Fort Myer Heights

Apartment building proposed for old Red Lion hotel site nears finish line

By Jo DeVoe
1/7

A redevelopment project near Rosslyn is teed up for Arlington County Board approval this weekend.

Reston-based Orr Partners proposes to build an 8-story apartment building with up to 446 units on a 2.2-acre site in the Radnor-Fort Myer Heights neighborhood.

The site at 1501 Arlington Blvd is currently home to the Red Lion 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. It is bounded by Fairfax Drive to the south and the Parc Rosslyn Apartments and Belvedere Condominiums to the north.

The proposed building would add 418 net new units while still coming 62 feet under the height maximum allowed in this area, county planner Adam Watson told the Planning Commission last week. Its construction would eliminate surface parking lots and result in underground utility lines, new streetscapes and accessibility improvements.

Orr took over never-realized plans to build a 10-story condo tower and a 12-story hotel on the site, which the County Board approved in 2019.

After going through the county’s public review process, Orr changed the building’s form and design in response to staff and commissioner comments, says Watson. The developer made changes to the building at the corner of N. Pierce Street and Fairfax Drive to improve circulation on the sidewalk below, near a planned bicycle storage room.

It also added visual interest to gates along Fairfax Drive at the pedestrian level, intended to screen transformers from view and made design changes to give the lobby more prominence, he said.

Orr will replace existing market-rate affordable units with 24 on-site committed affordable units set aside for households earning up to 60% of the area median income. The units — seven 1-bedroom, 16 2-bedroom and one 3-bedroom — add up to 42 bedrooms, the same as currently exists.

Members of the Planning Commission urged the developer to consider trading some of the proposed 1-bedroom units for 3-bedroom ones.

“This would be a really great opportunity, as we rarely see 3-bedroom held market-rate affordable units that come before us,” said commission Chair Sara Steinberger last week. “You found one [3-bedroom unit]: I’m asking you guys to see what you can do to find one or two more. I do see some consensus in this body that that’s something that we would appreciate.”

Ryan Orr, the senior vice president of development, said his company is “happy to explore adding more 3-bedrooms in lieu of one or twos,” noting this would require “a holistic look” at the floor plans.

Representatives from the nearby Belvedere Condominiums owners association and the Radnor-Fort Myer Heights Civic Association expressed concern that the project will displace existing tenants of the market-rate affordable units.

Company chairman David Orr said he has heard these concerns from these neighbors since the kickoff of the project review process.

“We took that to heart. My son has met with every resident there — two didn’t open their doors — and we talked to them about their plans,” he said. “Some have had personal issues. Some are delinquent. We are not enforcing the leases and we are working with them in every way to bring them back to community.”

(more…)

UPDATED: Police search building near Route 50 after sound of gunshots heard

By ARLnow.com
Police car at night (file photo courtesy Kevin Wolf)

(Updated at 8 p.m.) Residents were asked to stay inside Monday evening as police searched part of the Radnor-Fort Myer Heights neighborhood following reports of gunfire.

The initial call for gunshots heard along the 1700 block of Arlington Blvd came in around 5 p.m. Police verified with nearby Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall that no firing drills were underway at the time before starting to search the area.

The U.S. Park Police Eagle helicopter was called in to assist amid more reports of shots being heard, but has since left the county after not finding any suspects, according to scanner traffic.

“ACPD is investigating the report of shots heard in the 1700 block of Arlington Boulevard,” Arlington police said around 5:45 p.m. “At this time, no injuries or property damage have been reported. A police helicopter is assisting with an aerial search of the area. Expect continued police activity.”

The search appeared to be focused on one particular building.

“Community members are asked to avoid the area as police continue to investigate the report of shots heard in the 1700 block of Arlington Boulevard,” ACPD said around 6:20 p.m. “If you are in the area, go inside and stay inside.”

Police also closed the N. Rhodes Street bridge, near where the search was taking place, according to Arlington Alert.

Shortly before 8 p.m., the search was called off.

“A search of the building has concluded,” said ACPD. “No evidence of a shooting was located and there is no apparent ongoing threat to the community. We appreciate the community’s patience during the investigation. The avoid the area/stay indoors has been lifted.”

More, below, via social media.

 

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.

A half-dozen affordable garden apartment buildings near Rosslyn are set to be renovated

By Jo DeVoe
1/6

A collection of garden apartments near Rosslyn are set to be renovated this year.

On Saturday, the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing received the last approvals it needed to repair 62 committed affordable units across six garden apartment buildings in the Radnor-Ft. Myer Heights neighborhood.

These renovations are part of a two-phase redevelopment project of The Marbella Apartments along N. Queen Street near Route 50. Two 12-story, 100% affordable buildings will replace a three-story, garden-style complex north of Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall while the other 62 units will be renovated.

These units will get updated windows and façades as well as interiors, new handrails and new wells that protect windows that are level with the ground from soil, known as window wells.

The project had nearly cleared the last design and permitting stages when it was discovered that the property does not conform with present-day Zoning Ordinance regulations, per a county report. That meant some of its repairs, including the window wells, could not proceed by-right.

The apartments were built by-right in the 1940s, a decade before the ordinance was enacted. The buildings now do not meet the ordinance’s requirements for how close a property could be to the street nor parking and density regulations.

Arlington County staff and the applicant argued against trying to make the buildings conform with current zoning rules.

“Bringing the existing buildings into conformance with current parking and setback standards would negatively impact existing units, mature trees, and open space, thus compromising the goals of affordable housing preservation and the historic qualities of the garden apartment property,” the report said.

Instead, on Saturday, the Arlington County Board designated the property with the Marbella Apartments as a “Voluntary Coordinated Housing Preservation and Development District.”

The property joins some eight other buildings in Arlington, the report says. They received this designation between 1992 and 2011.

The Board also approved a related use permit. These two moves allow the planned structural changes to the apartments without making them conform to zoning ordinances.

The buildings consist of mostly 1-bedroom apartments, with some studio, 2- and 3-bedroom units. They are available to people earning a mix of incomes up to 60% of the area median income.

Neither the report nor application materials indicated when renovations would begin.

Preliminary review wraps up for new apartments planned near Courthouse

By Jo DeVoe
1/10

Apartments proposed along Arlington Blvd, near Courthouse, have cleared the next hurdle on their way to final approvals.

Fortis Companies is proposing to remove a lone, single-family detached home, a “significant tree” identified in neighborhood planning documents, and two surface parking lots. In their place, it proposes a nearly 125-foot tall building with 166 new units and 120 residential parking spaces.

This proposal takes over previously approved plans to build a 104-unit, 12-story building on the site.

With this plan, Fortis intends to achieve LEED Gold certification for the building’s sustainability features, to set aside some on-site units for affordable housing and contribute cash to the Arlington County Affordable Housing Investment Fund in exchange for additional density.

In addition, Fortis proposes to make streetscape and sidewalk improvements to three of the streets bounding the site: N. Fairfax Drive, N. Troy Street and 13th Street N. Part of the changes to Fairfax Drive include turning it into a cul-de-sac and expanding the planting buffer between the Arlington Blvd Trail and Fairfax Drive.

The project at 2025 Fairfax Drive has undergone preliminary review by citizen commissions.

Through this process, Fortis made some tweaks to the overall design of the site and agreed to increase how much vegetation it will plant on a proposed courtyard so that it feels more like an “urban forest,” land-use attorney Andrew Painter said in a mid-May meeting.

“This is a really nice, elegant and lushly planted solution,” architect Jeff Kreps said at the time.

Final approval meetings by the Planning Commission and Arlington County Board have not been set yet.

If approved, Fortis expects construction to start in mid-2024 and last 24-30 months, with a completion date in late 2026, per a presentation it made in the May meeting.

The developer says it will conduct quarterly outreach meetings with the surrounding community. The 1.8-acre site is bordered by the Woodbury Heights Condominiums to the north, Taft Towers condominiums to the east, Arlington Blvd to the south and the Arlington Court Suites hotel to the west.

The historic Wakefield Manor and Courthouse Manor garden apartment complexes, built in the early 1940s, are also part of the site proposed for redevelopment. An easement was granted over these significant apartments to protect them for perpetuity.

In exchange for protecting these apartments, developer Greystar was able to increase the density of its apartment being built on the former Wendy’s in Courthouse.

ACPD: Twenty-five vehicles damaged during recent theft sprees

By ARLnow.com
Police car at night (file photo courtesy Kevin Wolf)

Thieves damaged 25 vehicles in several North Arlington neighborhoods over the past few days.

That’s according to Monday’s Arlington County Police Department crime report.

The first theft spree happened last week, overnight Thursday into Friday, in the Waverly Hills neighborhood, not far from the intersection of N. Glebe Road and Langston Blvd.

Thieves damaged five vehicles while stealing the glass from side mirrors, according to police.

From ACPD:

LARCENY FROM AUTO (Series) (Late), 2023-05190101, 4700 block of 20th Road N. At approximately 9:57 a.m. on May 19, police were dispatched to the late report of a larceny from auto. Upon arrival, it was determined between approximately 10:00 p.m. on May 18 and 7:30 a.m. on May 19, the unknown suspect(s) stole the glass from the sideview mirrors of four vehicles and damaged the glass of the sideview mirror of a fifth vehicle. No other items were reported damaged or stolen. There is no suspect(s) description. The investigation is ongoing.

An even larger spree was reported over the weekend in and around Rosslyn, with some 20 Honda vehicles broken into and their airbags stolen.

From the crime report:

LARCENY FROM AUTO (Series), 2023-05210011, 1300 block of N. Fort Myer Drive. At approximately 12:44 a.m. on May 21, police were dispatched to a vehicle tampering. Upon arrival, it was determined the reporting party observed three men in their 20’s breaking into vehicles. When she yelled out to them, they fled the scene in a gray sedan. During the course of the investigation, it was determined approximately 20 parked vehicles in the Radnor/Ft. Myer Heights, Rosslyn and Colonial Village neighborhoods had a window shattered and an air bag stolen. The involved vehicles are Honda models. The investigation is ongoing.

Thieves have targeted Hondas parked in Arlington for airbag thefts numerous times in recent memory, including in March and several times in 2022.

ACPD nabs four teens who tried to run from traffic stop of stolen car

By ARLnow.com
File photo

Four teens are facing potential charges after running from a felony traffic stop.

The incident happened Thursday afternoon in the Rosslyn area.

Arlington County police say the juveniles were in a stolen car when officers tried to pull them over. All four — including one who allegedly was armed with a gun — tried to run off, but they were each eventually taken into custody, ACPD said.

More, below, from an ACPD crime report.

RECOVERED STOLEN AUTO (Significant), 2023-05040170, 1600 block of N. Queen Street. At approximately 4:15 p.m. on May 4, police attempted a traffic stop at N. Quinn Street and Wilson Boulevard on a vehicle previously reported stolen out of Fairfax County, VA. The four occupants exited the vehicle and ran from the scene. Officers initiated foot pursuits and the occupants, four juveniles, were located and taken into custody. During a search of the driver, a firearm was recovered. Petitions for the four juvenile suspects are pending.

County says Inn of Rosslyn redevelopment proposal needs more work

By Jo DeVoe
1/9

Although redevelopment plans for the mid-century Inn of Rosslyn pay homage to the motel, the county says the developer could do more.

Last fall, D.C. real estate company Monument Realty filed plans to replace the 38-unit hotel, built in 1957, with an 8-story, 141-unit apartment building with 88 parking spaces. It took over the property after JBG Smith purchased it in December 2020.

This February, the county kicked off a review process that will culminate with a vote by the Arlington County Board. Planning staff already have some suggestions for the developer to comply with recommendations for the site made in the neighborhood’s Fort Myer Heights North Plan.

They say Monument should study adding floors to shrink the overall footprint of the property — located at 1601 Fairfax Drive, fronting Route 50 — match it to heights of other nearby apartment towers.

The designs, meanwhile, should imitate nearby Art Deco and Colonial Revival garden apartments and the developer could incorporate more historic preservation of the property, county planners say.

“The building footprint should be reduced to provide the recommended landscaped green space which is not currently provided,” said planners in a county report. “The proposed building does not incorporate elements of Colonial Revival or Art Deco, as recommended.”

New renderings from Monument Realty depict a building with alternating stripes of lighter and darker brick, offset by wood-like paneling. Mid-century motifs on the balconies and a “50” sign out front pay homage to the architecture of the existing hotel.

A postcard of the old “Motel 50,” later the Inn of Rosslyn (via Arlington County)

The developer’s land use attorney, Nick Cumings of Walsh Colucci Lubeley & Walsh, argued in a January 2023 letter to the county that the project does “compliment and draw from the architecture of the existing building and the characteristics of the surrounding neighborhood.”

That includes the retro “50” sign and some of the materials to be used in construction.

“This selection of building materials is appropriate for the neighborhood, which predominantly features masonry, while also introducing a biophilic design with the wood-like paneling,” writes Cumings.

The county also wants the developer to work on “historic preservation elements” for the existing motel, while an attorney for Monument Realty argues that is not necessary.

Within the Arlington County Historic Resources Inventory, Cumings says, the property is designated as “Important” — but less distinctive and/or in worse condition than “Essential.” He added that the neighborhood plan does not call for its historic preservation.

Meanwhile, residents involved in the pro-housing group YIMBYs of Northern Virginia said on social media that their priority will be getting the developer to include more affordable housing in exchange for greater density.

Like staff, they envision the building reaching 12 stories — the tallest the Fort Myer Heights plan allows — so that more people can live in the Metro-accessible area.

Monument Realty already plans to earn some 59,000 square feet of extra density by participating in the Green Building Density Incentive Program, aiming to earn LEED Gold, and by providing some affordable housing. It’s unclear whether the provided affordable housing will be on-site or elsewhere.

Next up in the development approval process, the Site Plan Review Committee of the county’s Planning Commission will review the project twice before it heads to other citizen commissions and the Arlington County Board. No dates have been set for these meetings.

Three Arlington neighborhoods rank high in ‘Best Places to Live in America’ list

By ARLnow.com
Cherry blossoms in Colonial Village (staff photo)

Arlington’s Colonial Village neighborhood is the No. 2 “Best Place to Live in America,” according to a recent set of rankings.

Two other Arlington neighborhoods, meanwhile, ranked in the top 25.

Colonial Village is best known for its historic garden-style apartments and condos, built between 1935 and 1940. Lush, landscaped and tree-lined, the community is both verdant and urban — it’s in easy walking distance to Courthouse and the Courthouse Metro station.

From Niche, which ranked neighborhoods across the United States:

Colonial Village is a neighborhood in Arlington, Virginia with a population of 2,895. Colonial Village is in Arlington County and is one of the best places to live in Virginia. In Colonial Village, most residents rent their homes. In Colonial Village there are a lot of bars, restaurants, coffee shops, and parks. Many young professionals live in Colonial Village and residents tend to be liberal. The public schools in Colonial Village are highly rated.

The website released its annual rankings late last month. It’s the same set of rankings that found Arlington to be No. 2 among the “Best Cities to Live in America.”

Other notable local findings from Niche:

A lone detached home along Route 50 near Courthouse could become apartments

By Jo DeVoe
1/10

A new developer has reprised long-dormant plans to turn a house, a large tree and two surface parking lots near Courthouse into apartments.

D.C.-area developer Fortis Companies proposes building a 166-unit, 12-story apartment tower at 2025 Fairfax Drive, along a frontage road for Route 50 that dead-ends in front of a complex of historic brick apartment buildings. It also proposes an underground parking garage and an interior walkway between the nearby apartments and Fairfax Drive.

This application, filed in February and processed in October, takes over previously approved plans to build a 104-unit, 12-story building on the site.

The new building would be located on the southeast corner of Fairfax Drive on the same block as the existing, historic Wakefield Manor and Courthouse Manor garden apartment complexes. In 2011, the Arlington County Board guaranteed the preservation of these buildings when it approved the original site plan.

The approved development “was never constructed, for a variety of reasons,” says Andrew Painter, an attorney representing Fortis, in a presentation. “We believe the proposed building will, at long last, fulfill the county’s land use, density, height and diversity goals for the site, and deliver high quality architecture and a building within easy walking distance of many community amenities.”

Fortis Vice-President of Acquisitions Matt Bunch says a design team spent two years studying the site and the 11-year-old plans to come up with a new proposal.

“We’re very excited to bring this project to fruition in a way that satisfies the existing residents’ parking needs, improves project overall viability and addresses the county’s planning guidance,” he said in the same presentation. “We believe this underutilized site is an excellent opportunity to provide new, smart-growth housing within the county that is easily walkable to the Courthouse Metro station.”

A parking garage accessible from N. Troy Street will have 30 parking spaces set aside for Courthouse Manor and Wakefield Manor residents.

The site is less than half a mile from the Metro station as well as bus stops along 15th Street N. Also a half-mile away is the Inn of Rosslyn, which is also slated for redevelopment.

The 1.8-acre site is bordered by the Woodbury Heights Condominiums to the north, Taft Towers condominiums to the east, Arlington Boulevard to the south and the Arlington Court Suites hotel to the west.

“The site is subject to the Fort Myer Heights North Plan (2004), which seeks to balance preservation and redevelopment with an emphasis on affordable housing, historic buildings, open space, significant trees and neighborhood scale,” the county says in a virtual walking tour of the site. “The building façade will be comprised of brick and metal panels with stone and pre-cast concrete accents.”

Wakefield Manor and Courthouse Manor were later preserved from future development through a transfer of development rights involving the old Wendy’s site in Courthouse.

“Courthouse Manor (1940) and Wakefield Manor (1943) were designed by notable architect, Mihran Mesrobian,” according to the county. “Both buildings are known for blending Art Deco and Moderne styles with traditional Classical Revival characteristics. They are recognized as unique garden-apartment buildings and identified as ‘Essential’ properties on the Historic Resources Inventory.”

Mesrobian also designed the Calvert Manor apartments in Arlington as well as some prominent hotels and residential buildings in D.C.

Pedestrian bridge over Route 50 closed due to ‘deterioration’ concerns

By ARLnow.com
Closed pedestrian bridge over Route 50 (via Arlington County)

A pedestrian bridge in the Rosslyn area is closed after inspectors founds something worrisome.

The bridge over Route 50, connecting N. Fairfax Drive and Fort Myer Drive in the Radnor-Fort Myer Heights neighborhood, was found to have deteriorating concrete in sections, according to Arlington County. The span is closed while crews work on repairs.

More from a county press release:

Engineers are closing the pedestrian bridge connecting North Fairfax Drive to Fort Myer Drive over Arlington Boulevard, effective immediately, as a result of a bridge inspection today, Thursday, December 8, out of an abundance of caution.

Pedestrian access over Arlington Boulevard will be maintained on the Rhodes Street bridge to the west and North Meade Street to the east.

The restrictions will stay in place until further notice. The Arlington Boulevard multi-use trail will remain open on the north side of the bridge.

Crews had been conducting maintenance work on the bridge’s surface. An inspection revealed deterioration of the concrete in some sections of the bridge. The bridge will be temporarily closed while crews work on these repairs.

View More Stories