The Arlington Tenant-Landlord Commission is scheduled to hear arguments for a plan to renovate the 162 Colonial Village apartment units owned by Wesley Housing Development Corporation. The hearing will take place at 7:30 p.m. in Azalea Room (lobby level) of 2100 Clarendon Boulevard.
The plan calls for major upgrades and configuration changes, including new windows, kitchens, bathrooms and insulation. The grounds will also be improved, with new walkways and lighting.
The rise in residential rent comes at a time when a number of Pentagon City apartment complexes have sold at sky-high valuations. The Hampton Apartments at 1425 South Eads Street recently sold for $33.5 million, and the Metropolitan at Pentagon City luxury high-rise at 901 South 15th Street just sold for $125 million, according to the GlobeSt.com article.
RED’s report states that between the first quarter of 2009 and the first quarter of 2010, Pentagon City posted the fastest rate of multifamily rent growth of any Northern Virginia submarket. The 4.9 percent year-over-year growth in Pentagon City compares to 2.4 percent growth along Columbia Pike and -1.4 percent rent growth along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor.
The strange case of Haze Restaurant, Bar and Lounge is coming to a close.
Essentially an old house gussied up in goth black paint and gaudy decorations, Haze looks severely out of place between the Arlington Arts Center and a soon-to-be yoga studio (formerly Curves). It was apparently meant to be a lounge-y kind of a place, which could have brought some nightlife to the relatively dead section of Wilson Boulevard near the Virginia Square Metro, but it was brought down by some very poor planning.
End of the Rainbow Found — During yesterday’s sunny downpour in Pentagon City, we spotted the actual end of the rainbow. Turns out it’s the shuttered Crystal City Motel on Old Jefferson Davis Highway. Bad news for anyone wanting to search for a pot of gold: you’ll first have to scale the high fence around the decaying property.
Library Book Sale This Weekend — Central Library (1015 N. Quincy St.) is holding its two-day Friends of the Library Summer Book Sale this coming Friday and Saturday. The sale will take place outside, next to the garden and the tennis courts. See the Library Blog for more info.
Northrop Spurns Arlington, Doesn’t Even Call — First, Northrop Grumman decided to head to the grassier, cheaper environs of Fairfax County. Now, it turns out Northrop didn’t even give a “thanks but no thanks” call to Arlington Economic Development, which had been working with the company as it considered a building in Ballston for its new headquarters. More from WBJ’s Sarah Krouse. Also: Northrop, if you’re reading this, you still owe us a call regarding the status of your Rosslyn office.
Metro Plans Confusing Service Change — Metro is considering shifting some Blue Line trains to the Yellow and Orange Lines by next summer to help expand capacity. Simple, right? Wrong. Our friends at Greater Greater Washington will make your brain hurt by trying to explain in 1,000 words how Metro plans to pull it off.
Twilight Fans Stay Up Late for Latest Film In Series — A sizable crowd showed up at the Regal Cinema in Ballston Common Mall last night for a midnight screening of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. There was no mob scene outside — moviegoers with advance tickets steadily filed past the box office and into the theater. Most were exuberant girls and young women, although about one in ten was accompanied by a doting and expressionless boyfriend (or father). To accommodate the unusual crush of people coming out of the mall parking lot at 2:30 a.m., police directed traffic near the theater after the movie.
Byrd Funeral Will Take Place in Arlington — The funeral and internment of long-time Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) will take place in Arlington on Tuesday. The funeral is scheduled to start at 11:00 a.m. at Memorial Baptist Church (3455 North Glebe Road). The service is open to the public, although seating is limited. Byrd, who died Monday at age 92, will be buried next to his wife Erma in a private internment at an Arlington cemetery.
Arlington Real Estate Prices Rise — Real estate prices continue to rise in Arlington, reports local Realtor Laura Rubinchuk. In May, prices of townhouses and detached single-family homes rose 4 percent and 5 percent respectively compared to 2009. The condo market was up 1 percent.
ACPD Investigating Thefts from Government Buildings — A group of thieves is targeting secured government buildings in Northern Virginia. According to The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder, the thieves wait for people to swipe their security badges at entrances, nonchalantly follow them in, and then proceed to steal valuables from unoccupied offices. The Arlington County Police Department is conducting a joint investigation of the break-ins with the U.S. Secret Service and the Diplomatic Security Service.
Arlington to Spend $90 Million To Improve Crystal City — Arlington County will spend about $90 million improving roads and parks in Crystal City in the wake of the 13,000 jobs set to leave the area by September 2011 as a result of the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) plan. A long-range economic development plan for Crystal City is expected to be approved this summer. More from the Washington Examiner.
Man With Gun Tried to Visit Fictitious Admiral At Pentagon — From WTOP we learn that on April 9, a month after the shooting outside the Pentagon Metro station, a man approached a screening area at the Pentagon and told security he was visiting an admiral — an admiral whose name was made up. Pentagon police later searched the man’s car and found a loaded 9-millimeter pistol. More from WTOP.
Home Prices on the Rise — The average sale price of a single family home in Arlington rose 17 percent in March, compared to the same period in 2009, local Realtor Laura Rubinchuk reports. “Inventory is way down as we’ve sold through many of the properties for sale,” Rubinchuk writes. She notes, however, that the average price of condos and co-ops fell 6 percent from 2009. More from the Arlington Real Estate News blog.
Colorful New Signs for Shirlington Village — “The old ones looked like they were in an 80s business park,” a commenter quips on the Shirlington Village Blog.
Home Sales Surge — Home sales in Arlington County were up 29 percent during the first three months of the year, the Sun Gazette reports. The average price of homes sold rose nearly four percent. Home sales were down more than five percent in Fairfax County.
Bike Show Recap –Last week’s third annual Phoenix Bikes bike show was a success. The event, held in Ballston, serves as a fundraiser for the non-profit bike shop. More than 250 people attended, according to the Commuter Page Blog. With the price of admission set between $20 and $25, the show would have raised at least $5,000, excluding proceeds from the silent auction.
Home sales surged by more than 50 percent last month compared to the same period one year ago. Also, average home prices rose 3.4 percent compared to February 2009.
The comparison is a bit skewed, since recessionary jitters kept many people out of the real estate market last winter, and since the credit crisis prevented many would-be homeowners from even getting a mortgage.
“Arlington is still a highly attractive market,” Terry Holzheimer, the head of the county’s Arlington Economic Development (AED) office, told a gathering of developers, real estate brokers and business leaders this morning.
Citing a new AED study, Holzheimer said he expects job growth to continue (Arlington was the only local community with significant job growth from 2007 to 2009), residential and commercial rents to rise, and development to soldier on, eventually.
