The Arlington County Board could approve a plan to replace Wilson Tavern in Courthouse with an eight-story hotel at its meeting on Saturday.
Schupp Companies owns the property and is hoping to build a 161-room Hyatt Place hotel at 2401-2407 Wilson Blvd, at the intersection with N. Adams Street. The proposed site plan also includes four single family detached houses to be built along 16th Street N. to provide a buffer between the hotel and the existing Lyon Village neighborhood.
When Wilson Tavern opened in 2011, replacing Kitty O’Shea’s, Schupp Companies owner Ray Schupp already was planning a hotel for the space. Wilson Tavern isn’t expected to close, but rather move to a separate location and then perhaps into a planned 1,300-square-foot restaurant space next to the new hotel’s entrance. The Washington Business Journal reports that Wilson Tavern’s temporary space could be somewhere in Ballston.
Schupp is requesting density above the maximum allowed for its rezoning, but county staff is recommending approving the bonus density in exchange for a $1.54 million contribution to building a new Courthouse Metro Station elevator and a commitment to achieve LEED Gold certification. The Metro contribution, along with a previous contribution from the approved Clean Technology Center, will allow elevator construction to begin before 2020, when it was expected in the 2013-2022 Capital Improvements Plan.
Schupp is also requesting to construct 80 parking spaces, below the standard for hotels of its size, which county staff agreed was appropriate considering the space is about 500 feet from the Courthouse Metro Station.
The hotel would be at the corner of Wilson Blvd and N. Adams Street, and the restaurant space would be to the west. If approved, Northern Virginia Mixed Martial Arts would also be displaced. The WBJ also reports that Schupp is hoping to break ground on the project in June.
Image via Arlington County