnellan sent a letter in July to the FAA stating the county’s opposition to the rule change. In the letter, she wrote “we share the FAA’s interest in ensuring that air navigation in and around airports is safe, with appropriate plans and procedures in place to account for emergency situations.”