Arlington Wages High, Growth Low — Arlington residents earn some of the highest weekly wages in the nation ($1,549/week), but the county’s wage growth is slowing. [Sun Gazette]
Songwriters Come to Iota Club — A group of 9 singer-songwriters from around the region will be performing at Iota Club in Clarendon (2832 Wilson Blvd) tonight. Among the musicians scheduled to take the stage are Brittany Jean and Justin Trawick. [Facebook, Clarendon Nights]
Penzance Buys Another Arlington Building — Local real estate firm Penzance is upping its investment in Arlington. The company just closed a multimillion dollar deal to buy a 7-story office building at 1555 Wilson Boulevard in Rosslyn. The building, which houses tenants like the Washington Business Journal and George Washington University, is across from another Penzance-owned building at 1500 Wilson Boulevard. Penzance plans to renovate the 1500 Wilson Property, while at the same time moving forward with plans to build a large new office building in Clarendon. [CityBiz Real Estate]
AHC Pays Back Loan, Expands to P.G. Co. — Nonprofit, Arlington-based affordable housing developer AHC Inc. has repaid the remaining principal and interest on a $1.5 million loan it received from Arlington County in 1994. The loan was used to buy the Harvey Hall Apartments, a 116-unit affordable apartment complex in Columbia Heights West. AHC was able to repay Arlington the remaining $717,167 on the loan thanks to a refinancing. Meanwhile, AHC is planning to expand its service area to Prince George’s County, Md. [AHC Inc., CityBiz Real Estate]
The Goodyear tire store and service center in Ballston will likely be torn down at some point next year to make way for a new apartment building.
Arlington County’s Site Plan Review Committee is expected to discuss the building proposal in November. The developer hopes to start construction on the building next year, with construction wrapping up by mid-2013, according to the Washington Business Journal.
The move comes about two months after another Arlington condo project, The Myerton, was converted to rentals. Local Realtor Laura Rubinchuk says that the history of the Bromptons project — construction was stopped after the building was declared structurally unsound in 2006 — probably came back to haunt it.
“Slow sales for the Myerton definitely played a part in their decision to convert back to rentals,” she said. “But I think the 3800 Lofts are always going to carry the past with it — buyers are going to be nervous about investing in something that was once on unstable ground, regardless of County clearance and any actions taken to remedy the situation.”
Both tax bills are due next week on Wednesday, Oct. 5.
In addition, the Arlington County Treasurer’s office is reminding residents that the 2011-2012 vehicle decals must be displayed on windshields by Nov. 15.
Renovate, renovate, renovate.
That’s the plan announced by real estate firm Penzance earlier this week for its 17-story office tower at 1500 Wilson Boulevard. Most of the building, minus ground-level retailers like Santa Fe Cafe and a couple of lower floors, will be vacated next year thanks to the Base Realignment and Closure Act, and Penzance is planning to spruce things up.
The Crystal Plaza Apartments in Crystal City (2111 Jefferson Davis Highway) are under new ownership.
Archstone sold the building to real estate investor Ralph Dweck at the end of last month. No word yet on why Archstone, a major Crystal City land holder, decided to sell the apartment complex.
A drive through parts of Lyon Park, Clarendon and Rosslyn today revealed significant progress on three large residential developments, as well as clean-up work on one ill-fated project.
In Rosslyn, Clark Construction crews are busy cleaning up from last week’s retaining wall failure at the Sedona and Slate apartment site. Workers were busy reinforcing the adjacent Swansen Apartments building, which nearly collapsed into the construction pit after the failure.
Now, as the national economy teeters once again, there’s some question of whether the local economy can remain an island of vibrancy. With federal discretionary spending decreasing, and with the possibility of even steeper cuts down the road, Uncle Sam may not be able to provide the steady flow of cash that kept the local economy going during the last recessionary period.
The local economic indicators are a mixed bag. Unemployment in Arlington is still remarkably low, at 3.9 percent. Home sales are up in the most recent period, but home sale prices are down considerably in Arlington and in the D.C. metro area.
Stewart tells ARLnow.com that he has raised about $175,000 of the $400,000 to $500,000 he needs to bring the watering hole back to life. Having already sold interest-bearing investments, Stewart is now selling ownership shares in the new bar.
Stewart says that he has negotiated a purchase price for an existing business in Clarendon, and now just must raise enough money to get the new Dremo’s off the ground and running.
According to the Sun Gazette, however, county leaders are now deciding whether including the owner’s name in the county’s public real estate assessment database presents privacy concerns.
Over the weekend, the County Board responded to a resident’s complaint about its online property records system by asking county staff to “look into options for redacting the names of property owners” from the search results, according to the paper.
Local Real Estate Market Lags — While the average home sales price in Arlington was up 4.6 percent for the first half of 2011, the total volume of sales was down 19 percent compared to 2010. [Sun Gazette]
Garvey ‘Home’ in Alexandria, Arlington — State Senate candidate and Arlington School Board member Libby Garvey is trying to play up her local chops to both Arlington and Alexandria Democrats. “Garvey, a resident of Fairlington, considers Alexandria to be her neighborhood,” the Huntington-Belle Haven Patch reported yesterday. Meanwhile, Garvey told the Arlington County Democratic Committee last night that after debates in Fairfax and Alexandria, “it’s really nice to be home tonight.”
