real estate | ARLnow.com

Mixed Signals in Local Real Estate Market

Published May 11, 2011 at 10:59AM

According to real estate web site Zillow, real estate list prices in Arlington were up 8.6 percent year-over-year in April, but the web site’s estimate of home values in Arlington was down 2.5 percent year-over-year as of March. That’s consistent with a nationwide downward trend, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

According to an accounting by the Sun Gazette, home sales in Arlington are down while both average and median sale prices were down year-over-year in April. By contrast, Northern Virginia as a whole saw a continued rise in sale prices.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published May 10, 2011 at 9:01AM | Updated May 10, 2011 at 9:17AM

Trail Parking — This car chose an interesting place to park — on a stretch of trail between the county’s new Dept. of Human Services building and Washington Boulevard.

Snakehead Fish Invade Four Mile Run — Predatory snakehead fish have invaded the waters of Four Mile Run, between Arlington and Alexandria. There’s concern that the so-called “frankenfish” could kill off native fish in the stream, as it has decimated native populations of bass and shad in the Potomac. [WJLA]

Around Town

Bromptons at Cherrydale Nears Completion

By Katie Pyzyk

Published April 29, 2011 at 4:11PM

Originally, all of the 22 condo units were under contract in 2004. But progress stalled in 2006, when the county issued a stop-work order due to the building being structurally unsound. The developer, Ed Peete Company was given the opportunity to remedy the issues or demolish the structure. After some waffling, Ed Peete chose demolition, but the deadline for that came and went in July 2008.

While this was being hashed out, the building sat vacant for years. A flurry of lawsuits followed, including those against contractors and engineers hired by Ed Peete. Ultimately the developer decided to keep the structure and reinforce it as part of a settlement reached in 2009.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published April 21, 2011 at 9:09AM | Updated April 21, 2011 at 10:01AM

Empty Courthouse Office Building for Sale — The big, white Verizon office building at 1320 N. Courthouse Road is actually vacant — and for sale. After nearly 30 years as a tenant, Verizon left its offices in the building. The owner is now seeking interested buyers or joint venture partners. [GlobeSt.com]

Westover to Hold Easter Egg Hunt — Children 9 years old and younger are invited to participate in Westover Village’s Easter egg hunt on Saturday. The event is being held from 10:00 a.m. to noon next to the Westover Library. Admission is free and yes, the Easter Bunny will be there. [VisitWestover.com]

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published April 14, 2011 at 5:00AM

Route 50 Interchange Project Nears — In March, we were told that the lane closure on westbound Route 50 would finally be lifted by around this time. That’s still yet to be seen, but some new closures are just around the corner. Dr. Gridlock reports that VDOT plans to start construction on a new Route 50/Courthouse Road/Fairfax Drive interchange next month, with nightly traffic disruptions. The $39 million project is expected to wrap up in Fall 2013. [Dr. Gridlock]

Arlington’s Fuel Bill Going Up — Arlington County could spend hundreds of thousands of additional dollars on gasoline this year, thanks to rising gas prices. The county’s vehicle fleet — which includes fuel-sipping Toyota Priuses — consumes about a million gallons of gas every year. [Washington Examiner]

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BREAKING NEWS — Budget Will Hold Tax Rate Steady

By ARLnow.com

Published April 13, 2011 at 11:26AM | Updated April 13, 2011 at 12:13PM

At a work session yesterday, the board instructed County Manager Barbara Donnellan to hold the tax rate steady at 95.8 cents per $100 in the final budget.

“They’re sticking with their initial guidance of no real estate rate increase,” county spokeswoman Mary Curtius confirmed this morning.

Around Town

Eads Street Post Office to Move in May

By ARLnow.com

Published March 23, 2011 at 3:59PM | Updated March 23, 2011 at 4:19PM

(Updated at 4:10 p.m.) The Post Office at S. Eads Street and 18th Street in Aurora Highlands will soon be moving to a new location.

The office will be moving into the ground floor of the Millennium at Metropolitan Park apartment building (above), across from the Costco on S. Fern Street in Pentagon City. The move was originally scheduled for late April, but we’re now told it will likely take place in May.

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Major Office Development Coming to Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

Published March 22, 2011 at 4:31PM

The parcel is the block between Highland Street, Garfield Street, Washington Boulevard and 11th Street. It’s currently home to the T.A. Sullivan & Son cemetery monument business, Eleventh Street Lounge, Potomac Crossfit and a car dealership. All will be torn down to make way for a new ten-story office building with ground level retail space, according to a business owner, who did not want to be identified.

Penzance, a District-based developer, has land purchase contracts in place and hopes to start construction in either 2012 or 2013, according to the business owner.

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Randy Realtor Charged With Unlawful Entry

By ARLnow.com

Published March 18, 2011 at 9:13AM | Updated February 8, 2016 at 9:13AM

A real estate agent has been arrested after Arlington County police say he solicited the services of a prostitute inside a vacant, for-sale home.

Springfield, Va. resident Dennis [REDACTED], 55, was charged with unlawful entry and solicitation of prostitution after being apprehended on the 3700 block of South 2nd Street on Friday, March 11. Cops say they were tipped off when someone called to report a suspicious vehicle next to the home.

Around Town

You Can Own History, But It’s a Fixer-Upper

By ARLnow.com

Published March 16, 2011 at 2:51PM | Updated March 16, 2011 at 7:28PM

The house was built in 1881 by Harry Gray, a bricklayer and a former slave in the Arlington household of Gen. Robert E. Lee. Despite the fact that the house stood alone on a 10 acre piece of farmland at the time, Gray built it in the Italianate style of fashionable townhouses he had seen in the District. The architecture was a statement about how far freed slaves had come since the Emancipation Proclamation.

“The dwelling represents the monumental shift from slaves to freedmen for African Americans in the years following the Civil War,” a National Park Service document states. The house sits at present-day 1005 South Quinn Street, near Columbia Pike and adjacent to what was once a thriving Freedman’s Village.

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Arlington’s Top 10 Government and Private Employers

By ARLnow.com

Published March 11, 2011 at 2:02PM | Updated March 11, 2011 at 4:04PM

Unemployment and office vacancies are low. Real estate prices and hotel occupancy rates are on the rise. And a number of new construction projects are underway. Holzheimer said he expects the local unemployment rate to continue declining in 2011 while the impact from BRAC is mitigated by a robust demand for office space.

Holzheimer noted that between 2008 and 2010, Arlington saw a net employment increase while Alexandria and Fairfax saw a net employment decline.

Around Town

Dr. Dremo’s Still Looking for a New Location

By ARLnow.com

Published March 8, 2011 at 10:15AM

Former Dremo’s owner Andrew Stewart says he has gotten tantalizingly close to securing a new location for the former Arlington landmark, but to no avail. In previous interviews Stewart said he would like Dremo’s to remain in the Courthouse or Clarendon area, but the cost has been prohibitive.

“We have come close a couple of time,” Stewart wrote in an email. “The large companies that lease these spaces don’t take a mom-and-pop, like us, seriously.”