Sledding late Sunday afternoon at Nottingham Elementary (staff photo)
Police Announce Stabbing Arrest — “The Arlington County Police Department’s Homicide/Robbery Unit is announcing an arrest in the stabbing that occurred on December 15, 2023, in the 5100 block of Columbia Pike. Kamron Tartt, 18, of Arlington, VA was taken into custody on January 18 and charged with Malicious Wounding by Mob, Conspiracy to Commit a Felony and Contributing to the Delinquency of a Minor (x2). He is being held without bond.” [ACPD]
Photos from Wreaths Out — “Volunteers participate in the Wreaths Across America annual removal of wreaths, commonly known as Wreaths Out, in Section 33 at Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Va., Jan. 20, 2024. This year, nearly 3,000 volunteers removed approximately 260,000 wreaths originally placed at ANC on Dec. 16, 2023.” [Flickr]
Winning Performances at Track Meet — “Members of Wakefield and Washington-Liberty high-school track and field teams had strong finishes at a recent meet at Christopher Newport University. Winning the girls 3,200-meter race was Washington-Liberty’s Alba Edsall in 11:50.2, with her teammate Mina Dowler seventh in 12:51 and Wakefield’s Kenedy Shields won the high jump at 5-feet.” [Gazette Leader]
Volunteers Clear Trail — From the Friends of the Mount Vernon Trail: “17 volunteers showed up to clear snow from the Mount Vernon Trail today!” [Twitter]
It’s Monday — Expect sunny skies and a high around 37 degrees as a calm wind shifts to the south at 5 to 8 mph during the morning. For Monday night, conditions become partly cloudy with a low of around 25 degrees and a southwest wind blowing at 3 to 6 mph. [Weather.gov]
Today’s Morning Notes post is brought to you by coworking provider Industrious. ARLnow has been based in an Industrious office for several years and we love the convenience — you get to focus on your work rather than worrying about brewing the coffee or keeping the copy machine stocked with paper. Industrious has a number of Arlington locations from which to choose.
Restaurant Row in Crystal City (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
A round of recovery funds may soon be coming to long-time small businesses in National Landing.
Potentially up for grabs is $75,000 in funding from the National Landing Business Improvement District. The proposed initiative, which the Arlington County Board is set to consider on Saturday, would build on the ReLaunch program, which provides grants to small local establishments.
“While the current ReLaunch program is funded and is offered to all eligible businesses in the County,” a county report says, “the BID intends to prioritize National Landing businesses to increase the marketing to and availability of the program resources for this important segment of the small business community, which may need technical assistance to retool their businesses to remain competitive in a changing market.”
The funds are meant to assist “legacy” businesses “impacted by changing market conditions exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,” the report continued.
Eligible businesses must be at least 10 years old, have fewer than 10 employees and have a primary location within the boundaries of the National Landing BID, which span Crystal City and parts of Pentagon City and Potomac Yard, the county says. They must also “in good business standing,” operating with up-to-date business licenses and current on, or on a payment plan for, all county taxes.
The BID, in partnership with the Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, has previously handed recovery funds to numerous Crystal City and Pentagon City establishments. Two rounds of the “Love Local” relief program each divvied out $100,000 in 2021 and 2022.
The latest batch of funding would go through the Arlington Economic Development BizLaunch Division, which would then distribute the $75,000 this year.
The county report noted the importance of supporting National Landing during a time of intense development and investment, including, most recently, the announcement that the Washington Capitals and Wizards would move to Alexandria — predicted to be a boon for the hospitality industry in the National Landing area.
“The area is experiencing transformative growth, with over $12 billion in public and private investment underway, including Amazon’s second headquarters, a surge of new residential construction and retail offerings, and major park and multimodaltransportationinvestments that are enhancing a thriving residential, hotel, and business community,” the report says. “The BID is strengthening the experience and identity of National Landing.”
Macy’s store at Ballston Quarter (via Google Maps)
A rendering of the proposed development for the Ballston Macy’s department store (via Arlington County)
A rendering of the proposed development for the Ballston Macy’s department store (via Arlington County)
A rendering of the proposed ground-floor grocery store that is part of the Ballston Macy’s department store redevelopment (via Arlington County)
The Macy’s store at Ballston Quarter will close later this year, the company announced Thursday.
The Ballston location is one of five Macy’s stores set to close in 2024, as the department store chain aims to cut 2,350 jobs, or 3.5% of its workforce, including 13% of corporate staff.
The closure of the Ballston Macy’s is not exactly a surprise. The Arlington County Board approved a redevelopment plan for the site in December 2022. From our previous reporting:
Insight Property Group proposes to demolish the longtime department store and vacant office building at 685 N. Glebe Road and replace it with a 16-story, 555-unit apartment complex atop a grocery store. In response to online engagement, it is adding a second, 1,400-square-foot retail space on the ground floor.
The units would be spread across two 14-story towers joined at the penthouse level. Residents would have 250 underground parking spaces while grocery store patrons would have 148 spots on the building’s second story.
There’s no immediate word of an updated timeline for the development, which was the subject of scrutiny from local residents and transportation planners.
Snow day in Arlington at the US Marine Corps War Memorial (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)
Snow Crews Worked Overnight — From Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services: “Full road crew shifts starting at midnight; plenty of residual salt already down. Avoid driving during a winter weather event.” [Twitter]
Two Hour Delay for Feds — From the Office of Personnel Management: “Federal agencies in the DC area will OPEN with a 2-hour delay and have the option of allowing unscheduled leave/telework. Employees should plan to arrive for work no more than 2 hour(s) later than they would be expected to arrive.” [Twitter]
Metro Prepared for Snow — “Metro is monitoring conditions throughout the region, as another round of winter weather moves into the service area overnight and Friday. Preparations are underway to respond to snow, gusty winds, and extreme temperatures, conditions that may vary widely. Customers are advised to prepare for potential service impacts, to Metrobus service tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 19, if conditions become hazardous. ” [WMATA]
County Leaders Request Bill Delay — “Arlington County Board members have requested a one-year delay in consideration of a bill introduced in the General Assembly that would enable changes to the county’s 90-year-old form of governance. County Board Chairman Libby Garvey (D) and Vice Chairman Takis Karantonis (D) recently traveled to Richmond to discuss the bill with its patron, Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington), and request that it be held over until 2025.” [Gazette Leader]
Solar Panels Coming to Pentagon — “The Defense Department will install solar panels on the Pentagon, part of the Biden administration’s plan to promote clean energy and ‘reestablish the federal government as a sustainability leader.’ The Pentagon is one of 31 government sites that are receiving $104 million in Energy Department grants.” [Associated Press]
Wakefield Wins Hoops Tourney — “With the game’s Most Valuable Player Miles Hancock leading the way, the Wakefield Warriors defeated the Edison Eagles, 62-47, in the fourth boys basketball contest of the Jan. 13 MLK Classic at Osbourn High School in Manassas. The victory, coupled with a 52-50 home Liberty District win over the Marshall Statesmen on Jan. 17 gave Wakefield (13-2, 5-0) five straight triumphs.” [Gazette Leader]
Soccer Star at Westover Bakery — From the Washington Spirit: “This offseason, @aubs_kingsbury had the opportunity to pursue her passion off the pitch & learn about the business of baking at Village Sweet in Arlington. She wraps up her apprenticeship on Saturday, Jan. 20 from 8:00 – 9:00 am – come say hi.” [Twitter]
Tomb Honor Runs in Family — “When Bryan Campagna pinned the Guard, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier Identification badge onto the chest of his son, Staff Sgt. Isaiah Jasso-Campagna, it symbolized more than a father honoring his son. Campagna had earned his own Tomb badge as a Tomb Guard decades earlier.” [U.S. Army]
It’s Friday — Snow is expected mainly before 1pm, with a high near 34. Northeast winds of 6-9 mph will shift to northwest in the afternoon. Friday night, there is a slight chance of snow showers before 1am, with partly cloudy conditions and a low around 19. Northwest winds will be 9-13 mph with gusts up to 18 mph, and a 20% chance of precipitation. [Weather.gov]
A pedestrian skywalk over N. Nash Street in Rosslyn set for demolition (via Google Maps)
Construction at the former Ames Center site (staff photo by Madisson Weyrich)
N. Nash Street with a view of the demolished Ames Center and the church next door (staff photo by Madisson Weyrich)
N. Nash Street with a view of the demolished Ames Center and the church next door (staff photo by Madisson Weyrich)
N. Nash Street with a view of the demolished Ames Center and the church next door (staff photo by Madisson Weyrich)
18th Street Corridor, as envisioned in the Rosslyn Sector Plan (via Arlington County)
18th Street Corridor, as envisioned in the Rosslyn Sector Plan (via Arlington County)
(Updated at 3:55 p.m.) One of Rosslyn’s few remaining skywalks is set to come down as part of an effort to realize a walkable corridor from one end of the neighborhood to the other.
Arlington County will be demolishing a skywalk over N. Nash Street, near the Arlington Temple United Methodist Church building and Sunoco gas station dubbed “Our Lady of Exxon.” The county applied for a demolition permit for this project last month, permit records show.
“This is part of the Rosslyn Sector Plan’s 18th Street Corridor,” says Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services spokeswoman Katie O’Brien. “The removal of the skywalk will help refocus pedestrian activity at the street level by replacing the remainder of the skywalk system with the envisioned 18th Street Corridor over time.”
Envisioned in the 2015 Rosslyn Sector Plan, the 18th Street Corridor is envisioned as a walkable thoroughfare extending from Rosslyn’s western edge, N. Quinn Street, to its eastern edge, Arlington Ridge Road. The corridor is intended to make Rosslyn more pedestrian-friendly by removing the skywalks, breaking up long north-south blocks and improving access to the Rosslyn Metro station, per the sector plan.
The county is still working on the plans and obtaining necessary easements, O’Brien said. Demolition is expected to start this summer and take upwards of two months.
The demolition permit does not apply to the redevelopment project from Arlington-based Snell Properties, approved in 2021, to replace the Ames Center office building, formerly occupied by the Art Institute of Washington with two residential towers on the same block.
One tower would abut the Hyatt Centric hotel and another would surround the church and gas station, which will be completely rebuilt, according to a 2021 press release.
The new façade of Arlington Temple United Methodist Church at 1820 N. Fort Myer Drive (via Arlington County)
In advance of this project, Arlington Temple United Methodist Church has relocated to 1701 N. Bryan Street, just north of Courthouse, according to Rev. Martha “Marti” Ringenbach.
As for progress on this development, Snell did demolish 1820 Fort Myer Drive in October but a construction start date has not been determined, a spokeswoman for the developer tells ARLnow. She noted Snell was not aware of this demolition permit.
Once underway, the redevelopment will also advance the 18th Street Corridor by building up a segment from Fort Myer Drive to N. Nash Street, the 2021 release said.
In proposing a corridor that is partially inaccessible to cars, the sector plan admits that the 1960s-era skywalks were a bit of a failed experiment.
These skywalks were “designed to connect blocks, buildings and uses efficiently while keeping pedestrians separated from vehicular traffic,” the plan says. “The execution of the skywalk concept fell short of expectations in some cases, which combined with a renewed focus on directing pedestrian activity to the street level, has led to an incremental deconstruction of the system over the past 15 years.”
Rosslyn’s skywalks were declassé even before the new millenium, according to a scathing write-up in a 1999 study of Rosslyn.
“To the planners of the early 50’s and 60’s, presumably it seemed orderly and logical to separate the pedestrian flow with its erratic, unpredictable movements, from the fast-moving steel machines of the road,” a consulting firm wrote in the report. “Buried in the back of the planners’ minds perhaps lingered images of the piazza at San Marco in Venice or those of Rome. If so, in the instance of Rosslyn, something was lost in translation.”
The Water Pollution Control Plant in South Arlington (via Arlington DES/Flickr)
More dirty details have emerged in the county’s $175 million plan to start using sewage for consumer-friendly fertilizer and renewable energy.
The first step is a $32 million budget authorization, set to be considered by the Arlington County Board this Saturday, to begin new upgrades the Arlington County Water Pollution Control Plant.
The county says the upgrades are overdue. The plant currently relies on solids handling processes that date back to the 1950s through 1990s. Irritating fumes sometimes force staff to use respirators, according to a county report.
“The facilities that thicken, store, dewater, and stabilize the residuals are beyond their useful life and break down frequently,” the report says.
All that is supposed to change.
Better sludge storage tanks, improved odor control systems and anaerobic digesters all play a role in the county’s plans to turn sewage into fertilizer and harness the natural gas byproduct for energy. Additionally, while Arlington sewage byproducts already fertilize agricultural land elsewhere in the state, better equipment will make it possible to either sell the county’s biosolids as a retail product or make them available to residents.
“The upgraded processes will produce a higher quality biosolids product as well as renewable natural gas, which will reduce the County’s dependence on fossil fuels,” according to the report.
How sewage can become power and fertilizer (via Arlington County)
Arlington wouldn’t be the first municipality to sell its processed sewage to consumers. Anyone who enriches their garden or lawn using the fertilizer brand Milorganite does so using treated sewage from Milwaukee.
The county is budgeting $175 million for all the upgrades and changes, plus an additional $23 million in soft costs, bringing the total budget to nearly $200 million.
The bulk of the funding comes out of $510 million in bonds that Arlington voters approved in 2022. This project is part of a host of initiatives, upgrades and maintenance projects that make up the county’s 2023-32 Capital Improvement Plan.
Staff have discussed the project with community members since 2015, the county report notes. People near the Water Pollution Control Plant, near the Arlington-Alexandria border and west of Route 1, have raised concerns about noise and vibrations that construction might cause, as well as possible emissions.
The county has pledged to use techniques to minimize impacts on the neighborhood when possible, per the report. Following stakeholder concerns, the county also nixed plans to burn the biogas byproduct to generate electricity onsite. It will instead clean and inject the resulting natural gas directly into the Washington Gas pipeline.
Photo via Arlington Dept. of Environmental Services/Flickr
Inside the Arlington County Detention Facility (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Inside the Arlington County Detention Facility (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Inside the Arlington County Detention Facility (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Inside the Arlington County Detention Facility (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Inside the Arlington County Detention Facility (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Inside the Arlington County Detention Facility (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Inside the Arlington County Detention Facility (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Inside the Arlington County Detention Facility (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Inside the Arlington County Detention Facility (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
This reporting was supported by the ARLnow Press Club. Join today to support in-depth local journalism — and get an exclusive morning preview of each day’s planned coverage.
The Arlington County Sheriff’s Office is facing mounting pressure from personnel, inmates and the NAACP to address worsening conditions at the county jail.
Current and former deputies, along with a former inmate, claim thatchronic staffing shortages inside the jail have led to inmates being confined to their cells for up to 21 hours daily, deputies not following proper protocols, the mismanagement of medication dosages and inmates not being allowed to take showers.
A jail-based staff-led anonymous survey obtained by ARLnow chalks up the retention challenges to issues with leadership, salary, and work conditions, particularly mandatory overtime.
Sources caution that without intervention, the ongoing staff shortages at the jail pose a significant safety risk to deputies and inmates.
Nine deaths in eight years
On Oct. 2, 2020, Arlington County Jail inmate Darryl Becton, 46, was found unconscious in his cell at 4:17 p.m.
Twenty-eight minutes later, medics pronounced him dead at the scene. His death, later attributed to hypertensive cardiovascular disease, complicated by opiate withdrawal, generated significant county and community attention.
In the wake of Becton’s death, his family filed a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit against former Arlington County Sheriff Beth Arthur, Corizon Correctional Health — the jail’s now-former medical provider — and four medical staff members, citing negligence in properly monitoring his high blood pressure and withdrawal symptoms.
A Corizon nurse was charged in connection with Becton’s death but was later found not guilty.
In response, the jail hired a new medical provider, updated its safety protocols and announced it would equip some inmates with biometric wrist monitors tracking their vital signs. Current Sheriff Jose Quiroz piloted these wrist monitors this fall, distributing them to inmates in the jail’s medical unit.
“We’re going to pilot it with the folks in our infirmary who are, in my eyes, the most critical, the most vulnerable, whether it’s pre-existing medical conditions or anyone going through withdrawals or detox,” Quiroz told ARLnow during an interview in September 2023. “And so, I’m definitely committed to that.”
Like Becton, Jermaine Culbreath, a former Arlington County Detention Facility inmate, also suffers from high blood pressure. Although prescribed blood pressure medication during his incarceration, he told ARLnow he did not receive a wrist monitor.
Culbreath also alleges that on multiple occasions, the jail’s medical staff either failed to deliver his medication promptly in the morning or did not deliver it at all.
“If they did give it to me, they’d give me the medicine in the afternoon,” he told ARLnow. “Like, I’m supposed to take it in the morning because if I try to take this medicine after a certain hour, I can overdose because this is like me taking it twice.”
Over the last eight years, nine inmates — many of whom previously experienced homelessness — have died while in the custody of the Sheriff’s Office. The two most recent incidents this year involved 73-year-old Abonesh Woldegeorges and 55-year-old David Gerhard, both of whom were found unresponsive in their cells.
Gerhard died after going into cardiac arrest, and Woldergeorges died after falling out of her bunk and hitting her head, according to the Sheriff’s Office. Investigations into both cases are currently ongoing.
How staff shortages figure into current conditions
While it’s difficult to say they are directly related, sources, including Culbreath and retired Arlington County sheriff’s deputy Wanda Younger, trace the recent deaths and lapses to staffing shortages within ACSO and the impact they have on jail operations.
“There have been nine deaths in eight years,” Younger told ARLnow. “This is showing signs of the exacerbation that’s happening with the lack of staff, the daily shortages and these daily lockdowns.”
Situated directly opposite the Arlington County Justice Center on N. Courthouse Road, the 11-story jail, on average, houses about 364 inmates who are managed by a team of approximately 270 sworn deputies and civilian staff.
At any given time, the jail is supervised by up to 35 personnel — including 30 deputies, four sergeants, and one lieutenant — who work 12 to 12.5-hour shifts, Maj. Jonathan Burgess told ARLnow during a tour of the detention facility in September 2023.
Theoretically, 35 deputies per shift would be ample, but daily staffing levels are reportedly lower than that, says Younger, referencing conversations with those currently working inside.
“I’ve been told that the Sheriff’s Office is short-staffed almost on a daily basis,” she said.
Sunset sledding at Bluemont Park (Flickr pool photo by Tom Mockler)
Ballston Towing Standoff — “There was a mini standoff at the Advanced Towing lot in Ballston today, with the company blocking a vehicle whose owner tried to drive off without paying. Per ACPD, ‘the incident was determined to be civil in nature and the parties resolved their dispute. No arrests were made.'” [Twitter]
Cost of County’s Lawsuit Defense — “Arlington taxpayers will be on the hook for fees ranging from $300 to $750 per hour under an agreement signed by the county government with a law firm that will support local leaders’ defense of Missing Middle housing and zoning policies. Following a request under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act by Arlingtonianis for Our Sustainable Future, the Arlington government released correspondence conducted between Dec. 29 and Jan. 2 with the law firm Gentry Locke.” [Gazette Leader, Fox 5]
Protest at Sec. of State’s Home — “There was another protest outside of [Secretary of State Tony] Blinken’s house on the Arlington/McLean border yesterday. He was out of town at the time but ACPD responded to help Diplomatic Security disperse the 15-20 demonstrators.” [Twitter]
Local Teacher’s Role in AP Class — “Today, many are learning—about the first African American aviators in the U.S. Armed Forces and more—thanks to Waters, who was one of two public school teachers on the original development committee for Advanced Placement African American Studies (AP AfAm). Last year, 60 U.S. high schools piloted the course, including Waters’ Wakefield High School, in Arlington, Va.” [neaToday]
Resident Faces Fraud Charge — “An Arlington resident was charged on Friday with falsely posing as an immigration lawyer and defrauding her clients of about $700,000, according to an indictment returned by a federal grand jury.” [Patch]
Pair of Water Main Breaks — From Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services yesterday: “Crews are working on an 8-inch water main break at 4817 31st St S. Some 250 customers in a low-rise building could be affected… Crews are working on a 6-inch water main break at 5047 25th St S. Some 100 customers could be affected.” [Twitter, Twitter]
Region Suffering Office Glut — “Office vacancy rates in Greater Washington hit new highs at the end of 2023 as vast swaths of space were added to the vacancy rolls, according to new market reports from commercial real estate brokerages. Nearly 80 million of the region’s 364.8 million square feet of privately owned office space is now sitting empty, per CBRE, a commercial real estate service giant. That’s more than 12 times the size of the 6.5 million-square-foot Pentagon.” [Washington Business Journal]
More Snow Accumulation Likely — “After going two years without one inch of snow in a calendar day, we could do it twice in one week, but that’s not a lock. Wednesday’s brutal wind chills will ease a bit Thursday ahead of our next chance of snow Thursday night and Friday. We anticipate less snow than the last storm, but it could be enough to cause some delays and cancellations Friday.” [Capital Weather Gang]
It’s Thursday — Expect a mostly cloudy day with a high around 37 degrees and a gentle south wind between 3 to 6 mph. Snow is likely Thursday night, especially after 1am, as the temperature drops to about 28 degrees. There’s a 60% chance of precipitation. [Weather.gov]
Renderings of the proposed 8-story apartment building that will replace the Red Lion Hotel in the Radnor-Fort Myer Heights neighborhood (via Arlington County)
Renderings of the proposed 8-story apartment building that will replace the Red Lion Hotel in the Radnor-Fort Myer Heights neighborhood (via Arlington County)
Renderings of an apartment building proposed for the Red Lion Hotel site at 1501 Arlington Blvd near Rosslyn (via Arlington County)
Renderings of an apartment building proposed for the Red Lion Hotel site at 1501 Arlington Blvd near Rosslyn (via Arlington County)
Renderings of an apartment building proposed for the Red Lion Hotel site at 1501 Arlington Blvd near Rosslyn (via Arlington County)
Existing conditions at the Red Lion Hotel site (via Arlington County)
Red Lion Hotel in Rosslyn entrance in 2017 (Photo via Eric L.)
A redevelopment project near Rosslyn is teed up for Arlington County Board approval this weekend.
Reston-based Orr Partners proposes to build an 8-story apartment building with up to 446 units on a 2.2-acre site in the Radnor-Fort Myer Heights neighborhood.
The site at 1501 Arlington Blvd is currently home to the Red Lion Hotel, formerly the Best Western Iwo Jima hotel, which opened in 1958, as well as the Ellis Arms and Williamsburg apartments, which were built in 1954. It is bounded by Fairfax Drive to the south and the Parc Rosslyn Apartments and Belvedere Condominiums to the north.
The proposed building would add 418 net new units while still coming 62 feet under the height maximum allowed in this area, county planner Adam Watson told the Planning Commission last week. Its construction would eliminate surface parking lots and result in underground utility lines, new streetscapes and accessibility improvements.
Orr took over never-realized plans to build a 10-story condo tower and a 12-story hotel on the site, which the County Board approved in 2019.
After going through the county’s public review process, Orr changed the building’s form and design in response to staff and commissioner comments, says Watson. The developer made changes to the building at the corner of N. Pierce Street and Fairfax Drive to improve circulation on the sidewalk below, near a planned bicycle storage room.
It also added visual interest to gates along Fairfax Drive at the pedestrian level, intended to screen transformers from view and made design changes to give the lobby more prominence, he said.
Orr will replace existing market-rate affordable units with 24 on-site committed affordable units set aside for households earning up to 60% of the area median income. The units — seven 1-bedroom, 16 2-bedroom and one 3-bedroom — add up to 42 bedrooms, the same as currently exists.
Members of the Planning Commission urged the developer to consider trading some of the proposed 1-bedroom units for 3-bedroom ones.
“This would be a really great opportunity, as we rarely see 3-bedroom held market-rate affordable units that come before us,” said commission Chair Sara Steinberger last week. “You found one [3-bedroom unit]: I’m asking you guys to see what you can do to find one or two more. I do see some consensus in this body that that’s something that we would appreciate.”
Ryan Orr, the senior vice president of development, said his company is “happy to explore adding more 3-bedrooms in lieu of one or twos,” noting this would require “a holistic look” at the floor plans.
Representatives from the nearby Belvedere Condominiums owners association and the Radnor-Fort Myer Heights Civic Association expressed concern that the project will displace existing tenants of the market-rate affordable units.
Company chairman David Orr said he has heard these concerns from these neighbors since the kickoff of the project review process.
“We took that to heart. My son has met with every resident there — two didn’t open their doors — and we talked to them about their plans,” he said. “Some have had personal issues. Some are delinquent. We are not enforcing the leases and we are working with them in every way to bring them back to community.”
Arlington County police are charging a local teen with robbery after an incident at a local high school.
It happened around noon last Thursday, at Washington-Liberty High School, but was not reported to police until the next day. A boy allegedly stole the male victim’s jewelry after a struggle over his hoodie.
More from an ACPD crime report:
ROBBERY (late), 2024-01120108, 1300 block of N. Stafford Street. At approximately 12:48 p.m. on January 12, police were dispatched to the late report of a robbery by force. Upon arrival, it was determined at approximately 11:55 a.m. on January 11, the juvenile male suspect allegedly approached the juvenile male victim and demanded his hoodie. A struggled ensued, during which the victim’s jewelry broke. The suspect then stole the jewelry, which was later recovered on scene. No injuries were reported. A petition for the juvenile suspect is pending for Robbery. The investigation is ongoing.
The incident happened just two days after a previously-reported “mob” attack at the high school. It is unclear whether the two are in any way related.
Construction crew working in the snow in Rosslyn (Flickr pool photo by Jeff Vincent)
Trash Collection Delayed — “Curbside trash, recycling, and yard waste collection is canceled today, Jan. 16, due to inclement weather. Curbside collection (including metal, e-waste and cart requests) for the remainder of the week will be as follows: Monday routes: Serviced Wednesday, Jan. 17.” [Arlington County]
Flyover This Afternoon — From AlertDC: “The US Military will be conducting a flyover at Arlington National Cemetery on Wednesday January 17, 2024, at 1:12PM.”
Measles Case at Airports — “Travelers who passed through Dulles International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in early January may have been exposed to measles, Virginia health officials said. A confirmed case of measles in a person who traveled through Northern Virginia when returning from international travel was reported to the Virginia Department of Health. As a cautionary measure on Saturday, VDH issued the alert.” [Patch]
Local GOP Blasts Fundraising Site — “Two emails today from vulnerable retirees asking @WINRED to stop taking money from them. We get these emails because WinRed claims the charges are coming from ‘ARLINGTON,’ so people reach out to us. The Arlington GOP doesn’t use WINRED, and we won’t.” [Twitter]
Board Candidate Wants Arena Say — “Plans to develop an entertainment complex in Alexandria – with an indoor arena for the Washington Capitals and Wizards its centerpiece – could emerge as a sleeper issue in the upcoming Democratic primary for Arlington County Board… at least one of the announced contenders is voicing the view that Arlington shouldn’t be left out of the conversation. ‘Our county is not a bystander; we will be directly impacted. Arlington needs a seat at the table,’ Natalie Roy said.” [Gazette Leader]
Ballston Investment Office Downsizing — “Cambridge Associates LLC, a Boston-based investment firm, is cutting the size of its Arlington office in half, the latest in a steady stream of office users reducing their space. The firm will move early next year from 91,000 square feet at 4100 N. Fairfax Drive to 48,000 square feet at The Regent office building at 950 N. Glebe Road — roughly a 47% reduction.” [Washington Business Journal]
We’re No. 2 for Area Housing Costs — “D.C. retained its top-of-the-heap ranking in spite of a year-over-year drop of 3.7 percent in average per-square-foot housing costs (from $545 per square foot to $525), according to figures reported by Bright MLS as analyzed by the GazetteLeader. Arlington also saw a decline, with its average per-square-foot cost dropping 1.1 percent from $478 to $473, but that was enough to retain the No. 2 position it had held most of the year.” [Gazette Leader]
It’s Wednesday — Expect sunny skies with a high near 29 and a west wind ranging from 7 to 13 mph. At night, there will be increasing cloud coverage and a low temperature around 19. Winds will shift to the southwest, blowing at 3 to 6 mph. [Weather.gov]
