development

Public review process kicks off for hotel redevelopment proposal near Rosslyn

By Jo DeVoe
1/5

A proposal to redevelop the Red Lion Hotel near Rosslyn is beginning its journey through the Arlington County approval process.

Local development group Orr Partners took over previously approved plans from 2019 to replace the hotel and the Ellis Arms Apartments in the Radnor-Fort Myer Heights neighborhood with a 10-story condo building and 12-story hotel.

After taking over, Orr expanded the scope of its project. Now, it intends to build on a 2.2-acre site composed of the hotel, formerly the Best Western Iwo Jima hotel, which opened in 1958, as well as the Ellis Arms and Williamsburg apartments, which were built in 1954.

Instead of a condo building and hotel, it proposes building a 446-unit, 8-story apartment complex at 1501 Arlington Blvd, bounded by Fairfax Drive to the south and the Parc Rosslyn Apartments and Belvedere Condominiums to the north.

Existing conditions at the Red Lion Hotel site (via Arlington County)

“We think it will revitalize this neighborhood and bring critically needed housing to Arlington County,” Tyler Orr of Orr Partners said in a video. “Our company has been honored to deliver numerous projects in Arlington County over the last 35 years. In all our projects, we seek to enhance the fabric of the surrounding community, be considerate of our neighbors and give something back with any new community we deliver.”

In exchange for razing the two 14-unit apartment buildings, Orr says the company will provide on-site affordable housing.

That has to amount to at least 28 units or the same square footage lost to redevelopment, according to county planner Adam Watson. He said in a video that Orr is held to this standard because it is building on a site that is mostly designated a “special affordable housing protection district.”

Watson said county staffers are working with Orr on an affordable housing plan that replaces the lost housing.

Presentation materials from Orr say the proposal mostly includes a mix of one- and two-bedroom units, though there are 15 two-bedroom “junior” apartments and 12 three-bedroom units, which are at a premium in Arlington County.

Orr Partners intends to reach LEED Gold certification and plans to include three courtyards as well as at- and below-grade, at a rate of 0.57 spaces per unit.

“Architecturally, the base of the building is scaled to respect the heights of the residential developments along the Arlington Blvd corridor,” architect Chris Gordon said in the Orr presentation. “The design incorporates various techniques to break up the massing, through alternating materials, use of color, textures and providing interior courtyards out to Arlington Blvd beginning at third-level amenity terrace.”

He notes the structure is shaped to capture “primary views of the Capital mall” and to bring together amenities so “all residents to engage in this terrific location.”

Orr Partners is also leaving enough space in its development to allow Arlington County to reconstruct the Arlington Blvd Trail that is across street, says county planner Adam Watson. Base engineering for that project is in progress.

The county is asking for feedback on the proposal related to land use, building form, architecture, transportation, landscaping and public space and community benefits.

After the feedback form closes later this month, the first Site Plan Review Committee meeting will be held in September, followed by a second in October. Meetings for commission and Arlington County Board approval have yet to be scheduled.

Local leaders hope second Crystal City Metro entrance can help further revitalize and connect neighborhood

By Jo DeVoe
1/10

(Updated at 9:40 a.m. on 8/1/23) If you build it, they will come.

That is the philosophy guiding the planned construction of the east entrance to the Crystal City Metro station, for which Arlington County inked a contract earlier this month.

First floated in 2002, the idea of a second Crystal City Metro entrance remained on the local radar before becoming one of the suite of transportation projects the county and state agreed to deliver in order to secure Amazon’s (recently opened) second headquarters in Arlington.

This month, Arlington approved a contract with JBG Smith and Clark Construction, which together agreed to build the second entrance for no more than $117 million. Design work is not yet complete, however, and the new entrance may not be ready until 2027.

The new entrance will be located at the northwest corner of Crystal Drive and 18th Street S., a couple of blocks from the current entrance.

Although a few years away, project proponents say the project will bring visitors closer to Crystal Drive, a part of Crystal City undergoing significant change, and will create a “transit hub” connecting people to rail (VRE and Amtrak), buses and the airport. Doing so, they say, will make using Metro more convenient and, thus, encourage additional ridership, which remains below pre-pandemic levels.

“This east entrance really brings transit where it belongs, into the heart of a commercial district,” says Tracy Sayegh Gabriel, the president and executive director of the National Landing Business Improvement District.

“Crystal Drive is a commercial spine and there are many enhancements and new destinations that will deliver soon and will seamlessly connect to the entrance,” she continued. “In 2024, we will realize a truly reinvisioned Crystal Drive.”

The Crystal City Water Park, set to reopen this September with a number of food vendor stalls, would be across the street from the new entrance. A retail strip with Mah-Ze-Dahr, Tacombi, and the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is steps away, while two dozen other retailers are set to move into Crystal Drive over the next year, including a new restaurant called Surreal.

Construction upgrades at the Crystal City Water Park are nearly complete (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Proponents say the second entrance will facilitate connections to other transit modes. Getting between VRE and Metro, for instance, can be a confusing hassle, says local civic association president Eric Cassel.

“Everybody who is a tourist or something like that, they have a hard time finding it currently, it’s kind of hidden away,” he said. “People don’t take transit as much because it’s difficult to transfer between that and buses and everything else. One of the reasons to make a focal point of a transit hub is to get people who would otherwise drive to take transit.”

The new station will also make hopping on the Metro a bit less of a slog for people who live or work in the neighborhood.

“This new entrance would save me and others 5 minutes of walking up the hill to get to the current entrance,” says Jay Corbalis, public affairs vice president for JBG Smith.

“That doesn’t sound like a lot to some people, but when you think about that every day, twice a day, for thousands of people, it starts to add up why it’s an important project,” he continued. “It changes the geography of National Landing. It brings that many people closer to the rest of the region.”

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GMU acquires office building across from Mason Square campus amid expansion project

By Hallie LeTendre
1/3

George Mason University is mulling a future expansion of its Arlington campus.

To realize that long-term goal, this April the university purchased an $8.25 million piece of property across the street from the its Mason Square campus in Virginia Square, according to county property records.

The acquisition is located at 3300 Fairfax Drive, in a 1960s-era office building that currently has some law and insurance agent offices, as well as a pilates and yoga studio.

In the immediate future, the university does not have plans for the site.

“These properties are strategic investments that provide security and flexibility for the future of the Mason Square Campus,” GMU media relations manager John Hollis told ARLnow.

“In the near term, Mason expects to continue current or similar operations to the existing tenants, while longer term opportunities include potential developments in support of Mason’s faculty, students, and mission,” he continued.

Although the statement alluded to more than one property, Hollis did not specify any other properties recently acquired by the school.

The Arlington campus of the Fairfax County-based university holds the university’s School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, economics, business and arts departments, the Antonin Scalia Law School and the Schar School of Policy and Government.

Mason Square is currently in the midst of a major expansion, with the under-construction Fuse building set to host labs, classrooms, an innovation center and retail spaces, among other uses. The university estimates the building will be substantially complete in May 2025.

Should the newly-acquired building be redeveloped in the future, it would join a bevy of other projects in the area, including the redevelopment of the nearby YMCA, St. Charles Catholic Church, the Joyce Motors site and the former Silver Diner location.

Westmont Apartments opens on Columbia Pike, as Five Guys and another eatery plan to move in

By Matt Blitz
Westmont Apartments (photo courtesy of Matt Hagan)

The long-awaited Westmont Apartments on Columbia Pike is now open and ready for move-ins, with a pair of restaurants setting up on the ground floor.

Developer Republic Properties Corporation announced last week that the 258,000-square-foot mixed-use building at the corner of Columbia Pike and S. Glebe Road had opened its doors. The project was first approved about four years ago.

The new construction sits on the former site of the Westmont Shopping Center, which was demolished in late 2021. Apartments are “now available for lease with immediate move-ins available,” reads the press release, with monthly rental rates starting at $2,345.

Westmont is also set to have six ground-floor retail tenants in addition to 250 apartments, a spokesperson confirmed to ARLnow. That includes a now-national burger franchise returning to where it started.

ARLnow reported back in March that Five Guys Burgers & Fries was set to return to near the site of its original location. Five Guys opened its first very small location at the Westmont Shopping Center in 1986. Close to four decades later, there are more than 1,700 restaurants doing close to three billion in sales across the world.

The new Five Guys on Columbia Pike will take up about 2,400 square feet and will be located near the Glebe Road intersection. An opening date for the burger spot has not been finalized yet, per a Republic Properties spokesperson.

While the spokesperson declined to provide any other information about the other five tenants, a recent leasing brochure obtained by ARLnow provides clues to at least two other businesses moving in.

An Allcare urgent care clinic appears to be coming to the S. Glebe Road side of the development. This would be the fourth Allcare clinic in Arlington, with the latest opening in Rosslyn earlier this year.

And two doors down from Five Guys on the Columbia Pike, it appears that a Jersey Mike’s Subs will be opening in a small 1,141-square-foot space. This would be the sub shop’s first location in Arlington.

There remains a 2,164 square foot space, 1,756 square foot space, and a much larger 10,630 square foot space, per the leasing brochure.

A smaller-format grocery store was initially supposed to fill one of those spaces, but it’s currently unclear where that stands.

Renovation plans for 93 units at Barcroft get thumbs up from County Board

By Jo DeVoe
1/3

Plans to renovate some of the buildings within the Barcroft Apartments complex on Columbia Pike cleared an important hurdle on Tuesday.

The Arlington County Board approved a use permit enabling renovation plans for 93 homes at the corner of S. George Mason Drive and S. Four Mile Run Drive on Tuesday. These will occur concurrently with long-term planning for how to redevelop select parcels within the sprawling acreage.

Board Chair Christian Dorsey said property owner and developer Jair Lynch is taking “virtually unheard of” steps to meet with residents and inform them of the project, sending monthly reports of these meetings to the county.

“I don’t want you to necessarily give them applause but understand there is a structure in place by which more information is learned, that they can share, and there is a vehicle to share it,” he said. “We’ll be watching. We’ll be monitoring. It’s really been working pretty well this far.”

Jair Lynch acquired the property in December 2021 using a $150 million loan from Arlington County and a $160 million loan from Amazon.

The terms of the agreement preserved the affordability of the 1,334 units for residents earning up to 60% of the area median income for 99 years. Jair Lynch is exploring making some units affordable to residents meeting lower income thresholds.

Since then, Jair Lynch has been meeting with residents to seek input on the changes and assuage them that legacy residents — those who Jair Lynch identified as living at the complex before the property was purchased — will not be displaced.

It is working with county staff to plot out redevelopment and renovation work and how it will pay for these changes, submitting a development and financing plan last October, which is currently under review. This fall, Jair Lynch and the county will discuss the mix of affordability levels on the site.

After the renovations, the number of homes will remain at 93 but, using bump-outs, 14 homes will become 3-bedroom and 4 will become 4-bedroom units. There will be landscape and site improvements, including to garages for tenants, and the buildings will incorporate environmentally friendly amenities and features.

Bump-outs at Barcroft Apartments to increase the size of 17 units (via Arlington County)

The renovations may require residents to be temporarily relocated elsewhere on the site, for which Jair Lynch will pay. After the units change size, legacy residents may seek to live in another unit on-site, Melissa Danowski, the county project coordinator for Barcroft, confirmed for the Board.

A resident meeting explaining next steps was held this April and information will continue to be shared with residents to give them time to prepare for any disruption. Those who will be relocated will get a 120-day notice.

Ahead of the meeting, there was some discussion among Planning Commission members about whether the sloped site can be made more accessible to people with disabilities, as some areas are only accessible by stairs and at least one building does not have an elevator.

Project representatives said that making accessibility upgrades will be difficult. Modifications could be made to the rest of the site to add accessible units, per a summary of the discussion shared with the Board.

Commissioners also discussed what would become of the tree canopy on the site.

Jair Lynch proposes removing trees where they conflict with construction or stormwater facilities or if they are in poor health or are invasive species, a report said. The developer plans to exceed tree replacement numbers.

County grants developer more time to finish public improvements in Courthouse

By Jo DeVoe
A reconfigured 15th Street N. in Courthouse along one edge of the “Landmark Block” development (staff photo)

A slate of public improvements associated with the construction of a new apartment building in Courthouse are experiencing slight delays.

A year and a half ago, developer Greystar agreed to take on public improvements on behalf of the county in exchange for more units at its redevelopment project. The 423-unit, 20-story residential building dubbed “The Commodore” also has 17,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and an underground parking garage.

The upgrades include pavement, sidewalk, curb and gutter improvements to public streets and the sidewalk adjacent to the California Tortilla, Brooklyn Bagel and Ireland’s Four Courts.

Greystar also agreed to improve and relocate traffic signal equipment and install parking meters — or pay to cover the costs of these upgrades — and install historic markers and a communication conduit.

Designing and constructing these upgrades has progressed on a separate track from the apartment building, and the developer and county staff are still working on getting a civil engineering plan approved, according to a county report.

The long approval timeline could have jeopardized when tenants would move in because the initial agreement conditioned occupancy permits on these street upgrades getting done, the report said. This weekend, the Arlington County Board relieved the developer of this requirement so it can open the apartments this fall and complete the projects on a new schedule.

County staff say the civil engineering plan could happen later this summer.

One reason for the slow progress, per the report, is that Greystar has to coordinate with its other Courthouse development project on the nearby Wendy’s site, which will deliver “similar, though not as extensive” public improvement projects.

“This has resulted in the applicant being delayed in completion of the Off-Site Improvements work in a timely manner, as delays related to design work are compounded by the long lead times required for delivery of materials and installation of the improvements,” it says.

“The Commodore” redeveloped a site that once had a series of single-story commercial buildings called the Landmark block. Together, the two projects are set to realize a significant part of Arlington’s vision for Courthouse’s development.

Silver Diner redevelopment project faces delays over ‘unresolved design challenges’ with N. Irving Street

By Jo DeVoe
1/12

The empty Silver Diner in Clarendon may remain standing for a little longer while redevelopment plans for the site wrap up.

The former restaurant at 3200 Wilson Blvd closed in December and soon thereafter reopened in Ballston. Seven months later, developers proposing to build a hotel and apartment building on the site say more time is needed to make the ground floor of their project more welcoming to pedestrians.

Bounded by 10th Street N., Wilson Blvd and N. Irving Street, the site includes the diner, The Lot beer garden — itself issuing a last call for drinks this year — two brick structures called “The Doctors Building,” and an auto repair facility.

The developers, TCS Realty Associates and The Donohoe Cos., are asking the Arlington County Board for another two months to fix “unresolved design challenges” that arose during the public review process, per a county report. On Saturday, the Board is set to vote on the request, potentially delaying a final review until September.

Mostly, the design challenges relate to how the developer plans to use N. Irving Street.

TCS and Donohoe intend to put hotel-related facilities and a loading area along N. Irving Street, which Arlington County staff said in a report earlier this year deviates from the 2022 Clarendon Sector Plan. This plan, developed in anticipation of the Silver Diner redevelopment, among others, envisions this street as walkable and with outward-facing retail.

In response to earlier feedback, the developers added a “living green wall” to the hotel façade along N. Irving Street. While appreciative of the effort, staff said in March that a grassy wall does not address the lack of retail or the pedestrian-vehicle conflicts a loading area could create.

Façade changes to 3200 Wilson Blvd redevelopment (via Arlington County)

“The applicant has designed the ground floor plan of the Hotel building to have the less active uses (i.e. kitchen, employee break room, etc.) along Irving Street,” said a county report from March, adding that county planning documents instead suggest the street should have “retail, retail equivalents, food establishments, entertainment establishments.”

Arlington County says the loading area, meanwhile, pits vehicles turning in and out of the hotel against pedestrians who use N. Irving Street to access the Clarendon Metro station.

It anticipates more people using N. Irving Street to access a public plaza called for in the Clarendon Sector Plan. The space where this will go became public right of way after some street upgrades along Wilson Blvd. The future plaza will be delivered with a project to redevelop the Wells Fargo nearby.

Silver Diner site and future N. Irving Street plaza, elements emphasized by ARLnow (via Arlington County

“Irving Street is recognized as a pedestrian desire line from the Ashton Heights and Lyon Park Civic Associations to the Clarendon Metro stop,” the county report said. “The addition of a curb cut on Irving Street presents pedestrian conflicts and is contrary to County policies that discourage curb cuts and loading activity near public spaces, in this case the public plaza at the terminus of Irving Street.”

The sector plan suggests loading should instead occur on 10th Road N. It envisions the new road as an east-west connection to provide access to parking and loading facilities.

Days Inn developer tees up planned apartments for County Board approval

By Jo DeVoe
1/6

A midcentury modern-inspired apartment project, heralded as the “gateway to Lyon Park,” is headed to the Arlington County Board for approval.

The 8-story, 251-unit building, with nearly 3,000 square feet of ground floor retail, would replace the Days Inn motel along Arlington Blvd, once a 1950s-era roadside motel named the “Arva,” a portmanteau for “Arlington, Virginia.”

When complete, the motel’s historic sign and lobby will be recreated. There will be protected bike lanes on both sides of N. Pershing Drive and N. Wainwright Road — a vestigial frontage road for the motel — will become a 12-foot multi-use trail with a bike “fix-it” station.

Applicant and owner Nayan Patel, doing business as Arlington Boulevard LLC, is making monetary and in-kind contributions to an on-site public space project that the Dept. of Parks and Recreation will design.

There will also be seven committed affordable units on site: 1-2 bedroom units with either a loft or den attached, as well as two three-bedroom units. The developer intends to plant 25 new, healthy trees to replace the 28 unhealthy ones that will be removed.

Although the project — dubbed the Arva Apartments — could clear the finish line this weekend, some Arlington Planning Commissioners had quibbles with the project or dug into criticisms levied by the public speakers related to tree planting and other community benefits.

The tree plantings, for instance, are “clearly an improvement, but the bar is so low to begin with,” Planning Commissioner Leonardo Sarli. “We still have to aspire to something.”

Lyon Park resident Anne Bodine, who has spoken in other meetings as a member of the slow-growth group Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future, says she was underwhelmed by the on-site affordable housing provision and tree planting plans.

She asked the Planning Commission to reconsider how it weighs community benefits.

“If we see these at-cost, we can better assess these trade-offs,” she said.

She said she felt the county effectively told residents it was too early to advocate for benefits during a special study of the site — completed in advance of redevelopment proposals and adopted in 2021 — but it was too late once the public review process began for this project.

Planning Commissioner Jim Lantelme had a different view.

“I do want to commend the staff and developers for how closely they did work with Lyon Park, which did participate at every phase in every meeting and they were very vocal,” he said. “They were very much involved. Their input was heard and responded to, so I think this project did evolve in response to that community process.”

Climate Change, Energy and Environment Commission Chair Joan McIntyre said this project relies too heavily on fossil fuels for its HVAC and water systems, though she was heartened to see these systems could be converted to electric in the future.

A project architect said that the method selected, counterintuitively, would emit less carbon than a fully electric system, based on an analysis of “where the electricity is coming from.”

Ballston Holiday Inn redevelopment proposal reaches Arlington County Board

By Jo DeVoe
1/12

Redevelopment plans for a Holiday Inn and office building in Ballston are headed to the Arlington County Board for approval.

The developers, Hoffman & Associates and Snell Properties, intend to replace the hotel (4600 Fairfax Drive) and Arlington Center Building (4610 Fairfax Drive) with a seven-story, 432-unit apartment building and two five-story, 15-unit buildings.

The development duo also propose building a new private road and alley for parking and loading activity, as well as new sidewalks and streetscapes along them.

The site is located west of N. Glebe Road, along N. Fairfax Drive, just before it becomes an on- and off-ramp to I-66. It is five blocks from the Ballston Metro station and two blocks from a proposed western entrance, currently in an early design phase.

“This site has a lot of surface parking, structured parking, an office building, the Holiday Inn, and a disconnected relationship to our neighbors to the south,” Cathy Puskar, a land use attorney for the developers, told the Planning Commission last week. “It’s been here quite a long time… so we are very eager to move forward with that.”

Hoffman and Snell have cleared nearly every step in the public review process. On Saturday, the Arlington County Board is set to review their request for easements in order to build on the site.

Much has changed since the initial submission more than a year ago.

“This project went through a substantial evolution as we went through the [Site Plan Review Committee] process,” Arlington County planner Adam Watson said during the Planning Commission meeting.

In response to public feedback, the layout changed and a bicycle and pedestrian path was widened to 12 feet and moved.

The 5-story buildings are now to the west of the 7-story building, rather than to its south. Watson says this creates a better height transition from the tall George Washington University building at 950 N. Glebe Road to the single-family homes west of the 4600 Fairfax Drive site.

Now, the proposed path separates the 7-story and 5-story buildings. Watson says this furthers county plans to add a “West Ballston Connection” linking with the Bluemont Junction, Custis and Ballston Pond trails at Fairfax Drive.

The evolution of the site layout for 4600 Fairfax Drive, by Jo DeVoe (via Arlington County)

Watson said the project now delivers “a much improved streetscape, especially along Fairfax Drive” and less impervious surface area. It preserves more trees to increase the buffer between the development and the single-family homes nearby, he said.

“We really loved that first version… but we are very proud of where we are today,” Puskar said. “Despite some painful cuts and changes, we listened, and this is why we have such a good plan in front of you today.”

While the developers directed the bulk of residential traffix to Fairfax Drive — as opposed to the smaller private road south of the site, to allay concerns about traffic flow — some residents still have misgivings, Planning Commissioner Jim Lantelme said.

Climate Change, Energy and Environment Commission representative Mark Greenwood praised the project’s use of electricity rather than gas, but suggested the developers replace the gas stoves with induction ones, while adding more parking for electric vehicles.

NEW: More than a dozen Missing Middle permit applications are in the works so far

By Jo DeVoe
1/4

(Updated at 4:05 p.m.) Eight permit applications for Missing Middle housing proposals have been accepted by Arlington County since Saturday, the first day for such filings.

Another seven are at various stages of completion, marked “application complete” or “awaiting plans and documents,” according to permit records, as of Wednesday afternoon.

There are several other placeholder permits — those that people have started but not yet finished.

Some were at the ready on Day 1 of the Missing Middle — also called Expanded Housing Options — permitting process. Nine permits were filed on July 1, while another two each have come in on Sunday, Monday and yesterday, per the records.

The homes proposed for redevelopment are typically concentrated in or near Metro areas, such as East Falls Church, Ballston, Virginia Square, Clarendon and Pentagon City, per the addresses associated with each permit.

So far, all eight accepted applications are located in R-5 and R-6 zoning districts, or those with 5,000 to 6,000-square-foot lots, respectively, Arlington County Dept. of Community Planning, Housing and Development spokeswoman Erika Moore said.

Specifically, three are in R-5 and five are in R-6 districts, according to the county. This means only four more permits can be issued for homes in R-5 districts this calendar year, as the county capped the permits for this zoning district at seven annually. Meanwhile, 30 total permits can be issued for R-6 districts in one year.

Another 21 permits are allowed annually across zones with 8, 10 or 20,000-square-foot lots (R-8, R-10 or R-20). None have been issued in these districts yet.

One-third of the permit applications so far are for 3-unit townhouses. Duplexes and six-plexes each comprise roughly one-quarter and the remaining two are quad-plexes.

As for off-street parking, five have one parking space per unit, four have more than one space per unit and six have less than one space per unit. Earlier this year, critics predicted (and some incorporated this into a lawsuit) that lower parking minimums — and thus greater reliance on on-street parking — would clog narrow streets.

Arlington County has launched a web page with information about applying for an EHO permit, in addition to a page tracking these developments. The tracker includes the address and zoning district for each property, the number of units proposed, the permit number and submission date, among other information.

“The County has committed to tracking EHO permit submissions and approvals so both potential applicants and interested community members can see how many EHO projects are proposed — and where they are located,” per an Arlington County email newsletter.

“Work is underway on connecting permitting system data to the County’s Open Data Portal to create a user-friendly dashboard. Until that tool is available, County staff will post weekly updates on applications and their status online,” the email continued. “Tracking will begin on Friday, July 7.”

The tracker was updated almost two days early, on Wednesday evening.

Currently, the EHO permits issued do not authorize construction, according to the webpage. A separate county staff review is needed before builders can start construction.

There is no fee associated with this permit though one may be proposed next year.

The county recently published a how-to video, below, demonstrating the application process.

Photos 1, 2, 3 and 4 via Google Maps

New draft plan for Langston Blvd calls for private development to help build public benefits

By Jo DeVoe
1/5

(Updated 3:50 p.m.) Arlington County has published a new draft plan outlining how to encourage private development on Langston Blvd to turn it into a walkable, bikeable corridor with apartment buildings and public spaces.

The plan, released last week, follows up on a more conceptual document released last year. This document introduced the vision for less dense neighborhoods giving way to “activity hubs,” such as the Lyon Village Shopping Center, developed with 15-story apartment buildings.

Since then, the county says it made several changes responding to public feedback calling for more housing, especially affordable housing, and more incentives to generate public benefits. The plan leverages new housing construction to preserve historical properties — like the decades-old Moore’s Barber Shop in the Hall’s Hill neighborhood — and inject the area with new stormwater infrastructure, privately-owned public spaces, new east-west roads, streetscapes, and trail connections.

The new draft calls for taller allowable heights in certain areas, a general increase in housing units that could be built throughout the corridor, more public spaces and buffered bicycle lanes. It recommends policy and zoning changes and publicly funded infrastructure projects to facilitate the new development and has a timeline assigning tasks to various county divisions.

Changes to the Plan Langston Blvd draft (via Arlington County)

Alreadly, the draft plan has generated positive reception by some in the community, but also criticism by others of specific elements. One general criticism: the reliance on private development to deliver public spaces and needed infrastructure, especially stormwater management.

This follows divergent feedback over the last year about how, and whether, the corridor should develop — though neighbors are more united around transportation and streetscape upgrades for Langston Blvd.

Cherrydale Civic Association President Jim Todd says he was surprised to see the number of housing units go up. The 2022 concept plan estimated 8,431 new units could be possible. The new draft brought up the estimate to 9,400 new units.

The unit increase responds to calls from several residents, local advocacy groups and citizen commissions, according to Plan Langston Blvd Coordinator Natasha Alfonso-Ahmed. These comments stressed the importance of Langston Blvd for reaching a county goal to increase affordable housing in North Arlington by 2040.

Planners increased allowable heights in certain areas to further incentivize developers to build community benefits and deliver affordable housing, while updating guidance to ensure these buildings taper down to low-rise homes nearby.

Heights are now up to 15 stories in some places immediately south of I-66, where previously a 12-story limit was considered. Elsewhere in the North Highlands area, north of Rosslyn, heights are up to 12 stories, instead of 10. The same increase occurred across from the Lyon Village Shopping Center.

Elsewhere, allowable heights increased from seven to 10 stories near the Lee Heights Shopping Center and at the intersection with N. Oak Street. Upper limits increased from five to six stories at the intersection with N. George Mason Drive and south of Langston Blvd, west of Rosslyn.

Additionally, the county added 14 more public spaces to the plan and converted “sharrows” — where bicyclists and drivers share the road — into buffered bike lanes in two places.

Transit advocate Gillian Burgess welcomed the removal of “sharrows” and lauded the occasional protected bike lanes, undergrounded utilities and parking and increased transit.

Overall, however, she says the plan falls short of making travel safe and sustainable. Instead, it waits for more people to opt to ride the bus to improve bus service, through increased service and bus-priority signals.

“This is not a plan that will enable children to get to school on their own. This is not a plan that will enable an equitable transportation system. This is not a plan that reduce many car trips in favor of more safe and sustainable modes,” she said. “As our ideal, long-term goal, knowing what we know and with the technology we have in 2023, this is disappointing.”

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