development | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published September 20, 2011 at 8:09AM

Candlelight Vigil for Hit and Run Victim — Friends of Zorigoo Munkhbayar gathered on the Rhodes Street Bridge Sunday night to mourn the 23-year-old’s tragic death. Munkhbayar was hit by a car — which then fled the scene — as he was walking down Route 50 early Friday morning. [Ode Street Tribune]

Residents Still Waiting for Promised Traffic Lights — Some residents are asking: Why haven’t traffic lights been installed at the intersections of N. Qunicy Street and 9th Street and Wilson Blvd and N. Pollard Street? After all, Arlington County has already collected tens of thousands of dollars from developers with the express purpose of installing traffic lights at the intersections. [Sun Gazette]

Around Town

Board Approves Apartment Complex in Virginia Square

By ARLnow.com

Published September 19, 2011 at 11:01AM

The board voted unanimously on Saturday to approve the complex, which includes a 13-story building and a 6-story building connected via an elevated glass skywalk. The complex will be located on the block currently bordered by Wilson Boulevard, Fairfax Drive, N. Kansas Street and N. Lincoln Street. The block is currently home to small low-rise office buildings and surface parking lots.

The new complex, tentatively dubbed Virginia Square Towers, will include nearly 13,000 square feet of ground floor retail space, 630 underground parking spaces and a central public plaza with benches and a water feature.

News

Residents of Building Near Construction Collapse Scramble to Find New Homes

By ARLnow.com

Published August 31, 2011 at 1:29PM

What started on Aug. 7 as a construction site mishap — the failed retaining wall, the muddy landslide, the threat that the apartment building might collapse — has gone from bad to worse for the Swansen residents, who say they were being told as late as Aug. 23 that they would be able to move back in to their Rosslyn-area apartment building.

That all changed on Aug. 26, residents say, with an email from landlord Mark Swansen.

Around Town

Civic Associations Weigh in on ‘Big Box’ Development Potential

By ARLnow.com

Published July 22, 2011 at 2:14PM

Last week the County Board voted to advertise a change in its zoning rules that would require planned commercial buildings over a certain size to seek a ‘Special Exception Use Permit’ from the Board. As we exclusively reported, the move was in response to interest in the industrial sites along Four Mile Run — near Shirlington — by large-format retailers like Walmart.

After our article ran, we asked the leaders of two nearby civic associations what they thought of the Board’s action and the potential for large-format retail development in the area.

Around Town

Video: More Changes Coming to Crystal City

By ARLnow.com

Published July 22, 2011 at 10:08AM

Crystal City is changing, and thanks to the new Crystal City Sector Plan it will change dramatically over the next 40 years.

News

New Office Complex Under Consideration for Pentagon City

By ARLnow.com

Published July 21, 2011 at 3:57PM | Updated July 21, 2011 at 6:20PM

The “PenPlace” site, as it’s called, is a 12-acre parcel owned by Vornado/Charles E. Smith. Its only inhabitants over the past decade have been a Marriott Residence Inn, Nell’s Carryout and the occasional traveling circus. Once considered as a possible location for the new Nationals stadium or an “Arlington County Conference Center,” the site has laid fallow for years.

Last month the LRPC considered a number of possible uses for the site (all of which preserve the existing Marriott hotel and add new streets to break up the large “superblock”):

News

Report: Redevelopment Threatens Affordable Housing on the Pike

By ARLnow.com

Published July 19, 2011 at 12:21PM

The report, commissioned by the Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance, examined three major corridors where redevelopment is underway: Alexandria’s Beauregard corridor, Fairfax County’s Baileys Crossroads area and Arlington’s Columbia Pike corridor.

All three areas, the report says, are affordable thanks to a “lack of private investment, along with poor transportation options and infrastructure” — attributes that have made the areas undesirable to more affluent residents. Now that the Arlington County is actively encouraging economic development and planning a new streetcar line along Columbia Pike, however, the “type of households” seeking to live on the Pike will likely change, leading to “opportunities” for the owners of existing affordable apartment complexes to “reposition their properties… to attract higher-income residents.”

News

EXCLUSIVE: Board Acts as Walmart Eyes Shirlington Site

By ARLnow.com

Published July 14, 2011 at 11:25AM

Just before adjourning for the summer, the County Board quickly and unanimously passed an item that did not appear on the board agenda. The item, a request to advertise public hearings, is the first step to passing a zoning amendment that would effectively prevent Walmart, Target and other large-format retailers (including certain supermarkets) from building stores without the Board’s prior approval.

The proposed zoning amendment advertised Tuesday night specifies that any building in a “C-1” or “C-2” commercial zone, with a “gross floor area of 50,000 square feet or more on any level” would be subject to prior approval by the County Board under a Special Exception Use Permit. The exception would also apply to buildings with 200 or more parking spaces. Under the current zoning ordinance, Walmart would be able to build a store on the Shirlington site “by right” — without Board approval — a source with knowledge of zoning issues tells us.

Around Town

Demolition Underway on Pentagon City Warehouses

By ARLnow.com

Published July 12, 2011 at 1:10PM

Demolition is underway on a block of empty warehouses on S. Fern Street in Pentagon City.

The warehouses, which used to house a DHL distribution office and a Danker furniture store, are being torn down to make way for a new 18-story apartment building called Three Metropolitan Park. The building will be the third in the Metropolitan Park development, across from Costco.

Around Town

Neighbors Decry Tree Removal in Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

Published July 11, 2011 at 4:00PM

What was once a row of three bungalow houses amid a dense jumble of trees is now an empty dirt lot, and some neighbors are not very happy about it.

The lot, at the corner of N. Danville Street and 11th Street N., will eventually be transformed into a collection of four million-dollar luxury homes, featuring gourmet kitchens, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and spa-style baths with Italian marble, according to a brochure.

Events

Pike Planning Workshops Wrap Up Tonight

By ARLnow.com

Published June 30, 2011 at 3:59PM | Updated July 1, 2011 at 11:25AM

Tonight county representatives will present the results of a week-long public planning and design process intended to help plan the future of Columbia Pike.

The “Work in Progress Presentation” will be held from 7:00 to 9:00 tonight at the Sheraton National Hotel (900 S. Orme Street). Planners will reveal the work that has been completed through a neighborhood planning day — or “charrette” — last weekend and a series of “open design studios” during the week.

Events

Columbia Pike Charrettes Get Underway Tonight

By ARLnow.com

Published June 24, 2011 at 3:59PM

Want to help plan and design the future of Columbia Pike? A series of charrettes — fast-paced, wide-ranging planning sessions — are being held on the Pike over the next week.

The primary public charrette will be held Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Sheraton National Hotel (900 S. Orme Street), and everybody is invited to participate and help guide the Pike’s continuing development. A light lunch will be provided.