Arlington resident Hung Do has big hopes for a curiously shaped lot he owns in Green Valley.
This month, he was on the brink of closing on a deal to sell the triangular land plot at the corner of S. Monroe Street and the S. Four Mile Run Drive access road, next to a sizable townhouse development.
The buyer, however, had second thoughts, citing high costs to obtain a variance to build on the 1,381-square-foot lot.
Property records indicate Do bought the land for $1,900 in 1988 from the state of Virginia. The Commonwealth had obtained it a year prior by escheat, a common law process by which land reverts to the state on the death of an heirless owner. Its assessed value is now $113,200, per 2023 assessment records.
The owner withdrew the listing this week and says in his retirement, he plans to spend more time figuring out next steps himself.
He expressed optimism the Board of Zoning Appeals may be amenable to allowing a variance to build on the lot, which is too small for by-right construction of a home, per the zoning code.
“I do like the idea of using it to build low-income housing to sell outright or as rental,” he says. “It seems like, maybe, now is the chance to do something with the land.”
Do acknowledges the configuration of the lot makes designing a home more difficult, and he would need ”a creative architect” to devise a solution.
In the listing, he called the property “an architect’s dream.”
“You can be creative and let your imagination come up with a plan for a beautiful home,” the listing said.
Do says his ultimate goal is to “help someone less fortunate stay in the area and [find] good employment.”
Photo (1) via Arlington County