development

NEW: Judgment in Missing Middle lawsuit likely one month away

By Jo DeVoe
Arlington County courthouse on Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023 (staff photo by James Jarvis)

Attorneys for residents contesting the new Missing Middle zoning ordinances and Arlington County squared off today (Tuesday) in court — but a decision will not be reached until at least next month.

Residents sued the county earlier this year, shortly after the Arlington County Board adopted the Missing Middle zoning ordinance changes authorizing 2-6 unit homes in areas previously zoned for single-family homes only.

They claimed the changes run afoul of state law on substantive and procedural grounds. The county disputes that and says the case ought to be dismissed because these residents will not be harmed — and are no more impacted than any other resident — by Missing Middle construction.

Gifford Hampshire, an attorney for the plaintiffs, argued the county made several missteps, including not commissioning studies to determine the impact of these changes; promulgating confusing ordinances; and failing to post online a document that the County Board was given ahead of the vote.

Documents should be provided to the public at the same time so “everyone is well informed and can participate meaningfully in the public process,” he said.

For Arlington County Attorney MinhChau Corr, the question at hand is not whether Expanded Housing Options, or EHOs, are a good idea. Rather, she told the court, the question is whether the County Board acted appropriately when it made its decision.

She said this case amounts to upset residents who disliked the decision, petitioning the court to overturn the decision. She said this tactic is a “subversion of our democratic process.”

After the arguments, retired Fairfax Judge David Schell informed those present he would render a decision on Oct. 19 at 10 a.m. He was appointed to handle the case after Arlington’s Circuit Court judges recused themselves, delaying the hearing process by a few months, the Gazette Leader previously reported.

Between now and next month, Schell said he will determine whether the plaintiffs have standing. This will determine whether he dismisses the case and will inform his judgment on the claims related to Freedom of Information laws.

Corr argued attempts to show the plaintiffs will suffer harm other residents will not face with EHO construction is speculative, saying “they don’t even know what [EHOs] look like.” Permits for EHO construction only recently started receiving approvals from the county.

Hampshire says the 10 plaintiffs own homes in neighborhoods where 2-6 unit homes would stress their water and sewer lines, overcrowd their schools and potentially increase their property assessments.

A few dozen people attended the arguments, including Dan Creedon, representing the Neighbors for Neighborhoods Litigation Fund, created to fund the lawsuit. He provided the following statement to ARLnow.

EHO/MMH zoning upends Arlington’s decades-old, successful land use policy to concentrate density along Metro corridors. The County Board eliminated single-family zoning in Arlington, allowing 6-plexes on single-family lots across the County, but failed to conduct the studies required by State law that would have revealed the impact of the increased density in residential neighborhoods.

Former Arlington County Board candidate Natalie Roy told ARLnow after the hearing that the county’s arguments “seemed to be based on an alternative universe.”

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Silver Diner redevelopment teed up for Arlington County Board review this Saturday

By Jo DeVoe
1/10

Longtime plans to redevelop the former Silver Diner site in Clarendon are headed to the Arlington County Board for approval.

An 11-story, 290-unit apartment building with about 16,000 square feet of retail and a 10-story, 229-room hotel with a rooftop terrace and bar are proposed for the site, dubbed “Bingham Center.”

This Saturday, the Board is set to review the plans from owner TCS Realty Associates and developer Donohoe Cos., including a request for the county to vacate portions of a public alley and street. In exchange, Arlington would receive some $1.15 million in compensation, per a county report.

The new buildings would sit on a triangular parcel bounded by Wilson Blvd, 10th Street N. and N. Irving Street, across from Northside Social. They would replace the now-closed Silver Diner, the Lot beer garden, two brick structures called “The Doctors Building,” an auto repair facility and surface parking.

The 3200 Wilson Blvd property is near the Joyce Motors site which was approved for another significant development earlier this year, as well as the Wells Fargo development site that’s currently under review.

The project comes forward two months after the County Board approved a deadline extension request from TCS and Donohoe. They asked for more time to fix “unresolved design challenges” along N. Irving Street, particularly regarding the pedestrian experience.

The duo had proposed a loading area and hotel-serving facilities along N. Irving Street, which county staff previously noted deviates from the 2022 Clarendon Sector Plan. This plan, developed in anticipation of a handful of projects, including Silver Diner, envisions a walkable, retail-studded N. Irving Street.

Members of the Site Plan Review Committee agreed. They said the loading dock would create conflicts with pedestrians accessing a proposed plaza on N. Irving Street. They also had misgivings about the bricked-over, retail-less façade on N. Irving Street.

An early suggestion from TCS and Donohoe included adding a “living green wall,” but the county and the public said this did not address the issues of missing retail or pedestrian-vehicle conflicts.

Initial, since-updated façade changes to 3200 Wilson Blvd redevelopment (via Arlington County)

Now, the county says the developers have found a solution and there are no outstanding issues.

TCS and Donohoe moved the dock to the forthcoming extension of 10th Road N. As part of the overall Bingham Center project, Donohoe will extend this one-block-long road east of the site so that it cuts through the site and intersects with Wilson Blvd.

In addition, the developers agreed to install windows into the kitchen that abuts the future “Irving Plaza,” envisioned in the Clarendon Sector Plan. The proposed green wall has been replaced with a “decorative element” intended to enhance the otherwise un-enlivened façade.

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County Board, community leaders recommend tweaks to strengthen draft Plan Langston Blvd plan

By Jo DeVoe
1/5

After 11 years of work, started by a group of residents and picked up by Arlington County, a planning document guiding the development of Langston Blvd could soon get teed up for final approvals.

Plan Langston Blvd outlines how to encourage private development on the corridor to make it walkable, bikeable and flood-resilient. Less dense neighborhoods transition to “activity hubs” developed with privately owned public spaces and apartment buildings as tall as 15 stories, with units affordable to a broad range of income levels.

The county is preparing to publish a request to advertise Planning Commission and County Board hearings on Plan Langston Blvd next month. Before taking this step, the county amassed more public input this summer, following the release of a draft plan in June, and held a work session with the plan’s champions in the community and Arlington County Board members yesterday (Tuesday).

These recently published comments spanned flood mitigation, transportation planning, building heights and historic preservation, among other topics. Compared to more divided comments last year, generally about two-thirds of respondents said they are “comfortable” or “very comfortable” with the plan’s policy proposals.

During the work session, however, two longtime champions said the plan needs to be a stronger vehicle for securing affordable housing, building transportation improvements, supporting small businesses and fighting climate change. County Board members echoed some of these concerns, as well.

“A goal of the plan should be to create and retain community-serving retail and to incentivize and plan for publicly accessible parking like was done in Alexandria and Bethesda,” Langston Blvd Alliance Executive Director Ginger Brown said. “To create the community’s vision for inclusive neighborhoods serving commercial nodes, we need to support small businesses while simultaneously increasing affordable housing.”

Brown said the plan should rely on county-nonprofit partnerships, not developer contributions, to add affordable housing on Route 29.

Regarding building heights, an issue that has split residents in the past, Brown said concerns about height are compounded by the plan’s “weak commitment” to bus transit and street safety improvements. She called for bus departures every 10 minutes, more north-south routes and money set aside soon for transportation safety upgrades.

“Many stakeholders are very nervous about the density envisioned in the plan,” she continued. “Ten, 12 and 15-story buildings on the… corridor feels like a lot of change [with] lots more cars and traffic.”

County staff told the Board there are not enough riders to justify suggestions from residents, from dedicated bus lanes to 10-minute headways, predicating changes on ridership increases.

“Transit demand will continue to be monitored and the bus service levels will be adjusted to meet that demand,” county planner Natasha Alfonso-Ahmed said.

Echoing a majority of survey respondents, Sandi Chesrown, vice chair of the citizen group dubbed the Plan Langston Blvd Community Forum, said the plan should clarify public and private investments in stormwater mitigation. The road cuts through some flood-prone neighborhoods, such as Waverly Hills.

“Let us be grateful for Arlington today, but let us recognize the Arlington of tomorrow and the impact of climate change. It is now and it is bigger than all of us,” she said.

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Public review of four major redevelopment projects could start up this fall

By Jo DeVoe
1/9

Arlington County expects to accept a handful of major development applications this month, teeing them up for public engagement down the road.

The four pending projects span Pentagon City and Crystal City to the south and Rosslyn and Courthouse to the north.

Apartment buildings figure into all the proposals, though two developers are mulling a mix of office or hotel uses, too. Of those in the queue, two are straightforward, single-phase apartment projects while two are far-afield, multi-phase redevelopments with details still to iron out.

First up, between Rosslyn and Courthouse, sits the future home of an apartment building by D.C.-based developer the Fortis Cos.

Fortis proposes demolishing the existing National Science Teachers Association headquarters at 1840 Wilson Blvd, and surrounding restaurants, to construct an apartment building with 188 units and about 12,000 square feet of retail space. It purchased the properties at the start of this year for $14 million and filed its application, complete with new renderings, this summer.

Next up, in Crystal City, JBG Smith proposes to build a 7-story tower with 370 apartments and about 3,300 square feet of retail or equivalent space on land dubbed Block W, located at 2451 Crystal Drive.

The site is bounded by Crystal Drive, a National Airport access road, and railroad tracks, and is currently home to a gravel parking lot, an off-ramp from the access road and a small, JBG-owned workout park.

The off-ramp would be removed for construction, as envisioned in the Crystal City Sector Plan, but JBG Smith will be keeping adjacent sand volleyball courts.

Heading to Pentagon City, two developers are taking steps forward on long-standing redevelopment plans.

The first, plans from Brookfield Properties to redevelop the old TSA headquarters at 601 and 701 12th Street S., marks progress after a years-long pause. Brookfield held off on advancing these plans while Arlington County was developing the Pentagon City Sector Plan, approved last year.

Now, Brookfield proposes carving up the land, dubbed 12th Street Landing, into three bays. It is mulling either apartments, condos and an office building, or a apartments and a hotel, per filings with Arlington County.

To keep its options open, it asks Arlington County to approve the overall “density and intensity consistent with the maximum allowed by the [Pentagon City] Sector Plan,” the materials say.

More concrete details would be approved with a later site plan application, the letter to the county said.

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Construction on apartments next to Ballston Harris Teeter set to wrap up this year

By Jo DeVoe
1/4

New apartments along N. Glebe Road in Ballston are nearing completion.

Developer Southeastern Real Estate Group, LLC tells ARLnow construction on the residential redevelopment, near the Harris Teeter store, should be done in the next couple months.

Construction work on the apartments began in 2020. Although the units at the complex, dubbed URBA, are not quite finished, people are already signing leases, says Southeastern Vice President Mary Senn.

“Our first phase at URBA is currently in lease up,” she said.

The full redevelopment project is far from over, however. The next phase, of three, includes more apartments and a roughly 0.6-acre public park.

Senn says this phase will start “next summer.”

After that, a temporary parking lot will become the third apartment building: a 227-unit residential building ground-floor retail and below-grade parking.

Arlington County approved the redevelopment of 600 N. Glebe Road back in 2019. The proposal includes three residential buildings, with a total of 732 units, a new Harris Teeter and 77,575 square feet of ground-level retail.

There will also be below-grade parking garages, with 942 parking spaces total. Southeastern will also extend the existing N. Tazewell and N. Randolph streets into the site.

It is too early to tell whether this grocery store could potentially become a Piggly Wiggly, as the Washington Business Journal reported is a possibility after an ownership change of 10 local — but so far unidentified — Harris Teeter stores.

The site plan of the new Harris Teeter and adjacent apartment buildings, marked up to indicate phases (via Arlington County)

Some neighbors fought a duplex, and won, as county approves more Missing Middle homes

By Jo DeVoe
1313 N. Harrison Street (via Google Maps)

Last month, some neighbors told a developer they would “oppose any attempt to obtain permits” for a duplex in the Tara-Leeway Heights neighborhood, and the developer backed down.

McLean-based BeaconCrest Homes bought a single-family home at 1313 N. Harrison Street, an area residents have dubbed “Larchmont.” When it announced to neighbors its plans to build a duplex, a skirmish over the lot’s future — based on a provision in a deed from 1938 — ensued.

The tiff began in early August and ended with BeaconCrest agreeing to build a single-family home almost two weeks ago, according to correspondence between residents and the developer. The letters were published in an email newsletter authored by former Arlington County Board candidate Natalie Roy, tracking Missing Middle or “Expanded Housing Options” developments.

Two months ago, Arlington County began accepting applications for plans to build 2-6 unit homes where previously only single-family homes were allowed. Staff have approved five projects and 18 are under review, while the Larchmont neighbors fought BeaconCrest and some Alcova Heights residents are asking the county to reject some zoning changes associated with two EHO proposals.

On July 31, BeaconCrest bought 1313 N. Harrison Street for $950,000, according to Arlington County property records. In a letter dated Aug. 3, the developer told neighbors its plans despite an 85-year-old deed attached to the home saying “not more than one house shall be constructed upon the lot.”

Based on its analysis, the developer said it doubted this would be enforceable. Touting their previous experience going up against developers, neighbors disagreed, saying the law and Arlington County zoning code are on their side.

“As you may be aware, the Larchmont neighborhood has a history of successfully halting developers’ attempts to ignore similar existing deeds and covenants… e.g., 1320 Greenbrier and 1500 Harrison, among others,” the letter said.

They pointed to a provision in the county zoning code saying the more restrictive agreement, whether county code or existing agreements, controls what happens on a property.

How Arlington County zoning code handles conflicting provisions (via Arlington County)

Neighbors also accused the project of compounding unsafe traffic conditions on N. Harrison Street. They say drivers will slalom around parked vehicles on the narrow road to get between Washington and Langston Blvd.

“Your proposed development will only exacerbate this, endangering residents, including the many children who live on the block,” they said. “Adding multi-unit housing, which requires mandated space for on-street parking, will result in further traffic and safety issues.”

Street parking has been discontinued on some parts of N. Harrison Street for safety reasons, the letter says, noting other residents have asked the county for more parking restrictions to mitigate these traffic issues.

In her “EHO Watch” newsletter, Roy, who launched her campaign earlier this year opposing Missing Middle, called this a “win.”

“The takeaway from this win is that neighborhood covenants — where they exist and are germane — can be effective in promoting Arlington County’s stated Comprehensive Goals of having a diversity of densities while preserving existing neighborhoods,” she wrote.

“The other key point is it takes considerable volunteer time, energy, and organizing prowess by neighbors, to not only be vigilant but to act fast,” she continued.

Missing Middle advocates, including the leaders of pro-housing group YIMBYs of Northern Virginia, are celebrating their own wins, however. Jane Green recently lauded newly approved plans to turn a dilapidated carriage house within walking distance of the Ballston Metro station into a 6-plex.

An old real estate listing for the property she found had touted that the new owner could build a 5-bedroom, 4-bathroom custom-built home and convert the existing carriage house into a 1-bedroom, 1-bathroom accessory dwelling unit.

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From rail yards to residential towers: Rosslyn’s half-century transformation

By James Jarvis
1/16

(Updated 10:30 a.m.) Where the prosaic golden arches of the stand-alone McDonald’s once perched, a residential high-rise now joins the many skyscrapers defining Rosslyn’s changing skyline.

Some old landmarks have been incorporated into new high-rises, including the McDonald’s now beneath Central Place Tower on N. Lynn Street and the former Fire Station 10 at the base of The Highlands.

Others, such as Tom Sarris’ Orleans House, a fixture for nearly 50 years, were replaced with offices and a newer generation of businesses like Compass Coffee and Cava.

Although commercial office buildings have been a constant feature of Rosslyn’s skyline over the past 40 years, the last decade has seen a shift towards more living space.

Anthony Fusarelli, Arlington County’s planning director, says that out of the approximately 8 million square feet of new development planned in Rosslyn, nearly half is designated for residential use. Office space accounts for roughly 2.8 million square feet, retail occupies 171,459 square feet, and the remaining space is allocated for hotels.

The transformation reflects a broader shift the county undertook over the last 20 years to steer urban planning toward residential and mixed-use development to accommodate a growing population, boost economic activity and adapt to people’s waning enthusiasm for the conventional workplace.

This trend is likely to persist, not only because of changes in work patterns post-pandemic, but also because Arlington County is encouraging residential development in Metro-oriented Rosslyn to help address its reported shortage of housing supply.

Planning Rosslyn’s future

To understand how and why this shift occurred, Fusarelli pointed to Rosslyn’s history.

Sixty years ago, if someone had ascended the 555-foot Washington Monument and looked westward across the Potomac River, they would have seen a very different Rosslyn. The view would have been dominated by rail yards, pawnshops, oil storage tanks and other retail and industrial operations.

“So, just this mix of varied uses that is quite different from what we have today,” Fusarelli said.

Aerial view of Rosslyn circa 1962 (via Arlington County)

After  World War II, Fusarelli said the Arlington County Board recognized the area was valuable because of its proximity to D.C. Eager to establish Rosslyn as an auxiliary office hub for the growing federal government, the county embarked on an aggressive campaign to transform the area into a vibrant business district.

“Back in the early ’60s, Arlington established a new zoning tool called the ‘site plan process,’ which incentivized private landowners to build much taller buildings, much bigger buildings, in exchange for providing certain public benefits,” Fusarelli said.

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How an Arlington Mill condo association plans to transform itself — on a budget

By Jo DeVoe
1/3

(Updated at 12:40 p.m.) Residents of an aging condo complex near Columbia Pike are embarking on a novel project to upgrade their living situations while dodging staggering condo fees.

Members of the Arlington Heights Condominiums, located on 8th Road S. in the Arlington Mill neighborhood, plan to get the property redeveloped while ensuring every resident who wants to stay can.

First, a developer will build a new 6-story building on the property, into which all 111 existing condo residents can move. Then the existing units will be razed for new housing, which could include apartments for seniors.

“We’re really taking this thing into our own hands,” says Andrew Pitts, the president of the condo association. “If we figure this out and we’re successful, other condos in Arlington that are struggling with these same issues will have a roadmap.”

Arlington Heights is a garden-style complex in South Arlington built during the post-World War II housing boom. It has a diverse population, including about a quarter who are immigrants and some who do not speak English proficiently.

It has seen better days, however. Resident Kenneth Trotter says circuit breakers frequently blow and buildings need upgrades to roofing, windows, plumbing, and electrical systems.

“Implementing these upgrades would incur substantial expenses and lead to high assessments for the member,” he said.

A soup-to-nuts rehabilitation could cost $15 million, or roughly $150,000 per resident in condo fees, Pitts said. This would price out a number of owners, himself included, over the next decade.

Those who sell would likely neither profit from the sale nor pocket enough to buy elsewhere in Arlington. Homes in the complex already have higher condo fees and sell for less than other nearby, newer units, according to a financial analysis prepared for residents.

So the association hired a developer, architect, contractor and land-use attorneys, and partnered with a bank, to wade through muddy legal waters and find a solution.

One year later, the team came up with the phased plan to build a new complex, move residents in and redevelop the rest of the property. Pitts says condo owners could spend $78,000 on condo fees and end up with new homes, a shared clubhouse and other amenities, compared to $150,000 just for rehabbed units.

Realtor Eli Tucker, who analyzed the proposal for residents — and whose firm, Eli Residential Group, advertises with ARLnow — says he is impressed by the “win-win-win structure” of the deal.

“The existing homeowners are delivered a tremendous housing upgrade and increase in property value without being displaced from their community,” he said. “The development team has the land and flexibility to deliver a community of properties that fits the demands of a wide range of owners and renters.”

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Barcroft Apartments developer bringing new community art space to the Pike

By Caroline Gage
A new sign is installed at Studio PAUSE on Columbia Pike (courtesy of Krista Brick)

The real estate company renovating and redeveloping the Barcroft Apartments is helping a local art studio expand its reach.

After renovating a Western Union in the Barcroft Shopping Center on Columbia Pike, owner Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners donated the lease to Studio PAUSE. There, the Arlington-based studio will host art and writing workshops, which will be free for Barcroft residents but for a fee for other community members.

With loans from Arlington County and Amazon, Jair Lynch Real Estate Partners the Barcroft Apartments in 2021 with plans to set aside all 1,344 units for affordable housing. At the time, it also purchased a Penske rental facility and nearby strip mall, which the company says it has no “immediate” plans to redevelop, but could nonetheless figure into future plans.

Instead, Jair Lynch views the shopping center as a place to foster the existing community at Barcroft — through the arts.

“The Barcroft Shopping Center adjacent to the Barcroft Apartments property is not just a convenient location for an arts center, it is already occupied by beloved retail tenants like Goodwill and Café Sazón,” Krista Brick, a representative for Jair Lynch, told ARLnow.

“The location along the Columbia Pike Corridor encourages members of the Barcroft community and our neighbors to learn from each other in a setting that fosters understanding and expression,” she continued.

The former Western Union space will be the third location for Studio PAUSE, which has also received donations from the county.

“Working with local community advocate BU-GATA and the Columbia Pike Partnership, the location was identified as a prime opportunity to work with Studio PAUSE to celebrate the diversity of Barcroft and empower our residents to tell their story through art,” said Mark Hannan, an investment manager at Jair Lynch, in a press release.

Studio PAUSE — an acronym for “People, Art, Understand, Share, Explore” — was started by Sushmita Mazumdar in 2013. The writer, artist and educator wanted to create a space where people could share stories and explore their creativity. Mazumdar is also part of the Columbia Pike Documentary Project, which will display photos, books and interviews in the new studio space.

The studio currently runs programs in the Gates of Ballston apartment complex, run by nonprofit affordable housing developer AHC Inc.

“We believe the collaboration between Barcroft Apartments and Studio PAUSE will provide a much-needed space for creativity, arts, and mental wellness,” said Columbia Pike Partnership Executive Director Kim Klingler in the press release. “We look forward to collaborating and making this a welcoming space for the community.”

Construction could begin next year on affordable housing redevelopment in Crystal City

By Jo DeVoe
1/4

Construction could start on the redevelopment of Crystal House Apartments in Crystal City late next spring.

Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (A, which is spearheading the project along with D.C.-area developer EYA, expects to kick off construction in May or June of 2024, APAH spokeswoman Elise Panko tells ARLnow.

Arlington County selected the two companies build more affordable housing on the Crystal House apartment property after Amazon granted the county development rights to the vacant land, worth approximately $40 million. APAH and EYA have plans to construct 844 units on this empty plot, of which 655 will be designated as affordable.

Meanwhile, existing units will be kept affordable through a separate loan from Amazon. In an effort to mitigate the impact of its move to Arlington on the local housing market, the tech giant loaned the Washington Housing Conservancy money to purchase and stabilize rent at the complex, located at 1900 S. Eads Street, just one block from its second headquarters.

Several months after being selected to lead the project, APAH has requested the county’s permission to amend the previously approved development plans for the site, aiming to incorporate affordable housing, according to recently filed application materials.

APAH began by redesigning the project’s first phase, dubbed “Crystal House VI,” which is set to be located at the corner of 18th Street S. and S. Fern Street.

A rendering of Crystal House VI (via Arlington County)

When the project was approved in 2019, the “Crystal House VI” was envisioned as a five-story building housing 63 units. However, APAH now intends to pivot towards affordable senior rentals, which the developer says is necessary to secure additional financing.

The developer requested permission to increase the number of units to 80 and halve the number of parking spaces.

It also requested different façade materials that “maintain a high quality and appealing design while reducing construction costs,” according to land-use attorney Nicholas Cumings.

According to a letter from Cummings, the increase in units can be achieved without changing the building’s overall footprint. The units will be smaller than the originally planned market-rate condos.

“The proposed minor site plan amendment represents a significant milestone in realizing the county’s goals,” APAH Executive Vice President Carmen Romero wrote in a letter of support to the county. “Creating these homes requires the approval of this minor site plan amendment in order to make the design compatible with an affordable senior rental project.”

Once construction starts next year, Panko says APAH anticipates Crystal House VI to be done in the fall or winter of 2025.

“This phase will reconnect the streetscape to the surrounding community as well as provide carefully crafted amenities for our seniors that foster a sense of belonging and enhance the overall quality of life for residents,” Romero said in her letter.

When asked for a timeline of the other projects in the pipeline, Panko said “there are two buildings on the site that will remain occupied, so the development will be phased to accommodate existing operations.”

A popular noodle restaurant is moving to Pentagon City from Old Town Alexandria

By Matt Blitz
1/2

A popular noodle restaurant is leaving Alexandria and making the move to Pentagon City.

Yunnan By Potomac is looking to start serving its contemporary Yunnan cuisine on the ground floor of the new Milton building along 15th Street S. by March 2024, owner and executive chef Shao Bruce told ARLnow in an email.

The restaurant is relocating from its home in Old Town Alexandria, where it’s been since early 2019.

“We chose to relocate to Pentagon City because it offers us a wide base of both residential and office business to draw from and is projected to be one of the fastest growing markets locally,” Bruce said in response to why they decided to move.

Bruce said the Alexandria location will remain open until the 2,015-square-foot Pentagon City space is ready to be moved into.

Last year, Yunnan By Potomac was named one of the 100 best restaurants in the country by Yelp reviewers. The eatery specializes in mixian, a rice noodle popular in southwest China that often comes with braised meat, broth, and different sauces. Bao buns, dumplings, and shaokao barbecue are also on the menu.

“Yunnan By Potomac Noodle House strives to be an ambassador for the people and culture of Southwest China and add to the story of what it means to be Chinese-American through our lens on contemporary Yunnan cuisine,” the website says.

The Milton is an 11-story, 253-unit building with ground-floor retail that is part of the multi-phase redevelopment of the Pentagon Centre shopping center, which includes the perpetually busy Costco store. The apartment building opened for move-ins at the beginning of June and units remain available for leasing, a building employee tells ARLnow.

Two other retail spaces in the Milton have been leased so far, per a recent leasing brochure. First National Bank and a salon named “Sparkle & Pop” are also moving in along 15th Street S.

Three other spaces remain available in the building, including a 1,649 square foot space intended for a “fast casual restaurant” and a much larger 5,375 square foot space for a “full-service restaurant.”

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