A new apartment building is coming to the Buckingham neighborhood, near Ballston.
Earlier this year, the Dittmar Company demolished an older, existing three-story garden apartment building near the corner of N. Henderson Road and N. Thomas Street. In its place, we’re told the developer is building a new four-story, 66-unit apartment building with underground parking.
The building will have the address of 4301 N. Henderson Road. No word on when the construction is expected to wrap up.
Rosslyn Outdoor Movies Start Tonight — The season of weekly, political-themed outdoor movies in Rosslyn starts tonight with the 1999 Matthew Broderick/Reese Witherspoon flick “Election.” The movie is scheduled to start at dusk.
Anti-Harassment Ads at Metro Stations — WMATA has placed anti-sexual harassment public service announcements in 28 Metro stations. In Arlington, the ads can be found in the Ballston and Clarendon Metro stations. [Stop Street Harassment]
Opening of Refurbished Affordable Apartments — Community members, local elected officials and affordable housing advocates gathered Wednesday to celebrate the preservation and renovation of Buckingham Village 3 — now renamed “Buckingham Gardens” — as committed affordable rental housing. Ninety-two apartments have been renovated and a new community center has been built as part of the project. [Arlington Mercury]
Margot MacDonald to Play Encore –– Arlington’s own singer/songwriter Margot MacDonald will be performing at Encore Stage, a local youth-oriented theater. The performance will take place this Saturday, June 9, at 7:30 p.m. at Thomas Jefferson Community Theatre (125 S. Old Glebe Road). “Join us for an evening of Margot’s own eclectic rock and favorite covers,” Encore says on its website. “Recommended for ages 10 and up.” [Encore Stage & Studio]
At Saturday’s meeting, the Arlington County Board approved a measure to help low to moderate income Buckingham residents become homeowners.
The board’s unanimous approval will make $500,000 in Moderate Income Purchase Assistance Program (MIPAP) funds available to seven or eight first-time homebuyers who qualify. The loans will be made available to residents at Buckingham Village 3, and other Buckingham neighborhood families, to help with down payments and closing costs on homes.
County Board Chair Mary Hynes explained that there has been a plan in place to help Buckingham residents who had been displaced by development.
“We had intended to create a homeownership option in Buckingham Village 3 — but, as the economy changed due to the recession, that option became prohibitively expensive,” Hynes said. “The board is fulfilling the spirit of our commitment to these residents, who might not otherwise have been able to stay in our community as homeowners.”
Last month, the county scrapped a plan to sell some of the units at Buckingham Village 3 as condos. At that time, county staff was instructed to find new ways to help lower income residents buy homes.
To be eligible for the loans, Arlington residents must earn less than 80 percent of the area median income, which is listed as $86,000 for a family of four. They also must not have owned a home in the past three years. Buyers can qualify for a subordinated loan of up to 25 percent of the purchase price, with a maximum loan amount up to $90,700.
Homeowners are not required to repay the loan until the home is either refinanced or sold. At that point, the owner must repay the loan to the county, plus up to 25 percent of the difference between the purchase price and the appreciated sales price.
Currently, about $3.6 million in MIPAP funds has been used to help about 236 borrowers purchase their first homes in Arlington.
The original plan, as approved in 2009, was to take 48 units of the 140-apartment Buckingham Village 3 affordable housing community and sell them as condos to moderate-income households. Last night, that plan was officially scrapped after the Arlington County Board was told that the condos would be a tough sell.
Buckingham Village 3, a series of 16 low-rise apartment buildings along the 300 block of block of N. George Mason Drive, was purchased by the county for $34.5 million in March 2009 as part of its ongoing effort to increase the supply of committed affordable housing in Arlington.
The initial goal for the community was to renovate the buildings, lease 92 apartments to households earning below 60 percent of Area Median Income (AMI), and sell the remaining 48 units to households making 60 to 80 percent AMI. The condo component was part of a county initiative to increase home ownership among moderate income households.
The condo plan, however, eventually became the victim of grim market realities, according to a staff report. As determined by two market studies commissioned at the request of the county, selling the condos to households in the target income range would have required “significant price reductions” due in part to the onerous affordability restrictions that would come with such a purchase. Also hurting sales: the difficulty in securing a mortgage for households in the income range. In the end, the market research suggested it could have taken up to four years to sell all 48 units, with a county subsidy of nearly $230,000 per unit.
Last night, the County Board reluctantly but unanimously voted to keep the 48 would-be condos as committed affordable rental apartments.
“This is not the outcome the Board had hoped for when we set this project in motion in 2009,” County Board Chair Mary Hynes said in a statement. “However, the Board’s action today ensures that these 48 Buckingham 3 units will be preserved as affordable rentals for decades to come.”
The Board also directed staff to find new ways to help lower-income residents to buy a home.
“We also have given staff clear direction to devise a funding strategy to help qualified, low- and moderate-income, first-time vested Buckingham home buyers the chance to buy — either in the Buckingham neighborhood, or elsewhere in Arlington,” Hynes said.
(Updated at 3:55 p.m.) A man was shot in Arlington Friday night by a suspect who remains at large.
Just before 8:00 p.m. on 4200 2nd Road N., in the Buckingham neighborhood, an unknown assailant wearing black clothing and a ski mask approached a man and shot him two times. The victim is described as a Hispanic male with gunshot wounds to the thigh and abdomen. He was reported to be in critical condition after the shooting. As of Saturday afternoon, police said he was still in the hospital.
The assailant, who is still at large, is described as a 5’8″ black male. He’s said to be armed and dangerous. Police say they’re not sure if the suspect knew the victim or if it was a random act of violence. As they continue to investigate the incident, police are encouraging anyone with information about the suspect to call them at 703-558-2222.
Photo courtesy Brendon L.
Two family-friendly, Latino-oriented neighborhood events are planned for Saturday and Sunday.
On Saturday, the Smithsonian Latino Center and Arlington County’s Tell Arlington’s Story initiative are sponsoring a “family afternoon” at the Walter Reed Community Center (2909 16th Street S.).
The afternoon will feature “hands-on activities inspired by Central American ceramis, Mayan dance presentations, live music, storytelling and talks by archeologist Favio Amador about Central America’s indigenous civilization.” The event, which is free and open to the public, will take place between 1:00 and 5:00 p.m.
On Sunday, a Buckingham community street festival will be held from 1:00 to 6:00 p.m. on N. Pershing Drive between Glebe Road and Thomas Street.
The festival will feature music, food, games, raffles, kids activities. Scheduled performers include Amla Boliviana and Luz De Luna.
The event is being organized by the community group BU-GATA, along with various county agencies including the Arlington County Police Department.
A scooter rider was injured after a crash at the intersection of N. Thomas Street and Pershing Drive in Buckingham, just south of Ballston.
Initial reports suggested the scooter ran into a car, but our photographer didn’t spot any damaged cars. There was, however, some road work and rough pavement in the area.
The scooter rider’s injuries were reported to be non-life-threatening.
Photo courtesy Addison H.
(Updated at 4:00 p.m. on 10/6/10) Correction: This incident was initially reported to be an assault. The man appeared to have injuries to his face consistent with an assault. However, police now say the man was drunk, implying that this was likely an accident.
It happened Tuesday afternoon on the 4300 block of North Henderson Road, two blocks from Ballston Common Mall.
The man was ultimately able to walk out of the apartment building on his own power. His face bloodied and swollen, he was put on a stretcher, placed in an ambulance and taken to the hospital.
Occasionally, victims fight back and give the bad guys what was coming to ’em. Such was the case early Sunday morning when a man approached two women who were walking home in the Buckingham neighborhood.
Police say the man lifted one woman’s skirt and touched her inappropriately. Then, the woman punched him, and two men chased him off.
More details on the suspect from this week’s Arlington County crime report:
SEXUAL BATTERY 09/05/10, 4200 block of N. Pershing Drive. On September 5 at 2 am, two women were walking on the sidewalk when an unknown man approached them. He lifted one woman’s skirt and touched her under the skirt. She punched him, and two men chased the suspect off. The suspect was a white Hispanic male in his early 30’s, 6′ and 180 lbs. He was wearing a blue and white plaid shirt with black jeans and black shoes.
The rest of the crime report, after the jump.
You can still order chicken cacciatore and shrimp scampi at the former Pines of Italy restaurant at 237 North Glebe Road. But now you can also have it with baba ghannouj, chicken schwarma and baklava.
Cleopatra’s Mediterranean Bistro opened in March with little fanfare outside the immediate neighborhood and the local Arabic community. Serving up Middle Eastern food in addition to Italian carryovers from Pines of Italy, Cleopatra’s is as eclectic as it is unassuming. For those who care to indulge, there’s also a bar.
Cleopatra’s prices are exceedingly reasonable, and there are coupons available online to make a visit even more affordable.
During Ramadan (which runs through Sept. 10) the restaurant is offering a $9.95 Iftar buffet that features all-you-can-eat meat, seafood and vegetable dishes.
When Ramadan ends, lunch service will resume, as will the four-night-per-week live music and belly dancing and the late-night live entertainment on weekends.
Owner Sami Khan keeps Cleopatra’s open until 4:00 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. He says many young people will stop by after coming back from the downtown clubs. The restaurant usually draws a weekend crowd of about 100 people, mostly Middle Eastern and mostly in their 30s, he says.
More photos, after the jump.
