The Arlington County Board is set to vote on a new office building proposed for the Courthouse neighborhood.
The planned 8-story “Clean Technology Center” building at 2311 Wilson Boulevard will replace two small buildings containing three restaurants, including Listrani’s Restaurant and Bar. It will be located next to a 10-story Archstone apartment building and the two-story “Superstar Tickets” office.
County staff is recommending the Board approve the building, after the developer modified its plans to address the concerns of nearby residents.
“The proposed height and mass of the building facing the neighborhood was a major outstanding issue due to the lack of sufficient taper proposed on the north façade of the building, as well as concerns regarding the need and accessibility by the community to a proposed conference center,” staff wrote in a report to the Board. “The applicant has provided a revised design of the north façade that addresses the Planning Commission direction at its September 4, 2012 meeting and County Board’s comments at its October 23, 2012 meeting.”
With an increased taper on the neighborhood-facing side of the building, resulting in a floor area reduction of 4,249 square feet, the structure will now contain about 158,000 square feet of floor space, including 7,842 square feet of retail, 6,800 square feet of childcare, a 2,300 square foot fitness center, and a 2,000 square foot conference center that will be available for community use.
The south (Wilson Boulevard) side of the building will have an all-glass façade.
As part of its application, the developer is agreeing to make a $1.6 million “community facilities contribution” for improvements to the Courthouse Station Metro elevators, and to construct the building to LEED Gold sustainability specifications. The rear of the site will contain a publicly-accessible open space, located between the new building and the parking lot for Key Elementary School.
The Board is expected to consider the site plan for the building at its Saturday meeting. So far, there’s no indication as to when demolition of the existing buildings would start should the site plan be approved.
