An aging sky bridge across Lynn Street in Rosslyn is set to be torn down.
The sky bridge, located on the 1700 block of North Lynn Street, will be torn down as part of the CentralPlace development. Demolition permits were filed earlier this month, and are still going through the county approval process.
No word yet on when exactly the demolition work would take place.
Photo via Google Maps
It couldn’t have looked more out of place. An old building near the Virginia Square Metro station, dressed up in black paint and Gothic-style accents.
What would have been a restaurant, bar and lounge called “Haze” is now being reduced to a pile of rubble. Arlington County purchased the property at 3540 Wilson Boulevard one year ago with the intention of tearing it down, and the demolition is finally happening today.
The property will be used to connect Maury Park and Herselle Milliken Park, two tiny swaths of recreational space located on the same block between N. Monroe and Lincoln streets. So what happened to Haze?
Last year we were told that the owner undertook renovations on the building before any county permits were issued or even requested. Obviously, a county that put the kibosh on a dog mural located next to a dog park is going to take issue with a business trying to pull a fast one with a gaudy black bar across from an apartment building. The owner finally decided to shutter the restaurant-that-never-was instead of trying to to get the building back into compliance.
At least for now, the prime Wilson Boulevard property will be used as a park.
“The entire parcel will be used as park space in the near term, although the immediate frontage on Wilson Boulevard may be reconsidered in the long term if the remaining retail/commercial parcels on the block are consolidated and redeveloped,” Arlington Park Division Chief Lisa Grandle told the Ashton Heights Civic Association last year.
H/t to Bill Colton
Demolition is underway on a block of empty warehouses on S. Fern Street in Pentagon City.
The warehouses, which used to house a DHL distribution office and a Danker furniture store, are being torn down to make way for a new 18-story apartment building called Three Metropolitan Park. The building will be the third in the Metropolitan Park development, across from Costco.
According to the county’s planning division web site, Three Metropolitan Park will consist of 411 apartments and 16,345 square feet of ground floor retail space, one block from the Pentagon City Metro station. The building will be 18 stories — or 202 feet — tall and will have 502 parking spaces.
The Washington Business Journal reports that the apartment building is expected to start renting by the beginning of 2014 at a construction cost of at least $160 million.
Photo courtesy @hoborocks
A Z-Burger restaurant is coming to Virginia Square.
The small District-based burger chain is in the midst of renovating a two-story red-brick house at the corner of Wilson Boulevard and N. Kenmore Street, according to county records.
Reached by phone, Z-Burger owner Mohammad Esfahani said that he is hoping to have the restaurant open by this summer. This will be Z-Burger’s fourth location and its first Virginia outpost. The restaurant serves burgers, hot dogs, cheesesteaks, fries, onion rings and 75 flavors of shakes and malts.
The building — which is situated 3-4 blocks from both the Clarendon and Virginia Square Metro stations — once housed a couple of business, including a video conversion business and a realty company. An attached one-story building that housed a palm reader, Madame Jacy, has been demolished. (A Yelp review of Madame Jacy once complained that the building “smelled really, really raunchy.” The same reviewer bemoaned that the predictions came true but were not specific enough.)
Once it opens, the restaurant will have a limited amount of off-street parking available to customers. It will face competition from Mario’s Pizza House, across the street, and the soon-to-open BGR: The Burger Joint in Clarendon.
Photo (and tip) courtesy Garrett P.
Demolition work is underway at the Arlington Mill Community Center site on Columbia Pike.
Heavy equipment was brought in to tear down the old building and chain link fences have been set up around the building’s perimeter. Already, the front of the structure has been demolished.
The demolition is expected to take 30-45 days. There are no road or sidewalk closures planned as a result of the work.
Once the demolition is complete work will begin on the new Arlington Mill Community Center, which is expected to open in 2013.
Power Expected to Be Restored This Afternoon — As of 1:00 a.m., Dominion was reporting that about 16,700 customers in Arlington — nearly 20 percent of all customers in the county — were without power. That number is now down to 13,350. Throughout Northern Virginia, 138,000 Dominion customers lost power after the storm. The company expects to have power restored to most locations in Arlington between 4:00 and 6:00 this afternoon.
Pike Gym Opens at Last — The World Gym at Columbia Pike and South Walter Reed Drive has opened after a three-week delay in construction and permits. [Pike Wire]
Lee Center is No More — The Lee Center shopping center, at Pershing Drive and Route 50, has been torn down. [TBD]
Photo courtesy Steve Buttry
The buildings that used to house Arlington Motorcar Service, Medical Service Corporation International and the Fashion Dreams tailor between Rosslyn and Courthouse are no more.
Demolition work has reduced the three small buildings on the 1700 block of Wilson Boulevard to rubble. A large, empty lot and a pile of debris is all that remains. (See the before and after photos below.)
A new office building is expected to spring up by mid-2012.
Arlington is preparing to demolish the old Arlington Mill Community Center to make way for a brand new community center in 2013.
Due to some expected minor disruptions, Arlington County staff will be presenting information about the demolition plan at a public meeting next week. Update at 1/3 — The meeting has been rescheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 4 from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. at Greenbrier Baptist Church (5401 7th Road South).
In case you can’t make it, here’s an executive summary:
Construction crews have been working feverishly over the summer to get the new Yorktown High School ready for students, while tearing down remnants of the old Yorktown High building. With one week left until students return and with a field full of rubble left to clear, it looks like the work may be coming down to the wire.
Check out the photos below, which show heavy equipment picking through huge piles of debris as well as a worker hosing down the rubble, apparently to keep dust down. Also below: a photo of the old high school, just before the demolition.
The old Westover library on 1800 North Lexington Street was torn down yesterday. The 67-year-old building was closed in October after the library moved to a new building at 1644 North McKinley Street.
The land occupied by the old library will now be turned into a green space.
More from the Library News blog.
Photo courtesy Arlington Public Library.
