News

A first-time home buying program faces headwinds from Arlington’s hot real estate market

By Jo DeVoe
Real estate for sale sign in the Arlington Heights neighborhood (file photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at noon on 7/10/23) Recently, a family of five with three boys bought a two-bedroom home with a den in Arlington, thanks in part to a little-known county program that helps first-time homebuyers secure a mortgage with small loans.

“They were completely comfortable with that,” says Karen Serfis, a program manager with Latino Economic Development Center, who helped the family work with the county to get the loan. “Not everybody wants to live in a two-bedroom with a den but they wanted to stay in Arlington.”

Since 2018, Arlington County has operated the Moderate-Income Purchase Assistance Program (MIPAP), which helps income-eligible people buy homes that cost less than $500,000. Last year, it issued 13 loans to applicants, 65% of whom were single and 25% of whom belonged to two-person households. They were able to buy one-bedroom or small two-bedroom units.

The number of loans issued last year could be a program record for the last decade, according to data provided by Serfis and the county, which is seeing more people interested in accessing the funding.

As interest in the program grows, however, applicants are finding few housing options under $500,000. On top of an income eligibility restriction of 80% of the area median income (AMI), that makes the program difficult for many to effectively utilize.

“There’s been a huge uptick in people trying to use MIPAP in the last year and I don’t know why,” Serfis said. “Is it because it’s so impossible to buy? I don’t know. Is the county doing better outreach? Possibly. Or are people more aware of these programs because they’re on the internet?”

Arlington County says it could be because applicants were confident in post-pandemic economic recovery and could be taking advantage of another county program that uses state funding to lower loan interest rates one percentage point.

Despite the uptick in recent years, MIPAP is just now reaching the numbers of people helped in the late 2000s, when the program was run by a local nonprofit affordable housing developer. In the years before AHC, Inc. ceded it to Arlington County to focus on rentals, the number of loans issued fell to four to six per year throughout the 2010s.

Some say the program’s structure and requirements are getting in the way and it should be revamped. They say Arlington County should raise the $500,000 purchasing price limit as well as the income restrictions, rebrand the program and spread the word.

“MIPAP is an anemic program and represents a significant underinvestment in helping Arlington residents successfully transition to homeownership,” says Kellen MacBeth, a housing policy advocate and member of the Arlington branch of the NAACP. “Homeownership offers unique opportunities to bridge the racial wealth gap and we need to step up county support for residents, especially residents of color, looking to become homeowners.”

The program is funded by the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development, which stipulates households must earn at or below 80% AMI, or $120,560 for a household of four, and qualify for a conventional first-trust mortgage. Under both these conditions, lenders typically say applicants can qualify for homes priced below $400,000, according to the county.

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Alleged drug dealer charged in man’s fentanyl overdose death in Arlington

By ARLnow.com
Arlington police car (file photo)

A 30-year-old Lorton man is being charged with involuntary manslaughter after a fatal Arlington overdose.

A man died in a Penrose home last June after overdosing on drugs that contained fentanyl and mirtazapine, according to Arlington police.

An investigation led police to “the individual suspected of supplying the deceased with controlled substances.”

More, below, from a just-issued ACPD press release.

The Arlington County Police Department’s Organized Crime Section is announcing charges have been obtained following an investigation into a fentanyl overdose death. Armand Navarro, 30, of Lorton, VA is charged with Involuntary Manslaughter and Distribution of a Schedule I/II Controlled Substance (2nd Offense). He is being held on unrelated charges in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center.

At approximately 10:06 p.m. on June 29, 2022, police were dispatched to the 700 block of S. Courthouse Road for the report of a medical emergency. Upon arrival, officers located an adult male inside a residence suffering from an apparent fentanyl overdose. Despite lifesaving measures attempted by officers and the Arlington County Fire Department, he was pronounced deceased on scene. An autopsy conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined cause of death to be acute fentanyl and mirtazapine intoxication.

Detectives assigned to the Organized Crime Section initiated a comprehensive investigation which included witness interviews and the review of evidence. As a result of the review, detectives identified the individual suspected of supplying the deceased with controlled substances and warrants were obtained for his arrest.

The Arlington County Police Department remains committed to thoroughly investigating narcotics incidents and holding accountable those who traffic dangerous and deadly narcotics into our community. This remains an active criminal investigation and anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact the Arlington County Police Department’s tip line at 703-228-4180 or [email protected] or anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477).

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, there are numerous resources available through the Arlington Addiction Recovery Initiative. For additional community resources and contact information, visit our website.

This year, Arlington County and Arlington Public Schools have been undertaking a number of measures to combat the opioid crisis after a spate of overdose deaths.

NEW: More than a dozen Missing Middle permit applications are in the works so far

By Jo DeVoe
1/4

(Updated at 4:05 p.m.) Eight permit applications for Missing Middle housing proposals have been accepted by Arlington County since Saturday, the first day for such filings.

Another seven are at various stages of completion, marked “application complete” or “awaiting plans and documents,” according to permit records, as of Wednesday afternoon.

There are several other placeholder permits — those that people have started but not yet finished.

Some were at the ready on Day 1 of the Missing Middle — also called Expanded Housing Options — permitting process. Nine permits were filed on July 1, while another two each have come in on Sunday, Monday and yesterday, per the records.

The homes proposed for redevelopment are typically concentrated in or near Metro areas, such as East Falls Church, Ballston, Virginia Square, Clarendon and Pentagon City, per the addresses associated with each permit.

So far, all eight accepted applications are located in R-5 and R-6 zoning districts, or those with 5,000 to 6,000-square-foot lots, respectively, Arlington County Dept. of Community Planning, Housing and Development spokeswoman Erika Moore said.

Specifically, three are in R-5 and five are in R-6 districts, according to the county. This means only four more permits can be issued for homes in R-5 districts this calendar year, as the county capped the permits for this zoning district at seven annually. Meanwhile, 30 total permits can be issued for R-6 districts in one year.

Another 21 permits are allowed annually across zones with 8, 10 or 20,000-square-foot lots (R-8, R-10 or R-20). None have been issued in these districts yet.

One-third of the permit applications so far are for 3-unit townhouses. Duplexes and six-plexes each comprise roughly one-quarter and the remaining two are quad-plexes.

As for off-street parking, five have one parking space per unit, four have more than one space per unit and six have less than one space per unit. Earlier this year, critics predicted (and some incorporated this into a lawsuit) that lower parking minimums — and thus greater reliance on on-street parking — would clog narrow streets.

Arlington County has launched a web page with information about applying for an EHO permit, in addition to a page tracking these developments. The tracker includes the address and zoning district for each property, the number of units proposed, the permit number and submission date, among other information.

“The County has committed to tracking EHO permit submissions and approvals so both potential applicants and interested community members can see how many EHO projects are proposed — and where they are located,” per an Arlington County email newsletter.

“Work is underway on connecting permitting system data to the County’s Open Data Portal to create a user-friendly dashboard. Until that tool is available, County staff will post weekly updates on applications and their status online,” the email continued. “Tracking will begin on Friday, July 7.”

The tracker was updated almost two days early, on Wednesday evening.

Currently, the EHO permits issued do not authorize construction, according to the webpage. A separate county staff review is needed before builders can start construction.

There is no fee associated with this permit though one may be proposed next year.

The county recently published a how-to video, below, demonstrating the application process.

Photos 1, 2, 3 and 4 via Google Maps

Arlington champions Moore’s Barber Shop as it charts new course for historic preservation

By Jo DeVoe
1/3

Moore’s Barber Shop, in Arlington’s historically Black neighborhood of Halls Hill, has survived Covid and remained in business despite competition from low-cost chains.

Its secret, according to owner James Moore Jr., is not a business strategy or particularly talented barber — it is community. In a video (below) produced by Arlington County recently, he muses this must be what motivated his local government to offer to support in any way it could.

“I was like, ‘Why would they do that for me?’ It’s not just because we’re a legacy business. We’ve been here a long time,” he said. “It must have value to the community. It has something intangible that is more than just a good haircut.”

His barbershop is tucked into a nondescript, two-story brick building painted gray at 4807 Langston Blvd. Built in the 1940s, it is a few blocks from the shop his father, James Moore, Sr., opened in 1960.

The current barbershop does not exemplify a grand architectural style but — judging by the video and its prominent place in a draft Historic and Cultural Resources Plan — Arlington County sees in it a cultural landmark worth preserving.

The vehicle for preserving Moore’s Barber Shop would be this new draft plan, released by Arlington County Historic Preservation Program (HPP) staff. It lists the goals they have for preserving storied places and animating them for residents and visitors today. People can provide input on the draft plan this summer via open houses, pop-up events and an online questionnaire. The Arlington County Board could adopt it this fall.

The draft reckons with a historic approach that saved architecturally significant homes but abandoned to development landmarks associated with ethnic groups, like the Vietnamese enclave of Little Saigon, now Clarendon. In the plan, Arlington commits to highlighting diverse stories, saving modest buildings where history happened — like Moore’s Barber Shop — and making preservation relevant.

“Populations and their stories cannot be only (and comprehensively) expressed through architecturally significant buildings, but rather through a varied collection of landscapes and open spaces, public buildings, modestly built neighborhoods, and iconic structures,” the plan says.

“People and culture are key to understanding our environment and the work of historic preservation; as such, they are at the heart of the Plan’s Statement of Historical and Cultural Significance,” it continues.

The draft grapples with the drumbeat of development and HPP’s mixed success saving buildings. Successes include adding historical installations at Dorothy Hamm Middle School, the site of the first Arlington school to racially integrate, and the under-construction Fire Station 8, which Black residents started to put out their own fires when the county would not during the Jim Crow era.

HPP notes, however, some recent demolitions: the Wilson School, now the H-B Woodlawn Secondary Program in Rosslyn; Arlington Presbyterian Church, now affordable housing; the Arlington Education Center, now the Washington-Liberty Annex; the Febrey-Lothrop Estate and the Fellows-McGrath House, which will be replaced with single-family homes.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
As seen in Rosslyn (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Doctor Pleads to Workplace Assault — From attorney and former Virginia lieutenant governor Justin Fairfax: “Today in #Arlington General District Court, [a local doctor who owns several local urgent care clinics] pled ‘No Contest’ regarding a terrifying at-work assault & battery.” [Twitter, Fox 5]

Historic Designation for Haunted House? — “A home that someday could become a local historic district comes with an added attraction – visitors from the spirit world. The property was the home for decades to a self-described clairvoyant who would host seances there. And even today, ghosts are reported to remain in residence.” [Gazette Leader]

Big Boost in July 4 Metro Ridership — “Metrorail celebrated the Independence Day holiday with preliminary ridership topping 410,000, a level not seen since 2015. With fare-free service after 5 p.m. and a boost in service to accommodate the influx of customers, rail ridership was up 61 percent over last year.” [WMATA]

APS, Planetarium Group Renew Agreement — “Arlington school leaders will ink an updated agreement with the ‘friends’ group supporting the David M. Brown Planetarium… Under the agreement, Friends of the Planetarium will continue to be able to use the facility one weekend per month and on specified evenings and times when schools are closed to provide programming to the public.” [Gazette Leader]

Biking Best Bet for Costco Trips? — From the Costco Connection magazine: “For Gillian Burgess, her cargo bike adds convenience to her shopping trips. ‘I live in Arlington, Virginia, and find that biking is the best way to get to the Pentagon City Costco,’ she says.” [Twitter]

Money Diary of Local Financial Analyst — “I leave my apartment at 7:25 to make it to my date on time. We’re meeting at a dive bar around the corner from me. I immediately know I’m not interested in him but I order a beer and chat with him for an hour.” [Refinery 29]

Nearby: Pickleball Proposal in Tysons — “Indoor pickleball courts could soon be coming to a Tysons industrial park off Leesburg Pike and the Dulles Toll Road. The Pickleball Club of Tysons has applied to Fairfax County for permits to build out space at 8520 A Tyco Road, about a half-mile from the Silver Line’s Spring Hill Metro station, for the new athletic facility.” [Washington Business Journal]

It’s Thursday — A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly after 2pm. Otherwise mostly cloudy, with a high near 89. Light and variable wind becoming southeast 5 to 7 mph in the morning. Chance of precipitation is 40%. At night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly before 8pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 72. Southeast wind 3 to 6 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%. [Weather.gov]

JUST IN: Flash Flood Warning issued for Arlington

By ARLnow.com
Flash Flood Warning on 7/5/23

A slow-moving thunderstorm is hovering over northern and western portions of Arlington, prompting a Flash Flood Warning.

The storm is dropping copious amounts of rain, which could cause streams to overtop their banks and basements to flood. The warning is in effect until 6:30 p.m.

The Falls Church area is getting hit particularly hard by the downpour.

More from the National Weather Service:

The National Weather Service in Sterling Virginia has issued a

* Flash Flood Warning for… Western Arlington County in northern Virginia… Central Fairfax County in northern Virginia… The Northwestern City of Alexandria in northern Virginia… The City of Fairfax in northern Virginia… The City of Falls Church in northern Virginia…

* Until 630 PM EDT.

* At 325 PM EDT, Doppler radar indicated thunderstorms producing heavy rain across the warned area. Between 0.5 and 1.5 inches of rain have fallen. Additional rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches are possible in the warned area. Flash flooding is ongoing or expected to begin shortly.
HAZARD…Flash flooding caused by thunderstorms.
SOURCE…Radar.
IMPACT…Flash flooding of small creeks and streams, urban areas, highways, streets and underpasses as well as other poor drainage and low-lying areas.

After Covid, Ballston BID seeks to increase in-person work and encourage influx of residents

By Hallie LeTendre
1/7

(Updated at 6:20 p.m.) Post-pandemic, the Ballston Business Improvement District says it will do what it takes to entice remote workers back to the office and attract new residents.

Like other business districts across the country, Ballston has had to weather a slow return-to-work environment as well as permanent changes to where, and how, people work. Compared to peer districts, like downtown D.C., the BID says Ballston was buoyed by a influx of young, highly educated and high-earning residents, who choose to live there for its walkability and transit access.

“Ballston continued to grow throughout the pandemic, and we’re still growing,” BID CEO Tina Leone said last Wednesday during the organization’s annual meeting. “New businesses, new developments and more residents have been joining our community.”

The pandemic drove up the office vacancy rate in Ballston to 24% earlier this year, as some employers abandon offices entirely. For other companies signing leases, demand increased for newer office buildings with a host of perks for workers.

Today, there are 942 total businesses in the neighborhood, including 114 retailers, according to the BID. Some 20,000 employees work in Ballston and about 15,000 people call it home, for a 1.4-to-1 employee-resident ratio.

While lauding its success, the BID is charting its course out of the pandemic and the financial uncertainty it caused. Its leaders say they are focused on helping businesses reconnect with their employees, facilitating renovations to aging office buildings and creating a neighborhood where people want to live.

“We want to understand what our employers want and then more importantly what their employees want. We expect to attract both parties to our market and keep them here,” Board President Simon Carney said. “To do this we need to listen, understand and execute in an ordinated manner. We must be looking at the long term.”

One way the BID supports local businesses, Leone says, is through its Ballston Business Appreciation Campaign, which allows workers to attend free in-office events. It is also open to apartment buildings. Interested employers and apartment management companies need only to fill out a general form online.

“Our business appreciation campaign has helped businesses re-engage with their employees through custom events like breakfasts, lunches, a unique happy hour, wellness events or trivia,” Leone said. “We’ll do whatever they need to come back.”

Meanwhile, Arlington Economic Development Director Ryan Touhill emphasized the role of renovation work to existing, vacant office buildings to attract new tenants. Recent examples of this include the Ballston Point building (4300 Wilson Blvd), which netted new occupants, and Three Ballston Plaza (1100 N. Glebe Road), where work is underway.

Touhill says the BID can help more office building owners take on similar improvements.

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ACFD responds to townhouse fire in East Falls Church, fireworks-sparked blaze at apartment building

By ARLnow.com
1/3

(Updated at 1:30 p.m.) A townhouse in the East Falls Church neighborhood was badly damaged by a fire last night.

The fire broke out in a middle-of-the-row townhouse on the 6500 block of Washington Blvd around 11:30 p.m. on July 4. A large fire department response to the blaze blocked traffic near the intersection of Washington Blvd and N. Sycamore Street, one block from the Metro station.

Arriving firefighters reported encountering heavy fire coming from the home’s garage and extending up to the upper floors.

While the bulk of the flames were extinguished relatively quickly, firefighters were kept busy for more than an hour, searching for hotspots and ventilating the structure, according to scanner traffic. Additionally, several cats were rescued from inside the home.

This morning, fire investigators could be seen searching through the charred remains of the garage.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Arlington County Fire Department announced that while four animals were rescued and no humans were injured, one pet was found dead.

Early this morning, firefighters also responded to a fire at the Frederick at Courthouse apartment building, at 2230 Fairfax Drive, shortly after 1 a.m.

Initial reports suggest that fireworks disposed of in the trash chute caused a fire that filled a portion of the building with smoke and set off sprinklers, dousing the flames but also causing water damage in numerous apartments.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
An airliner on approach to DCA over Rosslyn (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Local Pickleball Saga in NYT — “Arlington’s pickleball drama made the front page of the New York Times.” [Twitter, New York Times]

Arrest for Assaulting Police — “1200 block of S. Courthouse Road. At approximately 7:14 p.m. on June 30, police were dispatched to the report of trouble unknown. Upon arrival, the reporting party advised a possibly intoxicated individual was located in the stairway of a residential building. As the arriving officer was attempting to take the suspect into custody, he allegedly became combative, resisted arrest and struck the officer. With the assistance of additional police units, the suspect was taken into custody, during which he struck and headbutted a second officer.” [ACPD]

Fire in Crystal City — Construction debris reportedly caught fire on an upper floor of an under-construction building on the 1900 block of Crystal Drive over the weekend. [Twitter]

Crash on I-395 — From Dave Statter: “Vehicle stops on I-395S 8A ramp across from the Pentagon, backs up, crosses over to the Pentagon ramp, causes another driver to run off the road knocking down a sign, and then drives away. It was 7:10 pm. Hope someone got the tag.” [Twitter]

Local Bank to Close — “Alexandria’s Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. is planning to close its full-service branch in Crystal City and is looking to replace it with a smaller location somewhere between Amazon.com Inc.’s second headquarters in Pentagon City and Virginia Tech’s forthcoming Innovation Campus at Potomac Yard. The $3.7 billion-asset bank recently put its 1,217-square-foot space at 500 23rd St.” [Washington Business Journal]

YHS Tennis Star Places in State Tourney — “Rayan Elkhalifi… moved to Arlington for the 2022-23 school year from Morocco, where he did not play high-school tennis as a freshman, sophomore or junior. For Yorktown, Elkhalifi won Liberty District and 6D North Region tournament singles championships, then finished second in the Virginia High School League’s Class 6 state tourney.” [Gazette Leader]

Pornhub Now Blocking Va. Users — “Pornhub is pulling out … of the Commonwealth of Virginia. The wildly popular smut purveyor shut down access to amorous Dominion state residents to protest a new law requiring age verification.” [New York Post, Virginia Mercury]

Code Orange Alert Today — “The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has issued a Code ORANGE Air Quality Alert Wednesday for Northern Virginia. A Code Orange Air Quality Alert means that air pollution concentrations within the region may become unhealthy for sensitive groups.” [Weather.gov]

It’s Wednesday — A slight chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 89. Light and variable wind becoming north around 6 mph in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 20%. At night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 72. Southeast wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. [Weather.gov]

UPDATED: Two dead, one fighting for her life after early morning crash

By ARLnow.com
Intersection of S. Walter Reed Drive and S. Dinwiddie Street (via Google Maps)

(Updated at 6:15 p.m.) A vehicle with three people inside crashed into a tree along S. Walter Reed Drive early this morning, killing the 23-year-old driver and a 21-year-old passenger.

The July 4 crash happened around 2 a.m. at the intersection with S. Dinwiddie Street — a few blocks from Route 7 and from Wakefield High School. The force of the crash caused the vehicle to catch fire.

The circumstances leading to the crash are currently unclear. Arlington County police are asking anyone with information about it to contact investigators.

At last check, there was one surviving passenger with critical injuries, being treated at a local trauma center.

ACPD said Tuesday evening that a passenger, originally listed in critical condition, had died.

“The driver has been identified as 23-year-old Furkan Avkan of Alexandria, VA,” the police department said. “A passenger in the vehicle passed away at the hospital. She has been identified 21-year-old Habiba Harbaoui who was visiting the area from Tunisia.”

The initial ACPD press release is below.

The Arlington County Police Department is investigating a fatal single-vehicle crash that occurred in the early morning hours of July 4, 2023.

At approximately 2:06 a.m., police were dispatched to S. Walter Reed Drive at S. Dinwiddie Street for the report of a vehicle fire. The preliminary investigation indicates the occupants were traveling southbound on Walter Reed Drive when the vehicle left the roadway, entered the median, struck a tree and caught fire.

The adult male driver was located unresponsive inside the vehicle and pronounced deceased on scene. The two passengers, both adult females, were removed from the vehicle and transported to area hospitals in critical condition.

The identity of the driver is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation. Anyone with information related to this incident is asked to contact Detective T. Parsons at [email protected] or 703-228-4172. Information may also be reported anonymously through the Arlington County Crime Solvers hotline at 1-866-411-TIPS (8477). For additional community resources and contact information, visit our website.

ACFD investigating ‘suspicious’ vehicle fire near Shirlington

By ARLnow.com

 

The Arlington County Fire Department responds to a call in Shirlington in Oct. 2019 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Arlington County fire marshals are investigating a vehicle fire in the Shirlington area that might have been deliberately set.

The incident happened this past Friday morning on the 4500 block of 31st Street S., between the Shirlington and Fairlington neighborhoods.

“The Arlington County Fire Department (ACFD), Office of the Fire Marshal (OFM) is investigating a vehicle fire that occurred at approximately 6:00 a.m. on the morning of June 30,” Capt. Nathaniel C. Hiner tells ARLnow. “The ACFD arrived on the scene of the fire and found a black BMW X5 completely engulfed in fire. The OFM has determined the fire to be suspicious in nature and is asking nearby residents that may have any information that could benefit the investigation to please contact Deputy Fire Marshal Ryan Murphy [at] [email protected].”

No injuries were reported as a result of the fire.

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