Cherry blossoms blooming in Rosslyn (Flickr pool photo by TheBeltWalk)

DoD Renews Leases on Crystal City Buildings — In a win for Arlington County’s beleaguered commercial real estate market, the GSA has renewed leases on two buildings with some 912,000 square feet of office space, in Crystal City, for the Department of Defense. [Washington Business Journal]

Church Decided to Sell After Hearing from Residents — While initially skeptical, a majority of the membership of the Arlington Presbyterian Church on Columbia Pike approved a plan to sell the church to an affordable housing developer after hearing the stories of working class residents who said they worked in Arlington but couldn’t afford to live there anymore. [Washington Post]

Fisette: Arlington Will Work to Improve Bike Rating — County Board member Jay Fisette says Arlington will work to improve its Bicycle Friendly Community rating. Arlington received a silver-level designation, but there are 29 U.S. communities that are either gold or platinum level. In order to achieve that, Arlington will need more bike lanes, bike programs for lower-income residents and bicycle-themed street events. [InsideNova]

Howell Introduces Courthouse Security Bill — State Sen. Janet Howell (D), whose sprawling district includes part of north Arlington, has introduced a bill intended to improve courthouse security. The bill would increase from $10 to $20 the maximum amount a local jurisdiction could charge a defendant convicted on traffic or criminal charges, to help fund security measures. [Richmond Sunlight]

Webb Responds to Criticism in Comments — Michael Webb, who hopes to run as a Republican against Rep. Don Beyer next year, has personally responded to criticism in the comments of the article about his campaign announcement. [ARLnow]

Flickr pool photo by TheBeltWalk


Blackstone Management, LLC
2221 South Clark St.
Arlington, Virginia 22221
703-828-4504

A property management firm is planning to open a new office in Courthouse in January.

Blackstone Management, a company that helps run properties for the board of directors for home owner and condo associations, is aiming to have a larger presence in Arlington, said Forrest Baggarly, the managing director of the company.

“We would definitely like to have a larger presence in Arlington. That’s something we’re trying to push this year,” Baggarly said.

Blackstone Management takes over the management of residential buildings for homeowner associations, which includes tasks such as maintenance requests, amenities management and training community managers. The company also focuses on helping associations collect memberships fees and budget their money properly.

“We’re locally owned and operated,” Baggarly said. “We are very familiar with the D.C. area. We know where are properties are. And another big point is that we visit our properties.”

While the company is locally owned, it also has the features of a larger corporation, he said. The company is constantly adding and improving technology to make management easier for associations to run better and low the board of directors to have access the info they need.

“People see us online and all our capabilities and think we’re large frim. He said. “And we are a large company, but we’re locally owned and operated.” So we can give each customer the attention they need.

The company has an app that allows board members to see all the different maintenance requests, manage payments, set tasks for themselves and other board members and other tasks needed to keep up property management. The app also lets owners view their account and make payments and request on the go.

Baggarly said he thinks the app will be popular among Arlington home and condo associations, as the local residents are up to date on new technology.

“The homeowner associations and condo owner associations we have in Arlington, they use are online system more than 80 percent of the other areas,” he said.

The company already manages buildings in Arlington, including in Rosslyn, and so far, Baggarly said he noticed that things are “newer, things are better kept” in the county.

Although the company is pushing its technology, the company is still reachable by phone and email, Baggarly said, adding that the company is very responsive and will return all their calls and emails.

“If you call us, we’re going to respond as quickly as we can,” he said. We have a request tracing system to make sure owner’s calls do not go unanswered.

The company’s focus on being reachable, whether through an app or by phone is what separates them from other management companies, Baggarly said. The company has taken over properties where former managers failed to respond to maintenance requests or failed to collect dues, he added.

One of these properties was in Maryland, where a management company had let a condo association rack up about $200,000.00 in maintenance bills and had numerous unpaid electricity bills. The association now has paid all its bills and has money in savings. More members are showing up to the association meetings, as well, Baggarly said.

“We listen to what the issues are in the community and tell them in our experience what we can do to help them,” he said. “We want to make sure we’re running the association, homeowners association, condo owners association, apartment building, the way its supposed to be run.”

The preceding was a sponsored profile written by Heather Mongilio for ARLnow.com.


Christmas tree in the Sheraton hotel on Columbia PikeARLnow.com wishes you and yours a very merry Christmas.

Where ever you are, and whatever you’re doing on the holiday, we encourage you — at least for a day — to put aside the frustrations of the world and treat your fellow humans with uncommon patience and empathy.

By the time Saturday rolls around, you’ll be reading the Rethink Energy column here. The “challenge” referenced in the column is actually not much of a challenge at all — it’s a couple easy things you can do to save energy and money next year. Not a bad New Year’s resolution.

Speaking of the New Year, if you haven’t picked out the bottle of bubbly you’ll be bringing to your friend’s party next week, head on over to Arrowine for their free champagne and wine tasting Sunday afternoon. It will be better received than the supermarket swill you drank in years past.

With that, feel free to use the comments section on this post as your weekend discussion forum. Patience and empathy to all — at least for 24 hours — and to all a good night!


K-9 Toby, a retired Arlington County Police dog, has unexpectedly passed away, the department announced on Twitter today.

Toby served Arlington from 2008-2013.

This is, unfortunately, at least the third Arlington K-9 to die early in recent years. In 2013, K-9 Dutch become suddenly ill and passed away while on the force. A year before that, K-9 Lobo passed away shortly after retiring.


The Optimist Club's Christmas Tree sale at 2213 N. Glebe RoadLike it or not, Arlington’s Christmas will feel more South Beach than North Pole.

The high temperature today and tomorrow is expected to hover around 70 degrees. In the meantime, cloud cover will make it hard to spot Santa tonight, and Ol’ Saint Nick might want to bring a rain jacket, with storms and flash flooding expected.

A white Christmas is fairly rare in Arlington, and this year is no exception. On any given year, Arlington has around an 11 percent historic probability of having snow on the ground on Dec. 25. Anecdotally, cool and dry seems to describe the most common Christmas Day here.

If it’s not going to be a white Christmas, would you prefer it to be warm like today, but also wet, or cool and dry, as usual?


Flooding and rain on 10/15/14Arlington and the rest of the D.C. area is under a Flash Flood Watch today, Christmas Eve.

Forecasters say that following the rain yesterday, a period of heavy rain later today could cause flash flooding.

From the National Weather Service:

… FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM 9 AM EST THIS MORNING THROUGH THIS EVENING…

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VIRGINIA HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF MARYLAND… THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND NORTHERN VIRGINIA… INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING AREAS… IN MARYLAND… ANNE ARUNDEL… CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST HOWARD… CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST MONTGOMERY… PRINCE GEORGES AND SOUTHERN BALTIMORE. THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. IN NORTHERN VIRGINIA… ARLINGTON/FALLS CHURCH/ALEXANDRIA… FAIRFAX AND PRINCE WILLIAM/MANASSAS/MANASSAS PARK.

* FROM 9 AM EST THIS MORNING THROUGH THIS EVENING

* ONE TO TWO INCHES OF RAIN FELL YESTERDAY ACROSS THE BALTIMORE- WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA. THE AIRMASS IS UNUSUALLY MOIST FOR LATE DECEMBER… WITH ANOTHER QUICK INCH OF RAIN POSSIBLE TODAY. GIVEN SATURATED SOIL AND LITTLE VEGETATION… THIS RAINFALL WOULD LEAD TO FLASH FLOODING OF URBAN AREAS AS WELL AS SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS.

* THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR RAPID RISES OF WATER ON SMALL STREAMS… AND FLOODING OF LOW-LYING AREAS OR ROADWAYS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS MAY DEVELOP THAT LEAD TO FLASH FLOODING. FLASH FLOODING IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION.

YOU SHOULD MONITOR LATER FORECASTS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION SHOULD FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS BE ISSUED.


Republican congressional hopeful Mike Webb (photo via Facebook)An Arlington Republican says he intends to challenge Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) in next year’s election.

Mike Webb announced his candidacy with a with a press release yesterday.

Webb says he’s a conservative Republican and a military veteran. A New Jersey native, Webb wants to bring “responsiveness and accountability” to Virginia’s Eighth District. He’s trying to assemble a diverse group of supporters to propel him to an unlikely victory.

“If we succeed in winning this race as a conservative Republican in the most liberal district in the nation and the most Democratic in the South, that will be a real revolution that will have national implications,” he said in a press release.

Webb’s Facebook page describes everything from his military background to his favorite movies.

“I own over 3000 DVDs and videocassettes, but still find myself at a movie theater looking for the latest film,” he writes. “I don’t think I have a favorite, but, I really like Good Fellas, and my favorite movie moment is Barbara Streisand singing ‘My Man,’ at the end of Funny Girl.”

After the jump: two of the first press releases sent by Webb.

Photo via Facebook

(more…)


Arlington County courthouse and police headquartersArlington County says a new report card from the Human Rights Campaign affirms its efforts to extend outreach and equal protection under the law to LGBT individuals.

In a press release, the county said that it received perfect marks for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender protections, but was held back on overall rankings due to restrictive state laws.

From Arlington County:

The County received a score of 87 out of 100 in this year’s Municipal Equality Index (MEI) issued by the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights group. The annual report card graded 408 localities across the nation, measuring the effectiveness of state and local laws in achieving inclusivity.

Arlington won perfect scores for ensuring that LGBT constituents receive the fullest measure of County services, law enforcement efforts and outreach. It also received bonus points for having openly LGBT officials and for being “pro-equality despite restrictive state laws.”

County Board member Jay Fisette says Arlington’s high score in the MEI “validates us as a community that not only espouses a commitment to diversity and inclusiveness, but applies those values in real ways that make a difference in people’s lives.” The index also shows, however, “that there’s still plenty of work to do to protect each and every Virginian.”

Although 47 jurisdictions in the United States achieved overall perfect scores, Virginia can claim none. Arlington and the eight other participating local governments in the Commonwealth were held back by a lack of state protections in areas such as transgender benefits for employees.

The so-called Dillon Rule prevents localities in Virginia from acting on those issues in which authority is not expressly granted by the General Assembly.

Fisette was the first openly gay elected official in state history.

There are currently no statewide laws in the Commonwealth that prevent discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations based on sexual orientation or gender identity.


Arlington's political affiliation score (screenshot via Crowdpac.com)Arlington has a long-held reputation for being one of the bluest bastions of Democratic politics in the country. But is that perception accurate?

At least one ranking of political allegiances suggests the answer is no.

The political data startup Crowdpac recently ranked nearly 5,000 cities in the U.S. with a population over 6,000, based on political donations of residents. Each locale received a ranking of how liberal or conservative it was, based on those donations.

The “People’s Republic of Arlington,” it turns out, is only the 985th most liberal place in the U.S., with a score of “2.0L.” The most liberal place in the D.C. area, meanwhile, was Takoma Park, Md., with a score of 7.4L.

Parts of Arlington, particularly those in the far northern reaches of the county near McLean, tend to vote more conservatively, though the vast majority of the county is reliably blue on election day. One notable exception was the 2014 election of John Vihstadt, the first non-Democrat elected to the County Board since 1983.

Screenshot via Crowdpac.com


Fog in Fairlington (photo courtesy Risa Abraham)

ARLnow Suffers Server Issue — ARLnow.com’s web server was down this morning due to a technical problem. It came back up at almost exactly noon. We apologize for any inconvenience. For those seeking an explanation of what went wrong, we’ve compiled some of our tweets from this morning. [Storify]

Big Apartment Development Proposed in Pentagon City — Vornado, which recently put several planned projects in Crystal City on hold, has filed a preliminary site plan application for a huge new apartment tower in Pentagon City. The 22-story, 558-unit residential building would be part of the Metropolitan Park development, next to a currently under-construction, Whole Foods-anchored apartment building, also owned by Vornado. Expect objections from some residents in nearby single-family home neighborhoods, who are already fretting about Vornado’s proposed addition of 1,100 apartments at the RiverHouse complex. [Washington Business Journal]

Lane of Memorial Bridge Reopens, For Now — The eastbound curb lane of the Memorial Bridge has temporarily reopened. It will close again early next year for additional repairs to the aging bridge, a National Park Service spokeswoman said. [Twitter]

DEA Seeking New Headquarters — The Drug Enforcement Administration may be looking to move from its Pentagon City headquarters. The GSA is seeking a new lease for the DEA, which employs some 2,500 people in Pentagon City. Competition among building owners is expected to be fierce. [Washington Business Journal]

Arlington Affordable for Millennials? — Despite high rents, the website RealtyTrac has ranked Arlington among what it says are the more affordable locales for young adults. Among places that are considered millennial magnets, Arlington has one of the more affordable ratios of average millennial income to average apartment rent. [RealtyTrac]

Positive Review for West Side Story at Signature — Signature Theatre’s production of West Side Story has choreography that’s “near-perfection,” at least according to a review in the University of Maryland Diamondback student newspaper. The production at the acclaimed Shirlington theater has been extended through Jan. 31. [Diamondback Online]


A week ago, BikeArlington organized a “Holiday Lights Ride” to visit some of the most decked-out homes in Arlington.

Among their stops:

  • A home near the intersection of Key Blvd and N. Jackson Street
  • A home on the 1700 block of N. Quebec Street
  • A home on the 1600 block of N. Abingdon Street that was named 11th most outlandishly-decorated holiday home in the U.S. by MSN

Among the sights to see on the ride: a political “debate” of a dozen illuminated Christmas figurines, including Santa as a camera operator; Santa and his sleigh on a roof complete with reindeer and an American flag; and lots and lots of Christmas lights.

Those, of course, aren’t the only elaborate holiday displays in Arlington. In years past, readers have also reported crazy lights and decorations at homes on the 4200 block of 36th Street S. in Fairlington and the 5600 block of 24th Street N., near Lee Highway.

Where are the best decorations this year? Let us know in the comments.

Photos via BikeArlington/Facebook


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