Rain drops on a cherry blossom in Freedom Park in Rosslyn (Staff Photo by Jay Westcott)
You won’t have to go across the Potomac to enjoy cherry blossom festivities this year.
The National Landing BID is hosting Pink in the Park, a celebration of the region’s cherry blossoms sans D.C. tourist crowds.
Pink in the Park is scheduled for Saturday, April 1, from 3-7 p.m. The festival will be held outside the Long Bridge Aquatics and Fitness Center, at 333 Long Bridge Drive.
Current predictions say the Pink in the Park festival might miss peak bloom by about a week, thanks to warmer temperatures this winter.
The event will be emceed by comedian and American Gods actor Orlando Jones, with rock band Black Alley headlining. Black Alley is scheduled to take the stage at 5:45 p.m.
Pets are allowed at the event but must be leashed at all time, and it’s not recommended for pets that are sensitive to loud music and crowds.
The event will also have “Instagrammable moments,” “immersive art installations” and giveaways, organizers say. It will be preceded by Pink in the Pool, a family-friendly event from 9 a.m.-noon in the Long Bridge Aquatics Center.
Tickets to the event, of which Amazon is the marquee sponsor, are free and available online.
Pink in the Park graphic (via National Landing BID)
PBS headquarters at 1225 S. Clark Street in Crystal City (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
PBS headquarters at 1225 S. Clark Street in Crystal City (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
PBS headquarters at 1225 S. Clark Street in Crystal City (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
PBS headquarters at 1225 S. Clark Street in Crystal City (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
PBS headquarters at 1225 S. Clark Street in Crystal City (staff photo by Matt Blitz)
The PBS headquarters at 1225 S. Clark Street in Crystal City still gleams and smells as if it’s new, despite it being about three years since the national public broadcasting network first hoped to move in.
That’s what happens when a pandemic puts well-laid plans on ice.
“It was crazy,” PBS’s Chief Executive Officer Paula Kerger told ARLnow, sitting inside the company’s headquarters and by big windows with the Potomac in the distance. “We had designed the space. We had ordered the furniture. We had started some construction. And then Covid hit.”
PBS had been just a half mile down the street at 2100 Crystal Drive for about 13 years before recommitting to Arlington and Crystal City in 2019. Prior to its mid-aughts move to Crystal City, the company was headquartered in Alexandria.
The company’s 16-year lease to take over five floors in the JBG Smith building on S. Clark Street began in September 2020 and is set to expire in 2036.
While exact financial details were not disclosed, the company did not have to borrow money for the build-out unlike what was the case with the last building, Chief Financial Officer Tom Tardivo said.
All the needed funds came from private donations, the company’s general funds, tenant improvement allowance from JBG Smith, and several grants. This included one from Arlington County’s economic development authority in the amount of $500,000.
It was important to the company to stay in Crystal City, Kerger said, because of the relationship it had built with the county and the community over the last decade plus.
“We were one of the first companies that moved here that was not affiliated with the Pentagon or a defense contractor,” she said.
Keger also noted that PBS was in negotiations with JBG Smith prior to Amazon announcing its decision to open its second headquarters several blocks away, in Pentagon City, in late 2018.
“I had a sense that they were heading our way,” she said. “Having a lot of other creative and tech people [here] is a huge advantage for us.”
Plus, PBS employees wanted to stay in Crystal City. The proximity to the Metro, National Airport, and a growingculinary scene were all things that were cited by employees as reasons to stay in the neighborhood.
The plan was for PBS to move into its new headquarters in mid-2020. But that, of course, didn’t happen. It’s only been about a year since employees started gradually coming back to the PBS offices, said Kerger.
What they encountered was a far different space and building than the old one they hastily left behind on Crystal Drive when offices shut down in March 2020.
For one, it’s a bit smaller of a space than PBS previously had. The company now occupies five floors and about 120,000 square feet, compared to about 130,000 square feet at the old building.
They did this by cutting down the number of private offices and focusing on creating more “collaborative spaces,” meaning spaces that could fit larger groups of people.
“We wanted more opportunities for people to come together to do their work,” Tardivo said while walking around the building with an ARLnow contributor. “Remember, though, this was prior to the pandemic when all the design work was being done.”
Kerger admits that they designed the space under “a different assumption” and there were “many moments where I thought ‘Oh my goodness, we built the wrong space.'”
The renovated Century Center buildings, now called ‘Crystal & Clark’ (staff photo)
The renovated Century Center buildings, now called ‘Crystal & Clark’ (staff photo)
The renovated Century Center buildings, now called ‘Crystal & Clark’ (staff photo)
The renovated Century Center buildings, now called ‘Crystal & Clark’ (staff photo)
The new entrance to 2461 S. Clark Street (courtesy of MRP Realty)
Crystal & Clark terrace (courtesy of MRP Realty)
Crystal & Clark plaza (courtesy of MRP Realty)
Renovations to a pair of office buildings in Crystal City, including the construction of a new pedestrian plaza, are set to wrap up this spring.
Work kicked off last year at the Century Center towers, located at the intersection of Crystal Drive and S. Clark Street. Some older retail space between the buildings, previously known as Century One (2450 Crystal Drive) and Century Two (2461 S. Clark Street), was torn down to make room for the plaza.
Now, the upgrades to the 50-year-old buildings and the plaza between them are in the home stretch and set to be completed this spring, per an announcement from MRP Realty and LaSalle Investment Management. As part of the refresh, the towers are being rebranded simply as “Crystal & Clark.”
The exteriors and mall interior of the old Century Center buildings were “dated and washed-out,” per a press release. Now, the buildings “balance modern design with biophilic and organic touches” and feature “vibrant retail.”
The plaza, meanwhile, “is a reimagined central gathering hub between the two buildings,” per the release. It will be lined by retail, including a new Primrose Schools Early Education & Care location and forthcoming retailers in casual and fine dining, medical care and boutique fitness, as well as a food market, according to the building’s website.
“Century Center was an outmoded design with limited amenities and much-needed indoor/outdoor spaces for the offices, further complemented by the retail-accessible pedestrian plaza shared by the two buildings,” said Frederick Rothmeijer, Founding Principal of MRP’s Development, Construction Management and Asset Management operations, in a statement. “Our strategic plan executed with Davis Construction brings a palpable vitality to this property, and to the neighborhood, located in the center of the burgeoning National Landing.”
As part of the renovations, the plaza has new outdoor seating and gathering areas while the buildings have increased street-level retail and restaurant spaces, as well as streetscape improvements.
Inside, refreshed features include a new lobby and “the largest office conference center in National Landing,” per the press release. That’s in addition to a fitness center with locker rooms, second- and third-floor terraces with indoor and outdoor meeting spaces and a “townhall” amenity space.
“With our keen appreciation of the National Landing neighborhood, we are pleased to see the redevelopment come to fruition,” said Shaun Broome, Managing Director at LaSalle Investment Management. “We believe it will be a significant draw for new tenants and an improved chapter for those who have been onsite for years.”
The renovations have already attracted a “strong contingent of office leases,” despite the difficult office leasing environment, per the release. Arlington’s overall office vacancy rate is currently above 21%.
Raytheon renewed the lease for its corporate headquarters at the Crystal City office complex in 2021, with 120,000 square feet of space on six floors across both buildings.
In total, 2450 Crystal Drive comprises 336,229 square feet of office space and 51,443 square feet of retail. Of that, 36,000 square feet are leased out or a lease is being negotiated. 2461 S. Clark Street has 232,969 square feet of office space and 5,000 square feet of retail now under lease of the total 18,980 available.
“Once prospective tenants visit the site and see this radically improved office and retail environment — especially the food and dining choices, along with a continuing vision set in the very center of National Landing, the value of this position will be undeniable,” said Gary Cook, Senior Vice President Leasing for Lincoln Property Company, in a statement. “The ‘office lifestyle’ here is a game-changer that I believe all current and future tenants celebrate as we seek to bring them new synergistic neighbors to the building.”
Possible carjacked vehicle and suspect vehicle caught on camera (courtesy Dave Statter)
It has been an eventful couple of weeks for BMW drivers in the Crystal City and Pentagon City area.
Last night another BMW was taken during a carjacking, by suspects who themselves arrived in a BMW. This time it happened outside the 7-Eleven store at the corner of 23rd Street S. and S. Eads Street.
“At approximately 10:14 p.m. on January 30, police were dispatched to the report of a stolen vehicle,” Arlington County police said today in a crime report. “Upon arrival, it was determined the male victim was attempting to reverse out of a parking space when Suspect One exited the suspect vehicle, approached the victim, brandished a firearm, threatened him and demanded his vehicle.”
“The victim exited his vehicle and Suspect One and Suspect Two entered,” the crime report continued. “The suspects then fled the scene in the victim’s stolen vehicle at a high rate of speed with the suspect vehicle, occupied by Suspect Three and Suspect Four, following.”
YET ANOTHER CRYSTAL CITY CARJACKING— 7-Eleven at 23rd St South and South Eads St in Arlington. Around 10:15 p.m., 4 guys arrived in a black BMW with Md temp tags, two got out with a handgun and carjacked a white 2-door BMW with Va tags. #CrystalCityVA@ARLnowDOTcompic.twitter.com/LuSx2kEqk9
At 10:16 pm @ArlingtonVaPD dispatched armed carjacking of white 2-door BMW at S.Eads & 23rd 7-11. Likely accomplices in black BMW all headed on Rt 1N. At 10:14 pm my cameras caught these 2 cars speeding up Rt 1 into I-395. Can't say they're the same, but timing & car colors fit. pic.twitter.com/3csnIyG8Mq
This was the fifth reported carjacking in Arlington in three weeks, the fourth in the Crystal City and Pentagon City areas, and the third involving BMWs.
On Jan. 15 an Audi was carjacked at 23rd Street S. and S. Fern Street, in Crystal City. On Jan. 25 a white BMW was carjacked near 23rd Street S. and Crystal Drive, in Crystal City. On Jan. 26 a BMW was carjacked in front of the Pentagon City mall after another BMW, carjacked in D.C., crashed and was abandoned nearby on Route 1.
The five vehicles carjacked in Arlington this month compares to zero carjacked last January and 14 total throughout 2022, according to stats provided by ACPD.
Parking along 13th Street S. in Pentagon City near Amazon’s second headquarters in 2019 (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Next month, Arlington County will hold a community event to kick off a three-year parking pilot program that prices parking by demand in a few highly trafficked corridors.
This is the first official step forward since the Arlington County Board accepted a $5.4 million grant from the Virginia Dept. of Transportation for the “performance parking” program.
The pilot would electronically monitor parking space usage alter parking prices based on the day, time and the number of people competing for a metered parking space along the Rosslyn-Ballston and Crystal City-Pentagon City corridors. It would also give drivers real-time information on spot availability and price.
In the meeting description, Arlington County says the three-year pilot project could “improve the user experience for metered parking spaces in two key commercial and residential corridors in Arlington.”
“Join the project team for a Community Kick-Off meeting to learn more about the pilot project, the technology we’ll be using to inform the project, and share your input on the pilot project’s goals to help us understand your priorities for metered parking spaces in the Rosslyn-Ballston and Route 1 corridors,” per the website.
According to the event page, meeting attendees will be able to:
Learn about the pilot’s background and purpose
Get briefed on the status of metered parking in the two Metrorail corridors
Learn what technology will be used and what data will be collected, and how this will inform the project’s next steps
Get a first look at a demonstration site
Arlington County Board members approved the program in late 2020 after hashing out concerns from some opponents about how this would impact people with lower incomes. Members were convinced by the case staff made that lower-income people are less likely to have one or more cars and could save money on parking by choosing to park on less-popular streets and for shorter time periods.
Ultimately, however, the pilot project is intended to sort out these concerns and “map out any mitigations that are necessary,” parking planner Stephen Crim said at the time.
Project proponent Chris Slatt said at the time that variable-price parking ensures that spots are generally available where and when people want them. He pointed to the city of San Francisco, which found that the program made it easier for people to find parking. This reduced double parking, improved congestion and lowered greenhouse gas emissions.
An online Q&A about the project lists as goals, “Drivers spend less time looking for on-street parking” and “Vehicle miles travelled resulting from on-street parking search or ‘cruising’ are reduced.” That will come at a cost, though, as parking rates are increased in busy areas.
The virtual community kick-off meeting will be held Thursday, Feb. 23 from 7-8:30 p.m.
A man was carjacked by armed suspects in Crystal City last night.
The crime happened around 8 p.m. Wednesday along the 2200 block of Crystal Drive, in front of a row of restaurants. It’s the third reported carjacking in Arlington in two weeks and the second in Crystal City, specifically.
“The male victim was inside his parked vehicle when the suspect vehicle, with three unknown male suspects inside, pulled alongside him,” Arlington County police said today in a crime report. “Suspect One allegedly displayed a firearm from within the suspect vehicle as Suspect Two approached the victim and demanded his vehicle. The victim exited his vehicle and Suspect Two entered and fled the scene in the stolen vehicle with the suspect vehicle following.”
“Responding officers canvassed the area yielding negative results,” the crime report continues. “No injuries were reported. During the course of the investigation, the stolen vehicle was recovered in Prince George’s County, MD.”
The three suspects remain at large. The stolen vehicle was a 2017 BMW, according to public safety watcher Alan Henney.
Updated renderings of the “East Tower” at 2250 Crystal Drive in Crystal City (via Arlington County)
Updated renderings of the “West Tower” at 223 23rd Street S. in Crystal City (via Arlington County)
Updated renderings of the “East Tower” at 2250 Crystal Drive in Crystal City (via Arlington County)
Demolition began on the former Jaleo building in Crystal City (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
A rendering of pedestrian and vehicle connector, as well as the public open spaces, planned for the 223 23rd Street S./2250 Crystal Drive development (via Arlington County)
A rendering of the new 23rd Street S. as proposed by JBG Smith (via Arlington County)
A rendering of the new Crystal Drive as proposed by JBG Smith (via Arlington County)
The east-west pedestrian connection to the Crystal City Shops, a network of underground shops (via Arlington County)
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.”
Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow, Startup Monday is a weekly column that highlights Arlington-based startups, founders, and local tech news. Monday Properties is proudly featuring 1515 Wilson Blvd in Rosslyn.
Crystal City agriculture-tech startup EarthOptics recently announced it has raised nearly $28 million in Series B funding.
The startup helps farmers make data-driven decisions about when to fertilize and how to reduce tilling — a soil-disturbing farming technique that releases carbon into the atmosphere. The company says tilling less improves food quality and reduces costs and carbon emissions.
The $27.6 million raised will go toward improving the capabilities of its suite of soil sensors and mappers to meet increasing interest from farmers and ranchers in EarthOptics products.
“Our industry-leading technology has huge potential for farmers and agribusiness,” CEO Lars Dyrud said in a statement. “With small margins and unpredictable input prices, farmers are looking for ways to improve productivity. Our product does that in a way that fits seamlessly into individual operations. Farmers no longer must rely on expensive soil analysis from labs. Powerful soil insights from EarthOptics can transform the way decisions are made on the farm.”
EarthOptics’ TillMapper helps farmers decide if, when, where and how deep to till (courtesy photo)
The funding round announcement comes on the heels of a successful year for EarthOptics, which says the number of acres it covers and the number of partnerships it has with global food companies grew tenfold in 2022. Last fall, Arlington County highlighted the company as one of the county’s fastest growing startups, in part for its $10.3 million Series A fundraising round in October 2021.
Also last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture named EarthOptics a partner in the agency’s Climate Smart Partnership for six separate proposals.
One proposal is an eight-state effort to make the nation’s beef supply chain carbon neutral. Another would promote the planting of an oilseed crop, which would be harvested for renewable biofuels and would increase how much carbon farmers capture in the soil.
The startup says it is looking for even more partnerships this year.
“We believe EarthOptics has a clear advantage in soil measurement technology, as they improve the scalability of measurement while helping to reduce extrapolation error” said Chris Abbott, Co-Head of Conti Ventures, which invested the most money in this fundraising round. “As we look for technologies that can verify critical soil measurements for growers, we believe EarthOptics stands out in providing agronomic value as well as verification for initiatives like carbon credits.”
Another investment group, Rabobank’s food and agriculture investment fund, said in a statement that the “revival of interest in soil is highly encouraging and much needed.”
“Given the fundamental importance of soil health to the food and agriculture systems, we are excited to support Lars and his team in bringing EarthOptics’ truly disruptive solution to our bank’s global network of farmers, corporates, as well [as] our ecosystem services teams of The Carbon Bank and ACORN,” said Pieter van der Meche, who heads the fund.
The Barcroft Apartments entrance (via Arlington County)
Crystal House (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
Amazon announced yesterday (Wednesday) that it is shutting down its charitable e-commerce platform AmazonSmile, which lets customers support their favorite nonprofits while shopping.
Instead, the tech company says it will focus on areas of more “meaningful change,” chiefly, investments in affordable housing. One of the first examples it highlighted was its contributions in Arlington County, the home of its forthcoming second headquarters.
“In one year alone, our investments have been able to increase the affordable housing stock in communities like Bellevue, Washington and Arlington, Virginia by at least 20%,” it said.
That’s a fair statement, according to Arlington County.
Per a 2022 annual report on affordable housing, Arlington County had 8,650 total committed affordable units (CAFs) in the 2020 fiscal year.
“With Amazon’s support, we added 619 CAFs via Crystal House in FY21 and 1,334 CAFs via [Barcroft Apartments] in FY22, which is 1,953 total CAFs added between those two projects and a more than 20% increase over the FY20 CAF total,” says Erika Moore, a spokeswoman for the Dept. of Community Planning, Housing and Development.
In December 2021, Amazon loaned $160 million — on top of a $150 million from Arlington County — to real estate developer Jair Lynch to facilitate the purchase of the Barcroft Apartments on the condition that Jair Lynch preserve 1,334 units for affordable housing.
In January 2021, Amazon issued another loan to help the Washington Housing Conservancy purchase the Crystal House apartment complex (1900 S. Eads St) and stabilize rent at the complex, one block from Amazon’s future HQ2.
Arlington County has selected a developer to oversee the construction of 655 CAFs of infill development within the site, which would further increase the number of affordable units with ties to Amazon donations.
“We’re investing $2 billion to build and preserve affordable housing in our hometown communities,” the company said. “In just two years, we’ve provided funding to create more than 14,000 affordable homes — and we expect to build at least 6,000 more in the coming months. These units will host more than 18,000 moderate- to low-income families, many of them with children.”
The end of AmazonSmile, which the company says has not created “the impact we had originally hoped,” comes just a few days after the tech company announced it will lay off 18,000 employees. The company maintains it will still bring 25,000 jobs to its second headquarters, despite slowing growth.
Should it hit that mark, the tech and retail giant will be able to claim $550 million in state grants through 2042, and another $200 million should it hire 37,850 full-time HQ2 employees by 2035. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin has proposed setting aside $78 million in the new two-year state budget to help fund the grants, the Washington Business Journal reports.
Police car speeding to a call at night (staff photo)
Two people were carjacked in Crystal City on Sunday night, the second carjacking reported in Arlington last week.
It happened around 10 p.m. along the neighborhood’s 23rd Street S. restaurant row. At least one of the carjackers was armed, police said.
“A patrol officer was flagged down by the two victims who reported a carjacking,” the Arlington County Police Department said in a crime report today. “The investigation determined the victims were at their parked vehicle when the suspect vehicle approached and the three suspects exited. One suspect brandished a firearm as they approached the victims and demanded their vehicle. The suspects then fled the area in the victim’s stolen vehicle, which is described as a 2019 white Audi A5 with VA license plate UEF9067, with the suspect vehicle following.”
No injuries were reported, ACPD said. The suspects remain at large.
CRYSTAL CITY CARJACKING— 23rd St South at South Fern St in Arlington. Four guys with a gun took a white Audi A5 with Va tags. Reported around 10:15 p.m. @ARLnowDOTcom @CrystalCityVa pic.twitter.com/plUx2FoKGs
The other reported carjacking last week happened on Thursday, near Columbia Pike, when a 54-year-old Arlington man allegedly carjacked a woman he knows.
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.
