county government

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Raindrops on a tree branch in Westover (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Beyer’s Statement on Ukraine — From Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) last night: “Praying for the Ukrainian people tonight. America stands with Ukraine.” [Twitter]

HQ2 Phase 1 to Feature 14 Retailers — “JBG Smith also revealed Tuesday that it has identified and executed leases with 14 retailers set to open by the end of 2023 at Metropolitan Park, though it didn’t identify those brands. That’s a jump from what the real estate company had announced in November during a tour of the HQ2 site, at that time noting plans for between seven to 12 retailers on the ground floor. Two of those retailers have been announced: District Dogs and Rāko Coffee Roasters.” [Washington Business Journal]

More Details on HS at HQ2 Phase 2 — “During a recent community meeting about the project, county staff said Amazon will provide 26,500 square feet of space for the school in one of its HQ2 office buildings at the PenPlace site. The plan calls for Amazon to construct the school’s space and to provide a rent-free lease to the county for a minimum of 30 years… ‘We’re being told it will be the fall of 2026,’ Thompson said when asked when Arlington Community High School would officially make the move to HQ2.” [WJLA]

Local James Beard Nominees — Two chefs with Arlington restaurants have been nominated for a prestigious James Beard Award. Peter Chang, of the eponymous restaurant in the Lee-Harrison shopping center, has been nominated for a national award for Outstanding Chef. Ruthie’s All-Day proprietor Matt Hill, meanwhile, has been nominated in the category of Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic. [Eater, Washington Business Journal]

December Death Investigation Update — “The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled the manner of both deaths as accidental with cause being narcotics-related. If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, help is available.” [Twitter, ACPD]

County Employee Vax Deadline Approaching — “County Manager Mark Schwartz said the number of employees who neither have gotten vaccinated, nor won an exemption, is down to a miniscule number (six, he said on Feb. 15). Ninety-six percent of permanent government employees have met the vaccination mandate, with 135 more receiving accommodations required under federal law.” [Sun Gazette]

Mask Guidance from APS Superintendent — “As communicated last week, families will be able to opt their students out of wearing a mask in school beginning next Tuesday, March 1, in accordance with the recently passed Virginia law, Senate Bill 739. As this new law takes effect, I ask everyone to practice patience and understanding for others with respect to mask choice. We are one community, unified by our shared commitment to student success, health and well-being.” [Arlington Public Schools]

It’s Thursday — Cloudy with a chance of sleet today. A chance of rain and snow in the morning, then rain likely in the afternoon. Little or no accumulation of frozen precipitation. A slight chance of sleet in the evening, plus rain and patchy fog. High of 44 and low of 32. Sunrise at 6:49 am and sunset at 5:57 pm. [Weather.gov]

NEW: Arlington’s summer camp registration system melts down again, despite changes

By ARLnow.com
Cover of Arlington’s 2022 Summer Camp catalogue

(Updated at 11:50 a.m.) Like death and taxes, Arlington summer camp registration drama is inevitable, despite efforts to avoid it.

This year, of course, was supposed to be different. This year, beefier systems and new monitoring tools were supposed to help avoid the technical meltdowns of past years.

But Arlington moms and dads and their fast clicking fingers are undefeated, instantly bringing down the Dept. of Parks and Recreation’s camp registration website when the virtual gates were opened this morning at 7 a.m.

“Pulled up the web page at 6:50 this a.m.,” one frustrated parent of a seven-year-old tennis enthusiast recounted to ARLnow this morning. “Found the only camp I was trying to register… Waited until 7:00 a.m. when registration opened and tried to register… [spent] 40 minutes trying to log in.”

Numerous others reported similar experiences. The lucky ones were able to register for some camps after nearly an hour of navigating various error messages.

“With so many two parent working families in this county, summer camps are child care — plain and simple,” another parent who reached out via email wrote. “How can a county that proclaims equity have such a crappy website that crashes when it comes to summer child care? Every single year this happens.”

That parent, who was also prepared in advance and started clicking at 7 a.m. on the dot, was only able to notch a hollow victory in her registration quest.

“I got [my daughter] into one [camp] after an hour of watching the wheel turn saying please wait, trying to add the camps to my cart only to get kicked out, and then the website timing out completely just as I was about to register,” the parent wrote. “She is now waitlisted for 4 of the 5 camps. I have no idea what I am going to do for childcare over the summer.”

The parks department was, as in years past, apologetic.

“Thank you for your patience,” DPR said in a message posted to it website. “Due to increased registration volume the system is performing slower than anticipated. DPR is working hard to address the problem. Please stay in queue. We are seeing registrations go through slowly and have been working with our vendor all morning.”

Late Wednesday morning, a parks department spokeswoman provided the following statement to ARLnow.

We understand how important summer camp is to Arlington families and we strive to make the customer experience positive from beginning to end. That clearly did not happen today. We apologize for the frustrating experience that many people had this morning trying to register for summer camp. The DPR team is working diligently to help enroll our customers who have been waitlisted or otherwise unable to successfully register this morning. 

Last year our contractor added resources to support an even higher transaction volume and implemented. However, this year due to substantially higher registration volume these efforts didn’t go far enough.    

DPR will do a full review of the summer camp registration process; this will include exploring both technology and operational solutions to provide a better registration process for 2023.

More parent accounts of this year’s registration issues are below.

(more…)

Most county operations to close on Monday for George Washington Day

By Matt Blitz
Arlington County government headquarters in Courthouse (file photo)

Many county services and operations will be shuttered on Monday (Feb. 21) for Presidents Day, which is officially called George Washington Day in Virginia.

County government, the courts and libraries are all closed on Monday. This also includes county vaccine clinics and COVID-19 testing sites. The test positivity rate in Arlington has dropped below 5% as demand for tests has slowed considerably since earlier this winter.

All community centers, including the Long Bridge Aquatics and Fitness Center, will also be closed on Monday.

Arlington Public Schools are not in session on the federal holiday, but trash and recycling collection will happen as scheduled on Monday.

Seven ART bus lines will continue to run, but on a Saturday schedule. The remainder of the ART bus lines will not operate on Monday.

Metro trains will operate on a Saturday schedule, meaning stations open at 5 a.m. and close at midnight with Blue, Orange, Yellow and Silver line trains running every 24 minutes. Metro buses will be on a Saturday supplement schedule with a few additional routes than a normal weekend.

All parking will be free at Metro-owned parking facilities. And for those free parking fans, all county parking meters will not be enforced in honor of America’s first president.

While in most other states the third Monday in February is known as “Presidents Day,” in Virginia, the official state holiday is called George Washington Day.

America’s first president’s birthday is actually Feb. 22 and that’s the day the federal government first designated as a national holiday starting in 1885. Nearly a century later, in 1971, the holiday was shifted to the third Monday in February to also celebrate the birthday of Abraham Lincoln, who was born Feb. 12. Hence, the rise of “Presidents Day.”

But here in Virginia, the federal holiday and free parking is specifically in honor of the Commonwealth’s native son, George Washington.

County Manager proposes no increase in property tax rate

By ARLnow.com

(Updated at 1:45 p.m.) Arlington’s property tax rate would not increase this year, under a proposal by Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz.

The County Manager’s recommendation for the advertised property tax rate was released ahead of Tuesday’s County Board meeting. The Board will vote at the meeting to advertise a rate, which sets the maximum rate that can be approved in a subsequent budget vote by the Board this spring.

A report notes that due to rises in property assessments this year, setting the same rate will be an effective tax increase on both homeowners and commercial property owners.

“The current base rate is $1.013 per $100 of real estate value,” says the report. “For FY 2023, this tax is projected to generate $852.2 million, which is 6.0 percent ($47.9 million) above FY 2022.”

“The average home value is up 5.3 percent over last year, from $724,400 to $762,700,” the report adds. “Overall, commercial property assessments increased by 0.6% over the previous year. At the current real estate rate of $1.013 plus the $0.017 rate for stormwater, the average Arlington homeowner would pay $7,856 per year in real estate taxes, a $395 or 5.3 percent increase over CY 2021.”

To generate the same property tax revenue as last year — an unlikely prospect given that the county previously referenced a “challenge in balancing the FY 2023 Budget” giving rising expenditures —  the Board would have to lower the tax rate significantly.

“The tax rate which would levy the same amount of real estate tax as last year, when multiplied by the new total assessed value of real estate with the exclusions mentioned above, would be $0.990 per $100 of assessed value,” the report says.

Among Schwartz’s other budget recommendations, the Board will consider lowering the annual Household Solid Waste rate from $318.61 to $307.89, thanks to a rise in the value of recycled material. Additionally, fees for ambulance transport services are set to be raised to between $750-1,000, depending on the level of care, which a Board report says is in line with the fees charged by other D.C. area jurisdictions.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
The Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, the Memorial Bridge, and the 14th St. Bridge over the Potomac River in fog (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Free Outdoor Wi-Fi at Libraries — “During the month of January, 2022, two new free outdoor Wi-Fi hot spots were installed at the Cherrydale and Glencarlyn Libraries. Library patrons and Arlington residents have now 24×7 access to the free Arlington County Wi-Fi network ‘ArlingtonWireless’ at all library branches, both outdoor and indoor, and at various locations around the County. No ID or password is required for the free service.” [Arlington Public Library]

Four Arlington Joints on Best BBQ List — Post food critic Tim Carman’s new “best barbecue” list includes a number of Arlington favorites: Texas Jack’s (9), Smokecraft Modern Barbecue (6), Smoking Kow (5), and Sloppy Mama’s (3). [Washington Post]

W&OD Bridge Work Complete — “The re-decking of the bridge east of Wilson Blvd in Arlington is completed!” [Twitter]

County Conducting Satisfaction Survey — “Arlington County is conducting its sixth County-wide, statistically valid community survey to measure satisfaction with major County services and gather input about issues facing the community. The results enable County officials to assess performance across many County agencies and services.” [Arlington County]

AWLA Selling Pentagon Chicken Shirts — From the Animal Welfare League of Arlington: “No-one asked for this but we did it anyways – get your official #PentagonChicken shirt now! With the Henny Penny stamp of approval, proceeds will go to help keep other wayward poultry out of government buildings.” [Twitter]

Beyer Delivers Boxes of Protective Equipment — “A constituent reached out notifying U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-8th) that Restart Partners, a West Coast-based charity involved in planning for and procuring PPE, learned of a significant amount of it available in a local warehouse. Partnering with the owner (who wishes to remain anonymous), Beyer identified two charities (Doorways and PathForward) that needed the items for those they serve and for their staffs.” [Sun Gazette]

De Ferranti Makes It Official — “County Board member Matt de Ferranti kicked off his bid for a second term on Feb. 2 with a call for Arlington leaders to accelerate efforts to enact Democratic priorities and serve as a bulwark against the new Republican majority in Richmond.” [Sun Gazette]

It’s Friday — Rain before today 5 p.m., then a chance of rain and snow. Patchy fog before 1 p.m. Temperature falling to around 37 mid-afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 22 mph. Little or no snow accumulation expected. Sunrise at 7:09 a.m. and sunset at 5:35 p.m. This weekend will be sunny with highs in the 30s. [Weather.gov]

Arlington is a winter wonderland, but roads are in decent shape

By ARLnow.com
Snow on the Yorktown High School sign announcing winter break (Flickr pool photo by Wolfkann)

Update at 12:45 p.m. — Roughly half or more of Arlington’s neighborhood streets have been cleared, according to the county’s snow removal map. ART bus routes are returning to normal service levels.

Earlier: It’s a snow day in Arlington, but getting around is not quite as treacherous as on Monday.

A smaller storm and more time to prepare have contributed to a much different situation on the roads.

About three inches of snow accumulation has been reported in Arlington — officially, 2.6 inches at National Airport — but cold temperatures have kept the snow light and fluffy. That compares to the 6.5-10 inches of snow from Monday’s storm, which started as rain and left a heavy wet layer of snow at the bottom.

Most primary and secondary routes seen on traffic cameras were clear as of 8:30 a.m.

Since 8 a.m., few significant traffic-related issues have been reported on police and fire radios.

Arlington County’s snow response remain in Phase 2 at last check, meaning crews are currently focusing on primary and secondary roads, leaving local roads snow-covered. Traffic cameras show visible pavement on most primary and secondary routes.

Bus service is running this morning, but on severe weather schedules. Both Arlington Transit and Metro have suspended a number of routes. The ART routes suspended as of publication include 53, 61, 62, 74, 75 and 84.

Arlington Public Schools are closed today for the fifth day in a row, joining other major local school systems in declaring Friday a snow day, while Arlington County government facilities will open today on a delay, at 10 a.m.

The rest of Friday is expected to be cold and windy, with a high near 30 and gusts up to 33 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

Flickr pool photo by Wolfkann

More closures Tuesday amid refreeze concern, plow crew shortages

By ARLnow.com
Looking down Lynn Street in Rosslyn toward Georgetown, in the snow (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 10 a.m.) A frigid night is on tap and the refreezing of melting snow could make roads and sidewalks extra slippery.

The National Weather Service on Monday issued a Special Weather Statement about the ice concerns overnight:

…Icy Patches Likely Overnight Into Tuesday Morning… Falling temperatures and water from melted snow will result in patchy ice on area roads overnight into early Tuesday. This will be especially problematic on untreated roadways. Motorists should exercise extra caution overnight into early Tuesday, and assume that any surfaces which look wet or slushy may in fact be icy.

Adding to the driving danger in Arlington: many neighborhood roads have yet to be touched by a snow plow. As of Monday night, the county remained in “Phase 2” of its snow removal plan, during which crews focus on primary and secondary roads only.

Arlington snow plow map as of 10:15 p.m. The roads in red have not yet been plowed. (via Arlington County)

Arlington’s Dept. of Environmental Services says that crews will “work throughout the night to clear roadways,” but the county said Monday night what some had suspected: that Covid has reduced snow plow staffing.

“The County’s snow removal is currently impacted by COVID-19 related staffing shortages,” the county said. “Roads are being cleared as quickly and safely as possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”

Monday’s winter storm was one for the record books.

The 6.9 inches of accumulation recorded at Reagan National Airport is a new official D.C. record for Jan. 3 and the first major snowfall event in about three years. In Arlington, storm spotters reported between 6.5 and 9.2 inches of snow, with higher amounts generally to the south.

The storm’s impact will be felt Tuesday and perhaps beyond.

As previously reported, Arlington Public Schools will be closed while trash collection has been cancelled for both Monday and Tuesday. Additionally, Arlington County government offices, recreation centers, vaccination clinics, and — as of Tuesday morning — Covid testing booths will be closed on Tuesday.

The federal government will be opening on a three hour delay on Tuesday, the Office of Personnel Management said tonight.

While unnecessary travel is being discouraged, particularly overnight, limited bus service is now available.

After being suspended for most of the day, some Metrobus service started a gradual return as of 6 p.m. ART bus service in Arlington is currently expected to be restored at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

It’s going to be a cold night, meanwhile, for more than a thousand households around Arlington.

As of 10:30 p.m., 1,240 homes and businesses were without power in Arlington, according to Dominion. It could be days before the outages, scattered across the county, are fully resolved.

“Please prepare for the possibility of being without power for multiple days,” power company spokeswoman Peggy Fox said tonight. “This is a multi-day restoration effort.”

Dominion reported more than 90,000 customers without power across Northern Virginia — and even more statewide — Monday night.

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com
Air Force Memorial on a snowy night (Flickr pool photo by Nathan Jones)

Local Closures Due to Winter Storm — In addition to Arlington Public Schools being closed due to today’s winter storm, Arlington County government has shifted to virtual operations, recreation centers and libraries are closed, and ART buses are operating on a severe service plan.

Federal Offices Are Closed, Too — From the U.S. Office of Personnel Management: “Federal offices in the DC area are CLOSED. Emergency and telework-ready employees must follow their agency’s policies.” [Twitter]

Metro on ‘Severe Snow Service Plan’ — “Metrobus will operate on a severe snow service plan [on] Monday, January 3. Bus service will be limited to major roads only. Delays and increased wait times are likely, and travel is strongly discouraged unless absolutely necessary.  Customers traveling when a severe snow service plan is in place should be aware that Metrobus may have to suspend all service if road and weather conditions worsen and travel becomes unsafe. Consider Metrorail as an alternative when possible.  No weather-related impacts to Metrorail are anticipated at this time.”  [WMATA]

ACFD Asks for Help With Hydrants — “Ahead of our first anticipated snowfall of 2022 (didn’t take long) we are asking for your help this season to keep fire hydrants clear. When seconds count, having a clear hydrant allows our firefighters to quickly get additional water to the scene.” [Twitter]

Big Response to NYE Chain Bridge Standoff — From Alan Henney, early Saturday morning: “Person threatening to jump from bridge being held by father. Lots of police, fire and EMS on scene, boats and Eagle helicopter. Negotiations in progress… update: The person threatening to jump is safely in custody. Bridge should be reopened to traffic.” [Twitter, Twitter]

Amazon Building New Tech Team at HQ2 — “Amazon.com Inc. is recruiting a new software and tech development team to its second headquarters to flesh out the technical backbone for its global delivery operations. The new team, dubbed Project Nazaré, will build systems to manage the financial processes for Amazon’s Global Engineering Service, which oversees its global network of fulfillment-related facilities, according to a job posting for the team’s senior product manager, set to be based in the company’s HQ2 campus in Arlington.” [Washington Business Journal]

Barcroft Apartment Purchase Complete — “Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners, a leading owner and developer of mixed-use properties and attainable housing in the DC metro area, today announced the acquisition of Barcroft Apartments, the 1,334-unit, garden style apartment complex located along Columbia Pike in Arlington, VA. Jair Lynch purchased the 60-acre site, including two commercial parcels with 34,000 square feet of retail from the DeLashmutt family who built the complex in 1939 and have owned it since.” [PRNewswire]

It’s 2022 — The first weekday of the new year will also be first snow day of the season. The storm, which started out as rain, will transition to snow, possibly mixed with sleet after 5 a.m. Low around 30. Any mixed precipitation should become all snow after 7 a.m. The snow could be heavy at times, before tapering off in the late morning to afternoon. High near 35, with a north wind 10 to 14 mph, and gusts as high as 28 mph. Snow and sleet accumulation of 3 to 7 inches is expected today. Sunrise at 7:27 a.m. and sunset at 4:58 p.m. Tomorrow it will be sunny, with a high near 37. [Weather.gov]

Flickr pool photo by Nathan Jones

County closures planned for Christmas and New Year’s

By Matt Blitz
Arlington County government headquarters in Courthouse

Nearly all county operations and services, including COVID-19 testing sites and vaccine clinics, are set to be closed during the Christmas and New Years holidays.

County government offices, courts, community centers, and libraries, will all be closed on Friday, Dec. 24 (Christmas Eve), Saturday, Dec. 25 (Christmas Day), Friday, Dec. 31 (New Year’s Eve), and Saturday, Jan. 1 (New Year’s Day).

The new Long Bridge Aquatics Center will reopen on Sunday, Jan. 2, though other community centers will remain closed that day.

For those looking for a booster shoot, county COVID-19 vaccine clinics will be closed Dec. 24 through Dec. 26 and Dec. 31 through Jan. 3.

The three Curative testing sites in Arlington will also be closed Dec. 24, Dec. 25, and Jan. 1 — and will close early at 2 p.m. on Dec. 31, even as lines to get tested remain long amid the current surger in Covid cases.

The sites will be open normal hours (9 a.m. to 7 p.m.) on Dec. 26 and Jan. 2, however.

Arlington Public Schools closed on Monday, Dec. 20 for the winter holiday break. The school system is currently set to reopen for classes Monday, Jan 3.

Trash, recycling, and yard waste collection will happen as scheduled on Dec. 24 and Dec. 31,

As for some good news, parking meters will not be enforced on Dec. 24, Dec. 25, Dec. 31, and Jan. 1.

WMATA and ART buses are also revising schedules for the holidays. On Christmas Eve, Metrorail is operating from 7 a.m. to 12 a.m., scaling back by three hours from a normal Friday. Metrobus will be operating on a Sunday schedule. Metrorail is reducing service by an hour on Christmas Day while keeping a normal Saturday schedule.

A select number of ART bus routes will operate on a Sunday schedule on Christmas Day, with the rest not operating.

New Year’s Eve will be different than in years past, with Metrorail staying open only until 1 a.m. as opposed to 2 a.m. Metrobus will operate on a Sunday schedule on that day and, on New Year’s Day, Metrorail will close an hour earlier than a normal Saturday.

ART buses will run its normal route schedule on New Year’s Eve, but a Sunday schedule on New Year’s Day.

First responders facing possible job loss petition county to reverse vaccine mandate

By Jo DeVoe

A group of Arlington County first responders and staff from other departments are petitioning the county to reverse course on its vaccine mandate.

Those who elect not to get the vaccine risk losing their jobs come February, per the county’s updated vaccine policy, shared with ARLnow.

Arlington County mandated vaccines for all government employees back in August, requiring those who were unvaccinated to submit to weekly testing. Since then, the county added a deadline to its policy: unvaccinated employees have until Feb. 1, 2022 to get the vaccine or get a medical or religious exemption. Those without a vaccine or an exemption on Feb. 1 will be placed on leave, and if they obtain neither before Feb. 28, 2022, they lose their jobs.

Some 278 of 3,137 permanent county employees are unvaccinated, including an unknown number of religious or medical exemptions, according to Public Health Division spokesman Ryan Hudson.

Those requesting the county to change its policy are asking for “more reciprocal ideas” for ensuring employee health and safety. The petition, started by firefighter Sterling Montague, has garnered nearly 300 signatures, from employees and their friends and family.

“More people came out in the last week than I ever knew of who are in support of the guys who don’t want to get the vaccine,” Montague tells ARLnow, adding that the coalition represents different demographics and opinions, including those who are vaccinated but oppose mandates.

“We aren’t uniformly anything,” he said. “We are anti-mandate for lots of reasons… [and] we have a diverse group that includes African-Americans and Hispanics.”

The petition says the mandate disproportionately harms people of color and it’s unclear what recourse folks have if those forced to take the vaccine suffer side effects. Objections to the shot, meanwhile, include that it was designed for a previous version of the virus and only protects for a short period of time and wanes, requiring an unknown number of additional boosters.

The county maintains that vaccines are safe and the best protection against COVID-19 — something echoed by the vast majority of doctors and public health professionals.

Arlington Public Health Director Dr. Reuben Varghese said mandates work, linking rising vaccination rates among those older than 18 to various mandates during a County Board recessed meeting on Tuesday.

Rather than terminate up to 10% of employees — while the county faces ongoing and predicted workforce shortages among first responders and in other county departments — the petition suggests affordable, at-work tests for unvaccinated folks and those who report to work with symptoms while counting previous COVID-19 cases towards immunization.

Testing isn’t cheap. For the last three weeks, that testing has cost the county about $7,300 per week, but it’s 100% reimbursed under the White House’s COVID-19 Disaster Declaration, Hudson said.

Those opposed to the mandate say these temporary solutions are important as the pandemic and the vaccines evolve and because they’re worried few who applied will be granted religious and medical exemptions.

“It’s like they’re trying to fire us before things change,” Montague said. “If, in a year, this is the same, you’d have a year more credibility to fire us, but it doesn’t make sense to fire us as soon as possible.” (more…)

Amazon and Arlington County to finance purchase of Columbia Pike apartment complex

By Jo DeVoe
The Barcroft Apartments, a 1,334-unit, market-affordable apartment complex along Columbia Pike (via Google Maps)

Arlington County and Amazon intend to loan hundreds of millions of dollars to an unnamed affordable housing provider to purchase a Columbia Pike apartment complex.

The Barcroft Apartments, at 1130 S. George Mason Drive, is the largest market-rate-affordable apartment community in Arlington, and county officials say they have to act quickly to ensure it stays affordable for current residents.

The sale is set to be finalized before the end of the month. On Tuesday, Arlington County Board members are slated to review the proposed 35-year, $150 million loan agreement. The unnamed buyer and Amazon representatives will be present.

If Board members approve the agreement, the Barcroft Apartments will remain affordable to residents earning up to 60% of the area median income — or $77,400 for a family of four — for 99 years.

“This is really a once-in-a-generation opportunity for our community to preserve the largest neighborhood of affordable housing units in the county for the next century,” said County Manager Mark Schwartz during Saturday’s County Board meeting. “We’re excited to be a part of this effort at Barcroft and to be working to ensure that the current residents will be able to stay in their homes and have safe and affordable housing for the foreseeable future.”

More than 1,330 units, built between 1939 and 1953, make up the 60-acre Barcroft Apartments complex, Schwartz said. These units have remained affordable to families earning up to 60% of the area median income without local, state or federal affordability or income requirements.

The buyer has said it does not plan to turn out current residents after the sale. It will also pledge to not raise rents for current residents for at least a year, Schwartz said. After that, rent will increase by no more than 3% per year up to 60% of area median income levels.

The new owners “are interested in making additional investments in the property, adding amenities, making property upgrades and taking other steps to improve residents’ overall living environment at Barcroft,” he said.

“This is the single biggest step we can take to preserve affordability in Arlington — certainly over the last five years and perhaps over the next decade,” County Board Chair Matt de Ferranti said.

It is also a swift move for county government, says Vice-Chair Katie Cristol.

“This is unconventional for the county to act as quickly, and for the Board to act as quickly, as we have, but the future of so many of our valued neighbors in those 1,300-plus units are very much at stake and require quick action,” she said.

The news will be well-received among residents, who have been renting month-to-month “without knowing what’s happening next” while this process has unfolded, says County Board member Takis Karantonis.

“They should also know that they’re part of any visioning of Barcroft going ahead,” he said. “This is not happening without them — this is just the beginning of involving them.”

Amazon’s contribution comes after it purchased and donated land to Arlington to develop additional affordable housing in several parts of the county. The tech company previously launched a $2 billion Housing Equity Fund to create and preserve affordable housing in its three primary footholds — the Seattle area, Nashville and Arlington — amid concerns that its presence will displace low-income residents.

Arlington County took a similar, smaller-scale step about 14 years ago, when it struck a deal with a housing developer to preserve affordable housing in the Buckingham neighborhood, near Ballston.

The county purchased one complex — built at the same time as the Barcroft Apartments — for $32 million, preserving 140 units as affordable to those earning 60% or less of the area’s median income. It also ensured that two complexes kept below-market-rate apartments after being redeveloped.

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