Falls Church leaders are weighing a few options as they decide the fate of a major affordable housing project.
City officials plan to rehabilitate or redevelop at least a portion of the 40 fourplex apartment buildings on the Virginia Village site through a future partnership with a housing developer. A work session on Monday focused on refining the request for proposal that will be put out, soliciting partnerships.
An affordable housing redevelopment project at the Goodwill on S. Glebe Road broke ground over the weekend.
Community leaders joined Goodwill of Greater Washington and Affordable Homes & Communities (AHC) personnel at the ceremony to mark the beginning of work on redeveloping Goodwill’s longstanding retail outlet and collection facility at 10 S. Glebe Road.
Despite a year-over-year decline, Arlington’s apartment market in May retained its position as most expensive in the region and fifth most expensive urban area nationally.
The county’s median apartment-rental rate of $2,609 — $2,457 for one-bedroom units, $2,969 for two bedrooms — was down 1.4% year over year, according to figures reported May 28 by Apartment List.
The County Board has approved two more projects seeking to convert aging office buildings in Crystal City into residential buildings.
JBG Smith won approval to adapt a pair of empty, 11-story buildings constructed in the 1960s for housing — despite some residents’ objections about the limited community benefits that come with such projects. Under the plan, which County Board members unanimously supported at a Saturday meeting:
A major development project straddling the Arlington-Fairfax county line on Wilson Blvd took another procedural step forward this week.
The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday (May 5) gave the owner of a key Seven Corners residential parcel the ability to more than double units on the site while also adding retail space.
A revised proposal for a 23-story Ballston redevelopment project calls for fewer total units in an unusual mix of apartments and condos.
Aria Development Group, which owns the site at 4420 Fairfax Drive, now proposes to build 59 condominium units and 182 apartments at the site of a five-story office building — down substantially from an earlier proposal to build just over 300 units.
Tensions already are appearing among Falls Church’s elected and staff leadership, even before planning for a major affordable housing plan starts to take shape.
Council members voted 5-1 on April 27 to authorize spending up to $175,000 on a consultant to help guide potential redevelopment in portions of the Virginia Village community. Even then, however, leaders disagreed over how the process should move forward and how many potential development scenarios should be considered.
A Holiday Inn hotel in the Ballston area has closed and is now fenced off, apparently in preparation for a redevelopment project approved back in 2023.
Multiple tipsters contacted ARLnow this month after the hotel at 4610 Fairfax Drive closed its doors. The hotel has left IHG Hotels and Resorts’ system, a spokesperson said, although they did not say exactly when the location stopped admitting guests.
Falls Church leaders are considering a $175,000 contract with a consultant to help with an affordable housing project at Virginia Village.
That firm, whose name has not officially been announced, would develop a request for proposals sent out to housing providers that might be interested in partnering with the city on the project. The funding would also support evaluation of the proposals.
The Culpepper Garden housing complex for low-income seniors is on track to fully phase out assisted-living services by June 30.
“We are looking forward to having all our residents settled [in other housing arrangements] by that day, which is what we promised,” Culpepper Garden CEO Marta Hill Gray told ARLnow.
Action on two major development proposals in the Langston Boulevard corridor will highlight this weekend’s County Board meeting.
One of the projects is a 300-unit residential building at 3130 Langston Blvd, while the other is a 47-unit townhouse project at 2134 N. Taylor Street. Both have received the Planning Commission’s support, although county staff have recommended against the townhouses.
Despite a strong finish, first-quarter home sales and prices in Arlington saw little movement compared to a year ago.
Aided by a strong March, a total of 448 residential properties went to closing between January and March, according to figures reported by MarketStats by ShowingTime on April 10. That’s down three homes, or 0.7%, from the 451 transactions recorded during the first quarter of 2025.
