housing | ARLnow.com

Published January 25, 2023 at 11:15AM | Updated January 25, 2023 at 12:27PM

Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey during the Tuesday, Jan. 24 discussion of Missing Middle housing (via Arlington County)

(Updated at 12:20 p.m.) Some 200 speakers and seven hours of public comment later, the Arlington County Board will decide whether to authorize hearings on a proposal to allow “Missing Middle” housing later today (Wednesday).

The request to authorize hearings on the zoning proposal was originally placed on the agenda for the Board’s Saturday meeting. After a marathon hearing on Saturday, public comment on the item carried over into the Board’s Tuesday meeting. Rather than make a decision last night, Arlington County Board Chair Christian Dorsey said members will take an extra day.

News

Arlington warns of shortened public speaking times ahead of ‘Missing Middle’ hearing

By Jo DeVoe

Published January 17, 2023 at 3:30PM

Real estate for sale sign in the Arlington Heights neighborhood (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Proposed Missing Middle zoning code changes are set to go before the Arlington County Board for a first look on Saturday.

The Board is slated to review a request to advertise public hearings on a proposal to allow the by-right construction of duplexes, three-unit townhouses and multi-family buildings with up to six or eight dwellings on lots of up to one acre in Arlington’s lowest-density zoning districts.

News

Arlington selects two developers to lead affordable housing effort for Crystal House grounds

By Jo DeVoe

Published January 9, 2023 at 3:55PM | Updated January 9, 2023 at 5:22PM

Crystal House (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Arlington County has selected two developers — Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing and D.C.-area developer EYA — to oversee the construction of affordable housing within an apartment complex in Crystal City.

They’re committing to provide 844 units, of which 655 will be committed affordable units and the remaining will be market-rate, in the Crystal House Apartments at 1900 S. Eads Street, near Amazon’s second headquarters.

Opinion

Morning Poll: The role of community input

By ARLnow.com

Published January 9, 2023 at 10:00AM | Updated January 9, 2023 at 10:18AM

Crowd at anti-Missing Middle housing rally at Innovation Elementary in January (photo courtesy Esther Bowring)

Several hundred people gathered early Sunday afternoon at Innovation Elementary School for what was dubbed the “Reality Check Rally.”

As others were glued to their TVs for the last day of the NFL regular season and its playoff implications — or going about errands, children’s activities, or jobs — the attendees spent their afternoon hearing a dire picture being painted about the proposal to allow multifamily housing of up to 8 units per property in single-family home neighborhoods, also known as Missing Middle.

News

Economic downturn puts Columbia Pike redevelopment on hold

By Jo DeVoe

Published December 27, 2022 at 10:30AM

A leasing sign for a retail space on Columbia Pike slated for redevelopment (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Construction of an approved residential development at the Rappahannock Coffee site on Columbia Pike is on hold for now.

The approved six-story, 120-unit building with ground-floor retail and underground parking would replace three one-story retail buildings and a surface parking lot on the southeast corner of the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. Barton Street, at 2400 Columbia Pike.

News

People of color face financing barriers when purchasing a home in Arlington, study finds

By Jo DeVoe

Published December 20, 2022 at 1:30PM

A smaller home flanked by newer, larger construction in the Halls Hill neighborhood (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Households of color face significant barriers to homeownership, according to a new report from Arlington County.

A division of Arlington’s planning division, Housing Arlington, conducted the study to understand trends in the local homeownership market. The report, released earlier this fall, was the first step in a multi-phase homeownership study that kicked off this summer.

News

‘Fifteen-minute cities,’ gaining traction in a post-pandemic world, are already here in Arlington

By Jo DeVoe

Published December 20, 2022 at 10:30AM

Rainy day in Rosslyn (staff Photo by Jay Westcott)

While the pandemic prompted a well-documented exodus to, and development of, sleepy suburban and exurban towns, the Rosslyn Business Improvement District says it has identified a different Covid migration pattern.

About a quarter of Americans reported moving to cities where they could be within a 15-minute walk or bike ride of grocery stores, healthcare and parks, according to a national survey by the BID.

News

Residential investors are especially interested in these five areas of Arlington

By Jo DeVoe

Published December 7, 2022 at 3:55PM

Construction on a large home on N. Dinwiddie Street (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

In Green Valley, resident Portia Clark says she and her neighbors are bombarded with calls and letters from realtors and potential investors about buying their homes.

“We were once a very stable community of homeowners who bought our homes to live here and pay them off,” she said. That increasingly seems to be changing.

News

What the election results mean for Missing Middle and minority politics in deep blue Arlington

By Jo DeVoe

Published November 9, 2022 at 3:55PM | Updated November 9, 2022 at 4:11PM

County Board candidate Audrey Clement in Virginia Square on Election Day -- Nov. 7, 2022 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 4:10 p.m.) Arlington’s Missing Middle housing proposal has aroused plenty of passion, but the strong opposition (and support) only registered a blip in last night’s election results.

Democrat incumbent Matt de Ferranti easily won his re-election bid for the Arlington County Board, with 61% of the vote to 28% for Audrey Clement and 10% for Adam Theo. (All but one county precinct have reported results as of publication.)

News

DEVELOPING: Democrats poised for another sweep in Arlington, though Clement claims a few districts

By ARLnow.com

Published November 8, 2022 at 7:30PM | Updated November 8, 2022 at 10:14PM

Matt de Ferranti at the Arlington Democrats election watch party at William Jeffrey's Tavern (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 9:30 p.m.) What many believed would be the most competitive Arlington County Board race in four years has turned out to be another convincing Democratic victory.

The three-way race between incumbent Democrat Matt de Ferranti and independents Audrey Clement and Adam Theo is, at least to some degree, a referendum on Missing Middle housing.

News

Voting is underway in Arlington County, with housing issues unofficially on the ballot

By Jo DeVoe

Published November 8, 2022 at 11:55AM

Election Day in Arlington (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Election Day is here, and thousands of residents are hitting the polls — manned by 426 volunteers — to cast their ballots in the 2022 mid-term election.

By 9 a.m., about 10% of Arlington voted in-person, according to the county elections office, in addition to the 13% of people who voted early and in-person and 7% who voted by mail.