County Board

County Board Approves Changes to Ames Center Development in Rosslyn

By Jo DeVoe
The north tower over the Arlington Temple United Methodist Church and Sunoco gas station at 1820 N. Fort Myer Drive (via Arlington County)

The Arlington County Board approved changes at its Tuesday meeting to an already approved project for two residential towers in Rosslyn.

And the changes — including larger apartment sizes and a work-from-home space — reflect a trend toward larger layouts and more remote-work amenities in new projects in Arlington. Analysts and area developers attribute these kinds of tweaks to changing preferences during the pandemic.

Arlington-based Snell Properties is working on two towers at 1820 N. Fort Myer Drive that would replace the Ames Center office building across from the Rosslyn Metro station. A south tower will abut the Hyatt Centric hotel and a north tower will surround, and preserve, the existing Arlington Temple United Methodist Church and Sunoco gas station, dubbed “Our Lady of Exxon.”

The Board’s vote allows to convert about 3,000 square feet of “flex” commercial office space into residential space. Snell can also move forward with a plan to cut eight apartment units, from 740 to 732, and eight parking spots, from 574 to 566, and some design revisions.

The Board unanimously approved the changes — citing support from neighboring civic associations and apartment buildings — despite a plea from a lawyer representing the Hyatt Centric hotel.

“We are worried about the deterioration of the intersection with Wilson Blvd, but most significantly, we are worried about the digging at the foundation of the Hyatt,” said Gifford Hampshire, of Blankingship & Keith, who represents the owner of the Hyatt.

The Rosslyn Business Improvement District supported the changes, the report said.

“The proposed second-floor residential amenity space and various interior/exterior design enhancements are aligned with the Rosslyn Sector Plan’s guidance and reflective of the community’s feedback,” it said.

Snell will contribute 24 units and $2.5 million in cash toward affordable housing. Additionally, it will contribute $5 million to the Fort Myer Drive tunnel project, which includes plans to convert the road into a two-way street, remove the tunnel, widen sidewalks and add protected bike lanes.

A cement plaza will separate the two towers and form one segment of a planned pedestrian pathway. This street-level walkway will replace the existing, elevated passages. Mid-block crosswalks will join the plaza to 18th Street N.

The towers will share four levels of below-grade parking and the south tower will have four levels of above-grade parking.

The south building will be built in phase one, along with an interim open space and other streetscape improvements. The north tower, the plaza and remaining streetscape improvements will be built in the second phase.

A layout of the pedestrian plaza and corridor at 1820 N. Fort Myer Drive (via Arlington County)

County Board Approves Bus-Only Lane on Langston Blvd Through Rosslyn

By Jo DeVoe
Langston Blvd, formerly Lee Highway, at N. Veitch Street (via Google Maps)

The Arlington County Board took a step toward converting one lane of the newly renamed Langston Blvd into a bus- and HOV-only lane.

On Saturday, the Board accepted and appropriated a $710,000 grant from the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission to pay for the transit project, which will run through parts of Rosslyn. Last year, Arlington County applied for funding from the Commuter Choice program, which helps pay for transit upgrades using toll revenue from I-66 inside the Beltway.

“This is an area where we are continuing to work toward multi-modal,” said Board Chair Matt de Ferranti during the regular County Board meeting on Saturday. “On Lee Highway, soon to be Langston Blvd, we will have a bus-only lane so that more residents can move more quickly to work, through our community, and home as well.”

This grant will cover pavement treatment, restriping, and signage for the new bus lane. The lane will run eastbound from N. Veitch Street, near Courthouse, to N. Lynn Street in Rosslyn during peak morning hours.It will run westbound from N. Oak Street to N. Veitch Street during the evening peak period.

At other times, the lane will continue as a general-purpose travel lane.

This segment of Route 29 in Rosslyn “is very heavily congested and sharply degrades bus performance and reliability, which will be improved by the lane conversion,” a staff report said.

Pre-pandemic, that section of Lee Highway carried around 25 loaded buses per hour, according to the report.

The project could take two years to complete, according to Eric Balliet, a spokesman for Arlington’s Department of Environmental Services.

“The County Board’s acceptance and appropriation of the funds signals the start of the project,” he tells ARLnow. “The schedule included with the NVTC funding application was 26 months from project start to end of construction.”

The funding is less than the full $1 million that the county applied for, but staff are not earmarking more for it.

“We will work to deliver the project within this funding amount,” Balliet said.

The county mulled this project over before, even seeking funding — unsuccessfully — in 2019.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Jan. 6 First Responders Recognized — “The Arlington County Board today gave special honors and recognition to members of Arlington County Police Department, Fire Department and Sheriff’s Office for their efforts to respond to the Capitol riot on January 6. Approximately 60 personnel were honored during the event today at the County Board Recessed meeting.” [Arlington County]

Fmr. APS Students Staying in Private School — “Ten-year-old Jonah Kaufman of Arlington is proud of his 4th grade report card from the private school he attends in northern Virginia… it was a far different story in 2020 when Jonah and his 8-year-old brother, Noah, were in a public school, trying to learn from home during COVID-19. ‘They weren’t learning,’ Jena Kotler, the boy’s mother says. ‘They were sad, they felt isolated. It was just crazy.'” [WJLA]

Man Pulls BB Gun on Beer Thief — “At approximately 11:32 p.m. on July 19, police were dispatched to the report of a robbery by force… the male victim was walking in the area when the suspect approached and engaged him in conversation. When the victim walked away, the suspect began chasing after him. The victim fell to the ground and the suspect demanded the beer he was carrying. After the suspect took the beer, the victim retrieved a BB gun from his vehicle and confronted the suspect.” [ACPD]

Sluggish Fundraising in County Board Race — “The four candidates for County Board had a total of less than $14,000 on hand at the end of June, according to new figures from the Virginia Department of Elections. That’s not an average of $14,000 per candidate. It’s $14,000 for all candidates. Takis Karantonis, the incumbent board member… reported $5,301 on hand as of June 30, according to filings made public July 15. Audrey Clement, a frequent candidate for political office, reported $3,286.” [Sun Gazette]

New Capital Improvement Plan Approved — “The Arlington County Board has approved a $1.25 billion three-year Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) that focuses on meeting Arlington’s existing commitments, addressing critical infrastructure maintenance, and beginning investments in long-term plans and programs that will ensure sustainability over the years to come.” [Arlington County]

Air Quality Alert Today — “A Code Orange Air Quality Alert means that air pollution concentrations within the region may become unhealthy for sensitive groups. Sensitive groups include children, people suffering from asthma, heart disease or other lung diseases and the elderly. The effects of air pollution can be minimized by avoiding strenuous activity or exercise outdoors.” [National Weather Service, Twitter, Capital Weather Gang]

Board OKs Park Shirlington Renovation, Amazon Land Donation

By Jo DeVoe
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The Arlington County Board took two steps over the weekend to preserve and upgrade existing affordable housing while building hundreds of new units.

During its meeting on Saturday members unanimously approved a nearly $23 million loan from the county’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund (AHIF) for renovations to the Park Shirlington Apartments, a 1950s-era, garden-style complex with 293 units at 4510 31st Street S., on the edge of the Fairlington neighborhood.

The Board also approved $124,000 in rent assistance to offset potential increases resulting from the renovations.

“This project has a long history and is very important as one of the larger affordable housing developments in the county,” said Melissa Danowski, a staff member in the housing division of the county’s Department of Community Planning, Housing, and Development.

The vote marks a change in plans for the county, which was initially planning to buy and build up part of the property with a partner developer, Washington Business Journal reports. Instead, Standard Property Co. and the National Foundation for Affordable Housing Solutions will oversee soup-to-nuts renovations and pledge to keep the rent affordable for 75 years.

The renovations will begin in winter 2022 and end in 2024, with 10-20 units redone at a time. Residents will have access to vacant “home-hotel suites” so they do not have to find another place to stay while their unit is redone, said Steven Kahn, a director of Standard Communities.

Each unit’s interior will get new appliances, fixtures and cosmetic upgrades. Building systems such as HVAC will be modernized and common areas will be renovated. The developer is considering including free- or reduced-price internet.

“I’m very happy that this thought about preservation has led to preserving a community, while essentially rebuilding the units,” Board Chair Matt de Ferranti said. “That’s a really positive step. It is a huge victory for our community as a whole.”

Following the vote, the Board took action to approve an agreement with Amazon to develop affordable housing near its HQ2. Amazon will donate a $40 million parcel of undeveloped land on the Crystal House Apartments site to the county to be developed into new affordable housing.

“This is a gift beyond any of our requirements, but it’s a partnership really that helps serve affordable housing,” de Ferranti said.

More than 550 units could be developed as affordable for moderate- to low-income households. At least 148 will be committed to households earning 50% or less of the area median income (AMI), and a minimum of 406 will be for households earning 80% or less of the AMI.

The county aims to partner with an affordable housing developer, to be selected later, and complete construction by Jan. 1, 2028.

Future Ballston Silver Diner Spot Aims for 2022 Opening

By Jo DeVoe

A planned Silver Diner location in Ballston, at the intersection of Wilson Blvd and N. Glebe Road, is moving through county approval processes and aims to open next year.

Developer Saul Centers announced in 2017 that the regional chain would open a spot within its development at 750 N. Glebe Road. Now, Silver Diner is obtaining the needed approvals to move into the ground floor of The Waycroft apartment building.

On Saturday, the Arlington County Board approved a two-part application from the company to allow for the installation of lighted architectural features on the façade of the building as well as the operation of an outdoor sidewalk café.

“Silver Diner is proposing to have a 961 square foot, 68-seat, outdoor café… however, 229 square feet of their outdoor café is proposed to be located within the building’s Wilson Boulevard streetscape, which is County owned right-of-way,” a board report said.

Although the Silver Diner “anticipates operating the restaurant 24 hours a day,” operating on public property will restrict the hours of its outdoor seating between 6 a.m. and 2 a.m., according to the report.

Despite the approvals, a spokeswoman for Silver Diner said the company does not have any updates to share.

“They’re still planning on opening in 2022,” she said.

Once complete, the 6,700-square-foot eatery will join Target, which opened last summer, and Enterprise Rent-A-Car on The Waycroft’s ground floor.

The planned Ballston location is expected to one day replace the currently operating Silver Diner spot in Clarendon. A 224-room hotel and a 286-unit residential building will replace the Silver Diner and The Lot beer garden. The redevelopment is part of a bevy of projects slated to change the look of Clarendon.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Crash Prompts Hazmat Cleanup — From the Arlington County Fire Department last night: “N Glebe Rd closed in both directions between Arlington Bl and N Pershing due to a fuel leak following a motor vehicle crash. #Avoid the area.” [Twitter, Twitter]

Metrobus Crash in Ballston — From our Twitter account yesterday afternoon: “Southbound N. Glebe Road is blocked at Washington Blvd by a crash involving a car and a Metrobus. Police and medics on scene.” [Twitter]

Police Oversight Vote to Be Held Wednesday — The County Board vote on creating a Law Enforcement Civilian Review Board will be taken during a special carryover meeting on Wednesday. [Arlington County]

Activists Decry Possible Route 29 Development — “An activist group raised the alarm about what it suggests could be a major upzoning along the Route 29 corridor. Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future… said efforts to impose ‘major increases in density’ along the 5-mile Lee Highway corridor were resulting in ‘stiff opposition’ from residents. The group encouraged those with concerns about the proposals for more intense zoning to get in touch with County Board members sooner rather than later.” [Sun Gazette]

Arlington Firefighter Honored — “2021 Northern VA EMS Council Regional Award winner for Outstanding Prehospital Educator is EMS Education Specialist, FF Clare Sabio, Arlington Co Fire Dept.” [Twitter]

Local Private School Gets Accredited —  “The Sycamore School in Arlington has earned accreditation by Cognia, a nonprofit organization that provides quality assurance for schools, school districts and education-service providers.” [Sun Gazette, Press Release]

Western Wildfires Make for Hazy Sunset — “The haze that hung high above us on Monday has been identified as smoke from Western wildfires, in what seemed a vivid visual reminder that faraway hardship may not leave us unaffected. ‘A thick layer of smoke’ at upper atmospheric levels ‘can be seen in the sky at this time,’ meteorologists in the local office of the National Weather Service said Monday night.” [Washington Post]

Photo courtesy Tom Mockler/Twitter

Board Authorizes Collective Bargaining for County Workers, Higher Wages for Contractors

By Jo DeVoe
Pro-union county employees attend the in-person County Board meeting held on Saturday (via Arlington County)

For the first time since the 1970s, municipal employees in Arlington will be join unions and negotiate employment conditions.

The Arlington County Board restored collective bargaining with its unanimous approval of revision to county code during its meeting on Saturday. The county will soon allow employee associations to enter into collective bargaining with the county over compensation, benefits, working conditions and other issues.

The change responds to a state law passed by the General Assembly in 2020 that went into effect in May.

“Elections have consequences,” Board Chair Matt de Ferranti said. “We would not have this authority if we did not change the legislature in 2019. Let’s not let other people speak for us. We know that in any community, and in the United States, many already have a voice, but making sure that you have a voice — and it’s a majority voice — is critical.”

The first collective bargaining agreements are expected to go into effect in the 2024 fiscal year. Approximately two-thirds of county employees will be eligible to join one of five collective bargaining units in the ordinance.

These five units are police; fire and emergency medical services; service, labor and trades; office and technical; and professional employees.

Board Vice Chair Katie Cristol said she would like to see the decision for public employees ripple into the private sector.

“I challenge the General Assembly to tackle with the same alacrity they took on collective bargaining some of the anti-union provisions that still govern the private sector here in Virginia,” she said, which received applause from attending meeting members.

She reiterated her support for the move on Twitter.

But not everyone is enthused with the changes. Collective bargaining could result in tax increases for Arlington residents, opined Mark Kelly, a opinion columnist on ARLnow.

“Constraining our county budget with an unfavorable labor contract is not only a lazy way to address compensation, it can cause other long term issues,” he wrote in a recent column. “One only has to look at the financial troubles of Metro to understand just how quickly maintenance and other needs can get pushed aside as personnel costs grow out of control under a labor agreement.”

With a second unanimous vote, the Board adopted a policy that will increase wages for tradespeople working on government-contracted projects. The change follows passage of a state law giving local governments the option to implement prevailing wage programs for public works contracts exceeding $250,000.

The new policy applies to contracts solicited on or after Oct. 1 of this year.

“This proposed program design is intended to serve as an initial phase, which would be revisited in the future based on the County’s learned experience and anticipated clarification to the State’s enabling legislation,” the county’s press release said.

Like the issue of collective bargaining, Kelly said this decision will also burden taxpayers, who will not enjoy more public amenities in return.

“Over the course of a 10 year capital improvement plan, the increased costs will approach $100 million,” he said. “By way of comparison, this is equivalent to a new high school building or two aquatics centers. But taxpayers will not get new buildings or other infrastructure in return.”

County Board Votes to Replace ‘Lee Highway’ Name

By ARLnow.com

Lee Highway is no more in Arlington. It’s now Langston Blvd.

The County Board voted unanimously on Saturday to rename Route 29 within Arlington’s borders, following the recommendation of a Working Group (and county staff) on a new name.

As we previously reported:

County staff have selected “Langston Boulevard” from the finalists submitted by a task force, which was charged with replacing both “Lee” and “Highway.” Currently, Route 29 in the county is named after Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, whose name was removed from one of Arlington’s high schools and whose house is being removed from the county logo.

Previously, the task force recommended Loving Avenue as the name, in honor of the interracial couple whose landmark U.S. Supreme Court case inspired the film that bears their name. That was nixed after the couple’s descendants objected.

The new name honors John M. Langston, an abolitionist, attorney and member of Congress whose name is also on an Arlington school, community center and civic association.

Langston was the first dean of the law school at Howard University, the first president of Virginia State University, and the first U.S. representative of color from Virginia.

The new name “better reflects Arlington County’s values, promotes equity, and is welcoming to all people who work on, live on, and/or visit the corridor,” the county said in a press release, which also touted the nearly year-long public process involved in selecting a new name.

“The Working Group created an objective set of evaluation criteria to ensure that the public process of selecting a name was transparent, inclusive, and reflected a commitment to the values of public engagement in Arlington,” the county said. “With the new name of Langston Boulevard, costs for new signage are estimated at $300,000, subject to final design and determination by VDOT.”

“We’re throwing Lee Highway in the dustbin with Jefferson Davis Highway,” said County Board member Libby Garvey. “It’s a great day.”

There was one notable dissenting voice on the renaming, as noted by County Board watcher Stephen Repetski. Local history activist Bernie Berne, who previously called renaming the corridor “political correctness” and part of “a culture war that’s been going on since the Civil War,” spoke out at the meeting.

Berne asserted that Robert E. Lee was unfairly denigrated during the renaming process, prior to the Board’s unanimous vote.

County Looks to Sprinkle Small Seating Spots in Urban Areas

By Jo DeVoe

A small splash of green space in Rosslyn may become the prototype for similar installations, or “parklets,” across the county.

In 2018, Arlington County and the Rosslyn Business Improvement District unveiled this parklet, about the size of two parking spaces, on the northwest corner of N. Oak Street and Wilson Blvd. The county and the BID, which maintains the seating spot, installed it as an experiment to see if parklets could be a new tool for adding open space to urban areas.

After observing how people used the mini-park, the county has prepared a formal process for adding more micro oases to help compensate for the county’s dwindling supply of available land for open spaces. The County Board is slated to review the “parklet program” this Saturday.

“Parklets are publicly accessible to all and serve as extensions of the sidewalk by converting curbside parking spaces into vibrant public spaces,” according to a staff report. “Parklets are social platforms for the community and are often developed through a partnership with the county, local businesses and neighborhood organizations.”

When the prototype was installed, then-Board Chair Katie Cristol said she expected to see a plan for adding more parklets included in an update to the Public Spaces Master Plan. The update, approved in 2019, recommends the creation of a “parklet program.”

“Despite their size and atypical location, parklets can contribute to the public space network and overall sidewalk experience by providing places to sit, relax, or socialize,” the report said. “Future installations of parklets can increase social activity and enhance the pedestrian experience in the urban corridors throughout the county.”

The county would lose money on these micro-parks. Each parklet removes two parking meters, which together generate about $6,150 per year, staff estimate.

The county has found a new source of revenue, however. A new parklet application would cost $2,100 and annual renewals, $500. These fees are intended to cover the time required to review these applications, and not to recoup parking revenue, the report said.

A number of county commissions have weighed in on the program, according to the report.

Responses were “[overwhelmingly] favorable, with comments favoring the potential for an increase in outdoor public spaces, especially in Arlington’s commercial and urban centers where public space is limited,” it said.

Amazon Donates Land to County to Develop More Affordable Housing

By Jo DeVoe

Crystal City could get more affordable housing under a new agreement between Amazon and Arlington County, announced earlier today.

The tech giant said in a new blog post that it would hand over to the county the rights to $40 million in vacant land within the Crystal House apartment property, on which Arlington County could develop more than 550 new affordable homes.

“Amazon is committed to promoting economic inclusion for all families and fostering a thriving community in and around Arlington,” said Catherine Buell, Amazon’s head of community development.

Construction is slated to begin in 2025, the Amazon blog post said.

The contributions are part of Amazon’s new Housing Equity Fund, a more than $2 billion commitment to create and preserve more than 20,000 units in Amazon’s three primary footholds: the Seattle area, Nashville and Arlington.

This announcement follows up on a commitment Amazon made in January to preserve 1,300 affordable housing units in Arlington as property values are rising amid its expansion. As part of the commitment, the company financed $381.9 million in loans and grants to a D.C. area housing nonprofit so that it could buy and stabilize rent at Crystal House (1900 S. Eads Street), a set of two apartment buildings one block from Amazon’s future HQ2.

The financing allowed Washington Housing Conservancy to preserve units in the existing Crystal House apartment complex, which has 828 units, for low- to moderate-income residents for 99 years.

“We are excited to build on our earlier work to preserve affordable housing at Crystal House in the heart of our new headquarters,” Buell said. “This donation to the County brings us a step closer to achieving up to 1,300 total affordable homes at the site for families earning moderate- to low-incomes.”

If the agreement is approved, the county will be carrying out a development plan that the County Board approved for the Crystal House property in December 2019. This site is set to have six more “Crystal Houses,” adding 820 units in total, as well as two public open spaces and a protected bike lane along S. Eads Street.

According to a county report, WHC does not intend to serve as the property’s developer, so Amazon purchased development rights for the vacant land. It approached the county in early 2021 with its plan to give the property to the county to develop.

Proposed development plan for Crystal House property (via Arlington County)

According to Arlington County’s map of projects, the project’s status remains “approved.”

The Arlington County Board is set to review the agreement during its regular meeting this coming Saturday, July 17.

“Amazon is demonstrating dedication and commitment to the Arlington community with this game-changing opportunity to increase affordable housing in the County,” said Arlington County Housing Director Anne Venezia. “Future development on the Crystal House site will help bolster critical housing supply goals in an area with limited affordable housing options.”

If the board accepts the gift, the county will embark on a national search for a master developer and sub-developers. The site could have 554 affordable units on it by Jan. 1, 2028, according to a county statement.

Of those units, at least 148 will be committed to households earning 50% or less of the area median income, and at least 406 will be committed to households earning 80% or less of the AMI.

Dittmar Looks to Use Furnished Apartments as Hotel Rooms

By Jo DeVoe

Facing high rates of pandemic-era apartment vacancies, Dittmar Company is looking to recoup its losses through short-term rentals.

The Tysons-based developer and property management group is asking the Arlington County Board for permission to convert up to 75 furnished apartment units in three Arlington buildings into flexible hotel rooms.

Randolph Towers in Ballston, Courtland Towers in Courthouse and Virginia Square Towers in Virginia Square will each have 25 units available as short-term rentals under the proposal.

These “Flexible Units,” which comprise less than 5% of the total units in each building, may be rented for short-term stays of fewer than 30 days or long-term stays of more than 30 days. Dittmar will require a minimum length of stay of at least three consecutive nights, and the units cannot be rented for more than 90 nights in a calendar year, according to a county staff report.

Currently, the furnished units are “rented by foreign embassies, corporations, universities, medical facilities, and other tenants desiring long term residential stays,” Nicholas Cumings, Dittmar’s legal representative, wrote in a letter to the county this spring.

They are “typically vacant for three months out of the year and require significant operational costs (i.e. provision of utilities, furniture, housekeeping facilities and housekeeping personnel, etc.),” said Cumings, an attorney with the land use firm of Walsh Colucci.

The new arrangement would allow Dittmar to offset the losses from when such furnished units are vacant, Cumings said. The conversions would be in effect for up to five years.

County Manager Mark Schwartz recommends the County Board approve the request during its meeting on Saturday. The County Board previously heard the requests in May and, following staff recommendation, deferred them to allow for more conversations and analysis, county staff wrote.

“Concerns have been raised by the community and Planning Commission regarding the potential impacts on housing affordability and the absence of County policy on temporary conversions of residential to hotel use,” the staff report said. “Since the Flexible Units may be rented by any individual seeking either a long- or short-term furnished stay, staff expects the temporary conversions to have limited, if any impact on the broader housing supply or rental rates.”

One resident told ARLnow he thinks this arrangement will lead to a spike in travelers in the building.

“Although they claim now to rent furnished units to institutional partners (like universities or embassies), I worry that Dittmar will seek to rent them on a day-to-day basis,” the resident said. “This will ruin the nature of communities that are primarily for long-term tenants. When we finally get through the pandemic and people can travel more freely, I worry that these buildings will become prime destinations for countless travelers.”

In his letter, Cumings wrote that Dittmar “has no desire to operate as a hotel and seeks the ability to rent their existing furnished units for short-term stays in order to offset the cost of vacancies throughout the year.”

The rental units will be a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units, mostly located on the lower floors, “with some premium furnished units located on the penthouse floors,” he said.

The County Board will be meeting in-person on the third floor of county government headquarters, at 2100 Clarendon Blvd in Courthouse. It resumed in-person meetings in June after switching to virtual meetings last year due to the pandemic.

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