development

Columbia Pike Charrettes Get Underway Tonight

By ARLnow.com

Disclosure: The Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization, which is helping to organize the charrettes, is an ARLnow.com advertiser.

Want to help plan and design the future of Columbia Pike? A series of charrettes — fast-paced, wide-ranging planning sessions — are being held on the Pike over the next week.

The primary public charrette will be held Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the Sheraton National Hotel (900 S. Orme Street), and everybody is invited to participate and help guide the Pike’s continuing development. A light lunch will be provided.

Here’s a complete schedule:

  • Friday, June 24
    • 7:00 to 9:30 p.m.: Pike Neighborhoods Plan Charrette Kick-Off Presentation — Sheraton National Hotel @ 900 S. Orme Street
  • Saturday, June 25
    • 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.: Pike Neighborhoods Plan Charrette Day — Sheraton National Hotel @ 900 S. Orme Street
    • 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.: Community Social and Light Buffet (“celebrate a day of community work”) — P. Brennan’s Irish Pub @ 2910 Columbia Pike
  • Sunday, June 26
    • 1:00 to 6:00 p.m. — Open Design Studio (“talk with the design team as the plan concepts evolve”) — Siena Park apartments @ 2301 Columbia Pike
  • Monday, June 27
    • 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. — Open Design Studio — Siena Park apartments @ 2301 Columbia Pike
    • 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. — Planning for Open Spaces in Urban Settings — Arlington Career Center @ 816 S. Walter Reed Drive
  • Tuesday, June 28
    • 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. — Open Design Studio — Siena Park apartments @ 2301 Columbia Pike
    • 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. — Open House (“an informal review of work completed at the design studios”) — Siena Park apartments @ 2301 Columbia Pike
  • Wednesday, June 29
    • 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. — Open Design Studio — Siena Park apartments @ 2301 Columbia Pike
  • Thursday, June 30
    • 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. — Work in Progress Presentation (“a presentation of work completed by the planning team”) — Sheraton National Hotel @ 900 S. Orme Street

New Giant Opens on Columbia Pike

By ARLnow.com

Cash registers are ringing at the long-awaited Penrose Square Giant on Columbia Pike.

The store opened its doors to customers tonight in advance of its official opening Friday morning. Shoppers enjoyed free wine and food samples and the music of a live mariachi band.

Located at the corner of the Pike and S. Barton Street, the 52,000 square foot store is brand new, with a number of enhancements compared to its Adams Square predecessor. Among the new features:

  • “SCAN IT!” hand-held devices, which allow customers to scan and bag their groceries while they shop
  • “ORDER IT!” deli kiosk, where customers can digitally place deli orders and continue shopping until alert is received
  • Full-service floral department
  • “Enhanced and expansive” produce department
  • Expanded selection of natural and organic food items
  • Bakery with Madelyn cakes and lattice pies
  • Full-service seafood department with “an expanded variety of items,” complimentary marinating and steaming
  • Full-service meat department with expanded selection
  • Energy Star-rated cooking appliances and equipment, heat reducing roof, low-e glass windows, skylights
  • Expanded International section offering variety of Hispanic, Italian, and Asian products
  • Complimentary cart-to-car service
  • An integrated PNC Bank branch

At a 6:00 p.m. ribbon cutting ceremony was held, featuring store employees, elected officials and neighborhood leaders.

“Welcome back to Columbia Pike,” said Takis Karantonis, Executive Director of the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization. Karantonis called the store opening a “critical moment” in the Pike’s continued development. He added that 7,000 households live within easy walking distance of the store.

The store will bring about 100 new jobs to the area, according to the company. Doors reopen Friday at 6:00 a.m.

More photos, after the jump.

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Bluemont Residents to Debate Development Plans

By ARLnow.com

A controversial development plan will be debated at the Bluemont Civic Association meeting tonight.

The plan, which we reported on in April, envisions a “Bluemont Village Center,” featuring new mixed-use developments along a stretch of Wilson Boulevard (west of Ballston) currently flanked by single-story shops, restaurants and an older Safeway supermarket. The plan was generated by the Bluemont Civic Association, with the volunteer help of a Virginia Tech graduate student, as part of its Neighborhood Conservation plan process.

The plan is only intended to guide future development along Wilson Boulevard, but its renderings of imagined 4 to 5 story buildings has elicited a strong response from residents who object to the potential increase in density.

“Is this your ‘vision’ of Bluemont?” asks a flyer (after the jump) that has been widely distributed in the neighborhood. The flyer argues that the plan could result in the displacement of existing small businesses (like Two Chefs, Pupatella and Body Dynamics), the addition of 100 to 200 apartments, greater competition for on-street parking and “at least 200 more cars flooding neighborhood streets each morning and evening.”

The flyer also cites a Bluemont Civic Association survey, which found that 54.5 percent of respondents objected to building heights over 3 stories. The same survey, however, found that 69.7 percent of respondents favored a “‘village center’ type development” — defined as “a mix of retail, office, residential, and cultural uses in a compact, pedestrian-oriented center.”

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New Office Buildings Planned for Clarendon

By ARLnow.com

New details have been released about a major office development in Clarendon.

Real estate investment firm Penzance says it’s about to complete its final site plan filing with Arlington County for the block bordered by Washington Boulevard, 11th Street, N. Highland Street and N. Garfield Street. Penzance wants to turn the block — which currently contains a bank, a bar, a used car dealership, a cemetery monument manufacturer and other small businesses — into a 300,000 square foot office development, complete with a 10-story office building, an 8-story office building, ground-level retail and a four-level underground parking garage.

The development, Penzance says in a press release, is consistent with the Clarendon Sector Plan.

Penzance has completed the preliminary 4.1 site plan filing review process and is submitting this week its final filing with Arlington County for a 300,000 square foot office development in the bustling community of Clarendon. The project is bounded by N. Washington Boulevard, N. Garfield Street, N. Highland Street and N. 11th Street and has two addresses, 3001 and 3003 Washington Boulevard. The parcels that comprise the site were assembled by Penzance over the last few years.

“3001-3003 N. Washington Boulevard will be an important addition to both the vibrant Clarendon community and the R-B corridor,” said Victor K. Tolkan, Penzance managing partner and founder.

“Working with the architecture firm, Noritake Associates, our team has created a development that provides welcome commercial office with ground floor retail space in a predominately high-rise residential area to reinforce Clarendon’s status as a true live-work-play urban environment. The project conforms to the Arlington County Clarendon Sector Plan that calls for a building that steps back from N. Washington Boulevard and N. Highland Streets as well as maintaining and restoring two existing building facades identified by the sector plan to be preserved. The building design allows for a wide range of floorplate options for our potential tenants. Situated in the heart of Clarendon’s commercial district, this project will add to the vitality of what has long been Arlington’s ‘downtown’,” said Tolkan.

The development is designed to function as two separate buildings with shared common services, such as the 4-level below-grade parking deck and loading dock. 3001 N. Washington Boulevard will be a 10-story, 200,000 square foot office building with typical floor plates containing approximately 20,000 square feet. 3003 N. Washington will be an 8-story, 80,000 square foot office building with typical floor plates ranging from approximately 8,000 – 10,000 square feet. The two buildings with complementary and unique architectural details will feature approximately 28,000 square feet of ground floor retail space with an expansive sidewalk area to accommodate café tables and outdoor seating. 3001-3003 N. Washington Boulevard is being designed to a minimum standard of LEED Silver, working toward the highest designation possible. Pending County approval of the site plan, 3001-3003 N. Washington Boulevard is scheduled to break ground in spring of 2012. Jones Lang LaSalle has been retained to market the project.

Penzance has demonstrated its commitment to Arlington County for many years, owning and managing 1500 Wilson Boulevard in Rosslyn, 2000 N. 14th Street in Courthouse and developing in 2003, and owning and managing Ballston Gateway (3865 Wilson Boulevard), a 2010 TOBY award winner. The company also plays a leadership role in the County’s urban arts center, Artisphere, through its active involvement in the Rosslyn BID.

Another rendering of the new buildings, after the jump.

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Board Approves Rosslyn Planning Process

By ARLnow.com

The County Board has given the green light for a year-long process that will suggest changes to the existing development plan for the Rosslyn area.

The last time the County approved significant changes to its Rosslyn Sector Plan was 1992. Now, nearly 20 years later, officials say changes are necessary to help with Rosslyn’s continued development from a mere “collection of office buildings” to “a more balanced neighborhood, offering residents and visitors shopping, recreation and cultural activities.”

The new Rosslyn planning effort will focus on improving transportation options, suggesting changes to Rosslyn’s building height regulations and developing “a more cohesive, functional parks and open space network.” The process will include numerous community input opportunities, facilitated by a dedicated “civic engagement professional” on the planning team.

The planning process comes at a time of major change for Rosslyn. The expansive cultural center known as Artisphere opened last year, a major overhaul is coming to Gateway Park, and construction is either currently underway or imminent on three new skyscrapers, two large residential complexes, a luxury condo building and a new office building.

The Board voted 4-1 in favor of the new planning effort, which will present its recommendations to the board in 2012. Board member Walter Tejada was the lone ‘no’ vote. Tejada advocated for a longer, more comprehensive planning process with additional public input.

Progress on 2201 North Pershing Drive Project

By ARLnow.com

What was once the Lee Center strip mall is now a big, dusty hole in the ground.

Construction is well underway on what is known as the 2201 North Pershing Drive project. When work wraps up in mid-to-late 2012, the $75 million project at Route 50 and Pershing Drive will consist of 188 rental apartments and nearly 33,500 square feet of ground-level retail space.

For now, motorists on Pershing Drive have to put up with regular lane closures, slow-moving construction equipment and flagmen directing traffic.

Colony House Furniture to Become Hotel

By ARLnow.com

The Colony House Furniture store at 1700 Lee Highway is set to be torn down to make way for an extended stay hotel.

The recognizable building has been sold to the B.F. Saul Company, the Bethesda-based developer behind the recent Clarendon Center project. Last week representatives from Saul presented their redevelopment plan to the North Rosslyn Civic Association. Under the plan, an eight story extended stay hotel will be built on the 1.2 acre site at the corner of Lee Highway and N. Quinn Street. The hotel will include eight stories of guest rooms on top of two stories of above-ground parking.

(The parking must be built above ground since the site sits on solid rock. The building will technically be ten stories high from the Lee Highway side, but will only be considered eight stories due to the steep elevation near the rear of the site.)

Saul told residents that they’re in negotiations with two companies to operate the hotel — Marriott’s Residence Inn and Hilton’s Homewood Suites. They’re aiming for a LEED Silver certification for the building.

The company says zoning allows them to build an 88-room hotel on the site by right. Saul, however, will be seeking County Board approval later this year to build a 154-room hotel with 96 parking spaces. After presentations to the Rosslyn Business Improvement District, the North Rosslyn Civic Association, and three Colonial Village associations, Saul’s Mary Beth Avedesian says the company has yet to hear any neighbor opposition to the project.

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Bromptons at Cherrydale Nears Completion

By Katie Pyzyk

The long, strange trip for the project dubbed the Bromptons at Cherrydale may soon be coming to an end. The building at 3800 Lee Highway has been nearly seven years in the making, but condos there could go on sale before the start of summer.

Originally, all of the 22 condo units were under contract in 2004. But progress stalled in 2006, when the county issued a stop-work order due to the building being structurally unsound. The developer, Ed Peete Company was given the opportunity to remedy the issues or demolish the structure. After some waffling, Ed Peete chose demolition, but the deadline for that came and went in July 2008.

While this was being hashed out, the building sat vacant for years. A flurry of lawsuits followed, including those against contractors and engineers hired by Ed Peete. Ultimately the developer decided to keep the structure and reinforce it as part of a settlement reached in 2009.

Now, passing by the site provides a view of work crews buzzing in and out of the building and signs advertising the first floor retail space. Gone are the flapping sheets of plastic and insulation on the façade, the torn-up sidewalk has been replaced, and balconies have been affixed to the front of the units.

Project Manager Neil Winsten with R15, formerly the Ed Peete Company, says many improvements have been made to comply with the county’s requests of fixing issues such as stressed beams and walls. He says steel beams and support slabs have been added for reinforcement. With the new additions, Winsten believes this should be “one of the strongest buildings around.”

Winsten says he hopes the building will be finished by the end of May. The 22 condos are set to go on sale immediately after completion. Winsten says they will start looking for tenants to fill the first floor retail space around the same time.

As far as working with the county for all these years, Winsten says it has “gone pretty smoothly once we put the new plan into effect.”

Neighbors have been grumbling for years about the Bromptons project being an eyesore and dragging down property values. In response to their frustration, Winsten says, “We’re just about done so thanks for bearing with us. We haven’t wanted it to take this long either.”

Bluemont Civic Association Mulls Development Plan

By ARLnow.com

County Board Member Mary Hynes seemed a bit surprised at last night’s Bluemont Civic Association meeting when she started fielding questions about a development plan for the North Arlington neighborhood.

“It’s not on the county’s radar,” she told anxious residents and businesses owners who had gathered in the library of the Arlington Traditional School.

It turns out that the plan everybody wanted to talk about was not a county plan at all, but a private plan commissioned by the leaders of the civic association. The 32-page document, which includes renderings of an imagined “Bluemont Village Center” along Wilson Boulevard, was created after civic association leaders decided just over a year ago that it would be prudent to begin thinking of the neighborhood’s long-range (10-20 year) future as part of its upcoming neighborhood conservation plan.

The reasoning, as explained by the civic association’s president, was that the Bluemont Safeway (5101 Wilson Blvd) — which seems to be serving fewer and fewer customers lately — may decide to sell its large property. If that were to happen now, the neighborhood wouldn’t have much of a say in the kind of business they sell it to. A plan could help guide the use of the land so that it — and properties around it — could be gradually transformed into an attractive, pedestrian-friendly commercial district.

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Grass Comes to Penrose Square

By ARLnow.com

What was once a muddy construction pit is now a lush, grassy field.

Sod was recently planted at the Penrose Square development on Columbia Pike. The sidewalk in front of the development, which was once completely blocked by construction,  is now navigable by pedestrians.

Trees were planted around the new apartment complex earlier this month. The clock near the building’s roof line, however, still hasn’t been turned on.

County Issues 2010 Development Stats

By ARLnow.com

Despite continued economic weakness across the country, development and construction in Arlington continued at a relatively strong pace last year, a newly-released report reveals.

In 2010, developers began construction on more than 600,000 square feet of retail and office space, while construction wrapped up construction on another 600,000 square feet of space. Construction started on 477 multifamily (apartment and condo) units, while 1,438 units were completed.

A majority – 68 percent – of on-going commercial construction last year took place in Ballston. A similar majority of the multifamily construction – 67 percent – took place on Columbia Pike.

For more information, see the 2010 Development Trends report from Arlington County’s Department of Community Planning, Housing and Development.

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