apartments

Arlington County Board approves redevelopment of Clarendon auto shop, small office building on the Pike

By Jo DeVoe
1/5

Over the weekend, the Arlington County Board approved two redevelopment proposals, one in Clarendon and one on Columbia Pike.

It greenlit an apartment complex for the Joyce Motors site at 3201 10th Street N. in Clarendon and one for the Bank of America office building at 3401 Columbia Pike.

The Clarendon proposal includes a site plan to construct an 11-story apartment building with ground-floor retail. It includes nine on-site committed affordable units, including five “family-sized units” as well as the relocation and preservation of the historic Joyce Motors façade and the full building preservation of the Clarendon Barbershop building several blocks away.

“For historic preservation purposes, the Board also approved transferring developmental rights from the Clarendon Barbershop Building to the Joyce Motors site, allowing unused density to be used toward the proposed 11-story [mixed-use] building,” per a County Board press release.

The developer committed to installing new sidewalk, building portions of 10th Road N. and a new alley, as well as LEED Gold certification and nearly $1 million in cash contributions for transportation and public spaces.

“It’s really a big win for staff, the community, the project development team, I’m really thrilled to see it manifest this way,” said Board Chair Christian Dorsey. “It’s a testament to the fact that, I know developers are often considered the enemies in society, they are also the conduit to the implementation of the plans that the community wants to create.”

“It’s not going to happen if we don’t have people who are willing to put together and take on all kinds of risks to get things done,” Dorsey continued. “The beauty of that is we can have win-wins, where you have a development team that hopefully has a successful project but the community, for generations, has something that reflects the plans they come up with.”

On the Pike, the Board approved the construction of a six-story, 250-unit apartment building and about 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and commercial space, at the busy corner of S. Glebe Road and the Pike.

Normally, these kinds of projects are supposed to receive administrative approvals via the Columbia Pike Form-Based Code. This project, however, required County Board approval in part because the developer, Marcus Partners, requested relief from height restrictions on a portion of the property.

“This is a strong project, I do… appreciate a little bit of architectural diversity coming forward, I think it will add a lot to the neighborhood,” said Board Member Katie Cristol. “I appreciate our staff’s efforts to make sure compliance with the code is a floor in terms of fulfilling the vision of the neighborhood as well as thorough, additional work to mitigate impacts that may be happening and maximizing the positives.”

Arlington gets $1.2M grant to help people living in shelters or outdoors move into apartments

By Jo DeVoe
Man sleeping on a bench outside Arlington Central Library (file photo)

Arlington County has received a $1.2 million federal grant to move people experiencing homelessness into permanent or temporary apartment housing.

Approximately 55% of the grant will be for housing — mostly one- and two-bedroom affordable rental units — and the remainder “is for supportive services and staffing,” says Dept. of Human Services spokesman Kurt Larrick.

This project provides permanent housing in existing, but unoccupied, committed affordable units in Arlington to people either living outside or in one of the county’s four emergency shelters, operated by Bridges to Independence, Doorways, New Hope and PathForward.

In federal government speak, this is known as “rapid rehousing,” says Larrick.

It is part of Arlington County’s “housing first” approach — one in which people are housed without stipulations, says Adele McClure, a candidate for the second district of the House of Delegates, who has worked for many years in Arlington tackling homelessness after experiencing it herself in Fairfax County.

“It’s breaking down the barrier to housing,” she said. “I am a product of those stipulations growing up. When I was in transitional housing, we didn’t have ‘housing first’ model, it was really, really tough for our family. I am thankful Arlington and all of Virginia engages in that.”

The funds will also pay for master-lease agreements with nonprofits to move people into apartments temporarily before moving to permanent housing, Larrick said.

This grant has a three-year term. It is a new funding source and a new U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) project type for Arlington.

“But the work is not new to Arlington and will be a mix of non-congregate shelter and Rapid Rehousing services for people experiencing homelessness,” Larrick said. “Arlington has a long history of winning competitive HUD funding opportunities across a range of programming areas though.”

McClure says Arlington is well-positioned to address homelessness because of its “continuum of care” model that brings together nonprofits, affordable housing providers and public and private service providers to oversee everything from subsidy programs to street outreach.

The funding will help replace early Covid relief federal funding through the CARES Act, which is coming to an end, she noted.

The grant comes as the county is working on its next strategic plan to help households at risk of homelessness keep their housing and help homeless families quickly regain stable housing.

Arlington County adopted a 10-year plan in 2006. Data over the last decade show that during the out-years of the plan, the population of people living in shelters and outdoors dropped sharply. That rate of decline has since slowed and possibly plateaued.

The number of people experiencing homelessness in Arlington over the last decade (via Arlington County)

“We started off really strong and we had that sharp decline, but once you get down to the lower numbers we have, we’re going to get down to the folks who are hardest to serve: those are the folks who don’t necessarily stay sheltered,” McClure said. “I know, here in Arlington, we are concerned about losing that momentum and progress.”

A three-year plan was adopted in 2018. The plan was extended due to Covid, but now, the county is reprising its planning. This round is focused on addressing inequities for people of color, immigrants and seniors.

“Arlington struggles with the availability of resources, funding and stock of affordable housing,” McClure said. “There are large and systemic root causes that perpetuate homelessness… Arlington is trying to address those systemic root causes.”

Interested community members can attend any of the following informational sessions.

Plans to redevelop bank on Columbia Pike clear Planning Commission, head to County Board

By Jo DeVoe
1/7

A residential redevelopment planned for a four-story office building, bank drive-thru and parking lot on Columbia Pike is now heading to the Arlington County Board.

On Monday night, the Planning Commission unanimously voted its approval for a project that would tear down the Bank of America building at 3401 Columbia Pike, at the northwest corner of S. Glebe Road and the Pike, next to the Wendy’s. It will now head to the Arlington County Board, which is slated to consider the project at its meeting next Saturday, Feb. 18.

The property falls within the Pike’s Commercial Form-Based Code, which provides a streamlined process for developers provided they meet certain guidelines. The project needs Planning Commission and County Board approval because of its size, according to Commissioner Stephen Hughes.

“Otherwise, the goal is for it to be a by-right development subject to the Zoning Administrator, if every checkbox is met,” he said.

The developer, Marcus Partners, proposes a 250-unit, six-story apartment building with 4,500 square feet of ground floor retail and 287 parking spaces across a 2.5-level underground garage. It will have 172 one-bedroom, 39 two-bedroom and 38 studio units.

“I for one am excited to see this building get built because it’s different,” Hughes said. “The materiality and the architecture of it are something we’ve yet to see on the Pike, and so I think we’re a little excited to see that.”

As part of the project, Marcus Partners will make streetscape improvements, revamp an existing alley for parking and loading and build a 7,800 square-foot private open space. It will landscape a small triangular lot to create more of a buffer between the building and a single-family home to the north.

Throughout the review process, people have been sensitive to how close the proposed building will be to this home and have recommended ways to minimize impacts on residents, said county planner Matt Mattauszek.

“This is not the first, nor will it be the last time, that a form-based code has an adjacency to a low residential development zone and it is always shocking to me… the embracing of the density that goes on with my neighbors on the Pike,” Hughes said.

The proposed building will round out development of this prominent intersection, says Lauren Riley, a land use lawyer with Walsh Colucci. It is flanked by three form-based code projects: Pike 3400 to the south, Gilliam Place to the west and the under-construction Westmont project to the east.

Riley assured anyone who banks with Bank of America that the branch — which was set to close late last year — will move across the street to the former Capital One building.

“No need to worry, you’ll still have your bank services across the street,” she said.

The form-based code comes with height restrictions: three to six stories for what it designates as main streets, two to five stories for avenues and two to three stories for local streets. Developers are able to extend or retract these designations up to 50 feet to make their project work.

Even with this workaround, Marcus Partners would have had to make a small section of its building three stories shorter, which county staff agreed would be unworkable. The developer is asking the County Board for relief from the tapering requirement.

“The transition from a higher density to a single-family home had been well thought out on the form-based code and the unique instance of this site and the way the site was assembled warrants this change,” said Commissioner Leonardo Sarli. “But the transition from main street to residential is a really good approach and one that benefits the community as a whole.”

Planning Commission gives thumbs up to Joyce Motors redevelopment in Clarendon

By Jo DeVoe
1/4

A developer is setting aside $25,000 for the installation of a historical marker to describe the importance of the Joyce Motors site in Clarendon.

The sum raised eyebrows among some Planning Commission members last night (Monday) during their discussion of a proposed redevelopment of the auto shop at the intersection of N. Irving Street and 10th Street N.

“I think people often complain about the cost of building things and doing things so for my own benefit, when people ask me about this, I want to drill down a little bit,” Commissioner Daniel Weir said. “When you buy a plaque to give to one of your coworkers who’s retiring after 30 years of service, it costs $40 from the guy you buy tchotchkes from. So distinguish these two things for me, please.”

Commissioners were told the $25,000 is budgeted for the hard costs of installing a sign or plaque or embedding the explanations in concrete under-foot.

Without much other discussion, commissioners unanimously approved the plans from Orr Partners to build a 241-unit apartment building with 3,600 square feet of ground-floor retail.

The project required the developer to work with nearby businesses to divy up the triangular lot bounded by Wilson Blvd, 10th Street N. and N. Irving Street lot into three parcels. Orr Partners will build an alley through the middle of the site from which residents can access underground parking.

Orr Partners will preserve another nearby property deemed historic — 1411 N. Garfield Street, which housed a barber shop — from future development using the county’s transfer of development rights tool.

The approval comes more than three years after the developer submitted its site plan application in 2019. Arlington County accepted the site plan in spring of 2020 but put it on hold for two years while staff completed an update to the Clarendon Sector Plan, which guides development of the neighborhood.

“We have made substantial changes over the past three-plus plus years as we’ve been at this,” said Andrew Painter, a land use lawyer with Walsh Colucci, representing the developer. “We’ve shown the ability to be creative by partnering with neighbors on the alley [and] the land swap, by partnering to preserve historic façades and construct a building that will be able to solve so many planning goals.”

Changes to the 2006 sector plan were prompted by several redevelopments, including Joyce Motors, as well as on the Silver Diner/The Lot and Wells Fargo/Verizon sites, and projects proposed by the St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church, the YMCA and George Mason University.

While the $25,000 budget for a historical marker gave some commissioners sticker shock, others thanked Orr Partners for delivering a project that provided nine on-site committed affordable units, including five family-sized ones.

“I just wanted to say thank you for including larger-sized units that can fit families,” said Commissioner Tenley Peterson.

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County Board approves two apartment towers in Crystal City

By Jo DeVoe
1/8

Two 30-story apartment towers proposed for Crystal City received a green light from the Arlington County Board on Saturday.

The proposal from JBG Smith will redevelop a block at the intersection of 23rd Street S. and Crystal Drive that is currently home to a vacant office building from the 1960s and, until demolition started earlier this year, a strip of one-story retail that included the restaurant Jaleo.

The west tower (223 23rd Street S.) will have 613 units and 8,000 square feet of retail. The east tower (2250 Crystal Drive) will have 826 units and 14,929 square feet of retail. A north-south vehicular access will run between the two towers and is intended to take parking and retail loading off the nearby streets.

This project also includes an approximately 8,025-square-foot interim public green space, which the Crystal City Sector Plan envisions becoming a 13,000-square-foot open space.

A 5,574-square-foot walkway lined with planters and seating will run east to west and connect pedestrians to a relocated entrance to the Crystal City Shops, an underground mall, as well as retail at the base of the 2250 Crystal Drive building.

JBG Smith will rebuild 23rd Street S. from Crystal Drive to Richmond Highway, adding 1,600 new linear feet of protected bike lanes across Crystal Drive and 23rd Street S. The developer will also add a mid-block crossing where the north-south connector intersects with 23rd Street S. and floating bus stops on either side of the street.

The project is set to achieve LEED Gold certification. JBG Smith will contribute more than $8 million to affordable housing and set aside 34 off-site affordable units at one of its existing Riverhouse apartment buildings in Pentagon City. Open space in the development is set to be redeveloped in the near future.

References to Missing Middle — which was the next item for discussion — broke into comments from County Board members.

“The big picture here is 1,400 additional units that are in one of our transit corridors. This is an example of the type of project that across perspectives, most everyone supports,” said Board member Matt de Ferranti. “This is part of smart policy to prevent further ex-urban development. It’s part of good policy for our community.”

Board member Takis Karantonis hailed it as “a very good project.”

“This is between one of the nation’s most vibrant innovation districts, [Amazon’s] HQ2, the anchor, and everything that comes around it, and the Virginia Tech campus a few blocks down the street,” he said.

He went on to connect the project to the Missing Middle housing proposal, which was discussed in public comments for more than five hours after Board members voted on JBG Smith’s redevelopment plans.

“These people will live there and after a while, we would like them to have more opportunities to stay in Arlington and continue to be productive residents at the core of our economic growth machine,” he said.

Board members and Planning Commission representative Jim Lantelme applauded JBG Smith’s plans to reuse unoccupied parking garage spaces for residents.

“That’s something we encourage and would like to see more of,” Lantelme said.

Staff and Lantelme mentioned changes JBG Smith made in response to comments from advisory commissions and staff. They said these changes improved the pedestrian experience by setting the height of the towers farther back from the street and redesigning the larger public plazas to include more plantings and a pet relief area.

Board Vice-Chair Libby Garvey thanked JBG Smith the changes made.

“The fact that we don’t have a lot of speakers here to tell us how bad the plan is shows that the work has really been well done, ” he said. “Arlingtonians are not shy about letting us know if there’s something they don’t like.”

Developer buys property Rhodeside Grill and Il Radicchio buildings and offices for $14M

By Jo DeVoe
1/7

A property between Rosslyn and Courthouse that is home to an office building and two long-time restaurants has been sold to a developer with plans to build apartments and retail.

D.C.-based The Fortis Cos. bought the property at the intersection of Wilson Blvd and N. Rhodes Street for $14 million.

The site includes a four-story, 48,000-square-foot office building (1840 Wilson Blvd) and the restaurants Il Radicchio and Rhodeside Grill. The office building was the headquarters for the property’s previous owner, the nonprofit National Science Teaching Association (NSTA).

“This is a very familiar and highly visible property within the County and along the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, and FORTIS is excited work on a new vision for the site, which will likely be mixed-use multifamily residential over ground floor retail,” Fortis Vice President Matt Bunch tells ARLnow.

In a press release announcing the sale, real estate company CBRE — which represented the nonprofit in the transaction — called the property “one of the last commercial development sites in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor in Arlington.”

Its development potential and quarter-mile distance from the Courthouse Metro Station generated “a high level of interest from prospective buyers,” CBRE Senior Vice President Dean Stiles said in a statement. “We are confident that it will be a valuable asset for Fortis.”

Arlington County has identified this site for mixed-use redevelopment, and Fortis intends to build a seven-story, 85-foot-tall apartment building.

Bunch says that plans for the site are still tentative and there’s no timeline to share — yet.

“We are in the very early stages of exploring design alternatives for the property, but we look forward to working with the County and community this year as we pursue new redevelopment ideas for the block,” Bunch said. “As of the moment, we don’t have a timeline to share but we do intend to seek an extension of the prior site plan this year.”

Last year, Fortis submitted a conceptual site plan outlining its intentions and seeking county feedback on how high it can build. The application laid out plans to file an amendment in the first quarter of 2023 seeking an extension of the site plan until 2026.

This July, an existing site plan that is nearly 20 years old and has been extended several times will expire.

In November of 2005, the Arlington County Board originally approved a site plan that would have retained the NSTA building, demolished the restaurants and replaced them with a new, six-story office building with nearly 62,000 square feet of office space and 10,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and restaurant space.

In 2008, it granted an extension until 2011 and it was automatically extended until July 2020 by a state statute enacted in the wake of the Great Recession. The County Board subsequently granted extension until July 1, 2023.

This would be the second current project in Arlington for Fortis, which has also reprised long-dormant plans to turn a single-family detached home off of Route 50 near Courthouse into an apartment building.

“[It] is consistent with our strategy to create well-located and walkable transit-oriented redevelopments,” Bunch said. “It is also a testament to what we believe are strong economic fundamentals and demand drivers in the County that will continue for the foreseeable future.”

NSTA said via press release that it was time to let go of its physical presence in D.C. because the pandemic proved the organization could function well remotely.

“The organization was able to continue to function at a high level throughout the pandemic, while staff worked remotely and NSTA members were able to take part in many excellent virtual meetings and professional programs,” said NSTA Executive Director Erika Shugart, Ph.D. “After a long and thorough process and careful consideration, our board of directors decided to sell the property.”

Arlington selects two developers to lead affordable housing effort for Crystal House grounds

By Jo DeVoe
Crystal House (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Arlington County has selected two developers — Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing and D.C.-area developer EYA — to oversee the construction of affordable housing within an apartment complex in Crystal City.

They’re committing to provide 844 units, of which 655 will be committed affordable units and the remaining will be market-rate, in the Crystal House Apartments at 1900 S. Eads Street, near Amazon’s second headquarters.

After a site plan for the project was approved in 2019, Amazon put up $381.9 million so that the nonprofit Washington Housing Conservancy could purchase the 16-acre site in late 2020, stabilize rent for the 828 existing units and build more than 500 new units. The purchase was part of its commitment to create and preserve affordable housing as rents rise amid its growing HQ2 presence. Amazon later donated the land and development rights to the county.

APAH and EYA are committing to provide 100-plus more committed affordable units than for which the county planned.

“While this is a large development for APAH, the scope and phasing are consistent with our capacity and the need for more affordable housing in the region,” APAH Director of Resource Development and Communications Garrett Jackson tells ARLnow. “EYA has successfully completed several similarly-scaled public-private projects with municipalities and housing authorities including the Brownstones at Chevy Chase Lake and the Lindley with the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission, Capital Quarter with the District Housing Authority, and the 45-acre Westside Shady Grove with Montgomery County.”

Jackson said both APAH and EYA have experience developing housing in partnership with localities in the D.C. area.

“Specifically, APAH co-located the Arlington Mill Residences, 122 homes, adjacent to the Arlington Mill Community Center over one shared garage. Presently, APAH is building 150 units of senior housing in Fairfax County on what was previously a Fairfax County stormwater detention facility,” he said. “EYA and APAH are currently working together on a public-private partnership in the Fort Totten neighborhood in the District that shares many of the same characteristics as the Crystal House project.”

“The Crystal Houses development will create a mixed-income community, ranging from people making 30% of the area median income and up. It will be multigenerational, with one 80-unit development set aside for senior housing. There will be 371 units with two bedrooms or more, of which at least 102 will be three bedrooms and “rare 4-bedroom affordable units,” Jackson said.

“We will provide permanent supportive housing units onsite, all affordable units will offer free Wi-Fi, we will offer residents services for affordable units, and we will develop two parks for the approved site plan,” Jackson said. “EYA is also exploring homeownership.”

Services will be provided in partnership with Arlington County Department of Human Services, Arlington Food Assistance Center and Our Stomping Ground, which helps adults with disabilities live independently.

(more…)

Economic downturn puts Columbia Pike redevelopment on hold

By Jo DeVoe
1/6

Construction of an approved residential development at the Rappahannock Coffee site on Columbia Pike is on hold for now.

The approved six-story, 120-unit building with ground-floor retail and underground parking would replace three one-story retail buildings and a surface parking lot on the southeast corner of the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. Barton Street, at 2400 Columbia Pike.

Yao Yao, with YW Development, told ARLnow that his firm isn’t going to pursue redevelopment at this time, citing high and climbing interest rates and a generally poor economic outlook — including mixed signals of a looming recession.

Instead, he is looking for a new tenant to fill the vacant retail space next to Rappahannock Coffee and Roasting and generate some income before moving forward with the project. It used to be occupied by Cabinet Era before the business moved to Falls Church.

Leasing agent Erik Ulsaker says the space will work as-is for a temporary retail concept. Any tenant would have to be okay with a termination option if, in three to four years, economic conditions improve and it comes time to build.

“This is a good space for startups, and people who want to get going on their business plans,” he said, adding that he and his business partner “welcome creative ideas,” like pop-ups.

“If it goes over well, it could be put into the development, as we’ve got 16,000 square feet of retail on the back end,” he said. “It’s a good way to test the market.”

YW Development’s proposal went before the Arlington County Board last year. It modified an existing, already-approved proposal for the site by adding 6,500 square feet, 15 residential units and 36 parking spaces while preserving existing building facades.

The long-delayed project — first proposed in 2013, approved in 2016 and pushed back in 2020 — was initially led by Columbia Pike-based B.M. Smith, which was behind the Penrose Square development across the street.

Hat tip to John Antonelli

New apartment complex near Clarendon expects to open this spring

By Jo DeVoe
1/3

Work on an apartment complex on the border of Clarendon and Virginia Square could be completed in the spring.

Mill Creek Residential broke ground on a 270-unit apartment building at 3415 Washington Blvd, dubbed Modera Clarendon, in December 2020.

A representative tells ARLnow that residents may be able to start moving in this April, with interior finishing touches occurring through the summer.

“We’re in the home stretch,” says Joe Muffler, the Mid-Atlantic senior managing director of development for Mill Creek Residential. “We’re on schedule if not even slightly ahead.”

External construction will be done in the first three months of 2023 and internal finishes will be done in late summer.

Those who have driven on N. Kirkwood Road recently may have noticed people in orange vests conducting traffic and replacing asphalt, known as mill and overlay.

“We did the mill and overlay last week, and we’re working with utilities and utility connections, doing streetscape elements,” Muffler said. “That’s the big stuff right now.”

Even when Modera Clarendon is complete, one community benefit will not be ready until redevelopment plans for the YMCA building next door are approved.

“The puzzle is not complete until YMCA advances. We’ve constructed an alley on the north side and a pedestrian alley on the west side,” Muffler said. “Eventually those will connect… those are streets the county will have for pedestrian and vehicular traffic.”

The multimodal path through the developments in the block bounded by Washington Blvd and N. Kirkwood Road (via Arlington County, edited by ARLnow)

After dealing with the “continuous challenge” of supply chain and labor shortage issues, Mill Creek Residential is “excited to bring more people to the neighborhood starting early next year,” Muffler said.

Jair Lynch says it will consider deepening affordability at Barcroft Apartments

By Jo DeVoe
1/5

Developer Jair Lynch says it is exploring ways to make some units at the Barcroft Apartments even more affordable to families.

This comes as two organizations, Arlington Community Foundation and advocacy group ACE Collaborative, have put pressure on Jair Lynch to deepen affordability at the site over concerns of displacement.

“We have heard the assertions that tenants won’t be displaced, but we are asking for detailed plans for the displacement prevention,” ACE Collaborative Director Mitchell Yangson tells ARLnow, adding that rent for legacy residents should “be rolled back to a level that will prevent their displacement for as long as they live at Barcroft, not just on a temporary basis.”

Around this time last year, Jair Lynch acquired the Barcroft Apartments with the intent to renovate some units and redevelop other parts of the site with $310 million in loans from Arlington County and Amazon. It received these loans after promising to preserve at least 1,334 units for households earning up to 60% of the area median income (AMI).

But deepening affordability remains a live issue for two reasons. First, most residents make less than 60% of the area median income, according to the developer’s Master Financing and Development Plan, submitted to the county in late October — equating to $85,380 for a family of four. Second, the developer says next year it will begin phasing in 3% rent hikes.

A majority of the 1,100 residents living in Barcroft before the sale reported earning 40-50% AMI, or $56,920-$71,150 for a family of four, while some reported earning up to 30% AMI, or $42,690 for a family of four.

“There are some rent-burdened people here,” Jair Lynch Development Senior Vice President Ruth Hoang said in an Arlington Housing Commission meeting in November. “We are also concerned about overcrowding hiding some rent burden as well.”

The federal government defines being rent-burdened as spending more than 30% of one’s income on rent.

Range of incomes reported as of Oct. 1, 2022 at Barcroft (via Arlington County)

Jair Lynch and Arlington County have said that households will not be displaced. Rent in 2022 was frozen at 2021 levels, and increases capped at 3% per year will start in 2023.

The developer also says it will work on a case-by-case basis with residents who feel they cannot afford any rent hikes.

“As we roll out the 3% increases, those residents who are concerned and feel like they can’t pay, we’ll have those meetings with them and look at their incomes to see what they can and cannot support,” Hoang said.

Jair Lynch has committed to trying to find on-site options for those earning more than 60% AMI.

Per the financing report, Jair Lynch says it can still meet its original goals despite “significant economic and financial headwinds.”

These include scarcer affordable housing financing due to the more than 2.5 percentage point increase in interest rates and increases in operating and constructing housing, due to 8-10% inflation and a 15-20% increase in construction costs.

The report listed additional funding sources that could be used to deepen affordability levels, similar to those Arlington Community Foundation identified in a report showing how 255 units could be preserved for extremely low-income households, or those earning 30% AMI.

(more…)

Key Bridge Marriott redevelopment stalls as financial woes worsen for L.A. developer

By Jo DeVoe

 

1/6

A project to redevelop the Key Bridge Marriott building appears to have stalled with no indication of picking back up.

That may be related to signs of financial distress for the property owner and developer, Woodridge Capital Partners.

The Arlington County Board approved the project at 1401 Langston Blvd in Rosslyn — on a prominent plot of land overlooking the river and parts of D.C. — on March 24, 2020. The applicant, Woodridge affiliate KBLH, LLC, proposed to partially demolish and renovate the existing hotel and construct two new residential buildings: one with 151 condo units and one with 300 apartments.

Six months after the Marriott shuttered the hotel in July 2021, the Washington Business Journal noted no signs of progress on the project. ARLnow checked permit records and found only one new permit has been filed since, back in February 2022.

Meanwhile, a search of property records indicates Woodridge is behind on its 2022 real estate taxes, owing $426,488, which was due in October.

Real estate taxes on 1401 Langston Blvd (via Arlington County)

Evidence of a worsening financial situation for Woodridge is stronger on the West Coast. In Los Angeles, where the company is based, it undertook a $2.5 billion redevelopment project to convert the top two floors of an iconic hotel in Los Angeles, the Fairmount Century Plaza Hotel, into expensive condos. It also built two 40-story condo towers on the site, with units costing $2-12 million.

Woodridge finished the renovated Century Plaza hotel in the middle of the pandemic and the condo towers last summer, as L.A.’s housing market began to falter. It had managed $200 million in presales in 2019.

Now, an affiliate of Woodridge called Next Century Partners is set to lose its stake in the project via a foreclosure auction scheduled for Dec. 14, commercial real estate data group CoStar reported.

Farther north, a ritzy hotel in San Francisco’s Nob Hill neighborhood, owned by Woodridge, closed after the company defaulted on a $56 million loan from Deutsche Bank.

Woodridge did not respond to requests for comment. Oaktree Capital, an affiliate of one of the project’s backers, declined to comment.

“The only upcoming groundbreaking Woodridge will be involved on is one that will find it beneath a patch of clover,” a reader quipped in a tip, suggesting that the project may need to change hands to move forward. “Next developer please!”

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