Site Plan Review Committee

Pets, park, pedestrians present problems for planned apartment towers in Crystal City

By Jo DeVoe
1/3

Dog poop, a lackluster park and imposing tower façades.

These are lingering concerns for some county commission members and residents who recently reviewed designs for two proposed apartment towers from JBG Smith in Crystal City.

The developer proposes building two towers with a total of 1,440 apartment units where the restaurant Jaleo (2250 Crystal Drive) used to be, and where an 11-story office building stands (223 23rd Street S). The new towers would have ground-floor retail and a parking garage underground.

Architects went back to the drawing board after a meeting in July to improve designs, and generally, these improvements were welcomed during a Site Plan Review Committee meeting last week.

Still, commissioners, community members and county staff said a planned interim park should be more vibrant — with ample amenities to separate dogs and their droppings from other visitors — and the towers should have more pedestrian-scale architecture, so that walking by does not feel claustrophobic and shady.

“I do hope there will be signs saying ‘This is not a dog park’ because people will try their hardest to use it as such,” said Ben D’Avanzo, a nearby resident representing the Aurora Highlands Civic Association, during the meeting on Thursday. “There’s only so much we can do to control that and prevent what happened at Met Park happens here.”

Before Amazon began rebuilding the park, Metropolitan Park was best known for being a large patch of grass where dogs from neighboring apartment buildings relieved themselves.

The 2010 Crystal City Sector Plan envisions three park spaces, totalling some 26,000 square feet, but one of those parks would require JBG Smith to redevelop apartments at 2221 S. Clark Street. In the interim, as part of this project, JBG Smith will create a temporary 8,000 square-foot park on the southwest corner of 223 23rd Street S.

Commissioners had also criticized initial designs for the park near JBG Smith’s planned towers for being “just a lawn,” said Planning Commissioner James Schroll during a meeting last week.

“Some of the concerns we received from you guys is that there may be foot traffic cutting through this lawn and there were concerns pet owners would use it for dog relief, and we didn’t really want that,” said Amanda Walker, with OJB Landscape Architecture.

Landscapers added pet relief areas and plantings around the park’s edges to prevent people from creating desire paths. The park is designed to allow for flexible, removable furniture to accommodate concerts, fitness classes and picnics and become a “destination for the community,” Walker said.

Before and after changes to designs for the interim open space at 223 23rd Street S. (via Arlington County)

“Right now, this looks good, but we’ve got lots of parks that look like this all over the area. It’s going to be hard to attract people to it in this interim period,” said Michael Dowell, representing the Crystal City Citizen Review Council. “If we really want to take a chance, let’s get some massive sculpture — that you can move…”

“… to the next interim park,” said Chris Slatt, representing the Transportation Commission at the SPRC meeting, completing Dowell’s sentence.

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Demolition begins on former Jaleo in Crystal City as redevelopment plan advances

By Brandi Bottalico
1/9

Demolition of the former Jaleo restaurant building in Crystal City began this week, as the site plan review process for a redevelopment on the block kicked off earlier this month.

The proposal by JBG Smith is making its way through the county approval process to turn the 2250 Crystal Drive and 223 23rd Street S. buildings into two apartment towers with ground floor retail and an underground parking garage.

The two 30-story apartment towers replacing the former restaurant space and the aging 11-story “Crystal Plaza 5” office building would include:

  • A “West Tower” at 223 23rd Street S. that would be 309 feet tall and have 613 dwelling units, 4,379 square feet of retail and 184 parking spaces
  • An “East Tower” at 2250 Crystal Drive that would be 304 feet tall, and have 827 dwelling units, 13,059 square feet of retail and 249 total parking spaces

An underground garage structure would serve both buildings, averaging 0.3 spaces per unit, and connect to the existing parking structure on the block, county planner Michael Cullen said in a presentation earlier this month.

JBG Smith also proposes moving the plaza and pedestrian access to a collection of underground shops and corridors to the northwest corner of the east tower.

Once approved and constructed, the buildings would make the block, called “Block M” in the 2010 Crystal City Sector Plan, 80% residential. Most of the buildings on Block M are owned by JBG Smith.

There was one adjustment in JBG’s most recent presentation to the Site Plan Review Committee (SPRC).

Along the east-west connection, JBG Smith added a park option based on community feedback at the Long Range Planning Committee, said Madhvi Shukla with JBG Smith. In both options, the whole east-west connection, which links Crystal Drive and another path to 23rd Street S., would be publicly accessible.

“The section that isn’t chosen for the park would have a public access easement to ensure whichever park space is chosen has public access to both Crystal Drive and to the underground entry,” she said.

A graphic of the east-west connection for the 2250 Crystal Drive project shows a new location option for a park on the right (via JBG Smith)

Three park spaces are incorporated in the plan, which ultimately will total 26,000 square feet, but one of the spaces will be phased into its final size over time, Shukla said.

The 13,000-square-foot park envisioned in the 2010 Crystal City Sector Plan would not be fully finished unless JBG Smith redevelops the Crystal Plaza 6 apartments at 2221 S. Clark Street. In the interim, the park will total about 8,000 square feet on the site’s southwest corner, and an alley between the two towers will be a dead end.

The north-south connection between 23rd Street and the east-west connection would be designed to prioritize pedestrians, with 8 and 9-foot sidewalks, elevated planters for protection and string lights to signal it’s a pedestrian-first zone, Shukla said.

On 23rd Street, there will be protected bike lanes going in both directions, Shukla said, as well as a protected bike lane on Crystal Drive. While the 23rd Street realignment will narrow the roadway, it will have the same number of lanes without a median.

A rendering shows what 23rd Street S. will look like with protected bike lanes and without a median (via JBG Smith)

On June 13 and July 21, there will be virtual SPRC meetings to discuss the project. Planning Commission meetings and a County Board vote are expected this fall.

County pushes for more greenery, accessibility in Amazon HQ2 Phase 2 designs

By Jo DeVoe
1/11

(Updated 4:40 p.m.) County commissioners welcome Amazon’s latest revisions to plans for the second phase of its HQ2 in Pentagon City — but are pushing for more greenery and accessibility.

Designs for Phase 2, also known as PenPlace, are wending through Arlington County’s planning review process.

Phase 2 will be anchored by a lush, futuristic building, dubbed “The Helix,” and feature three, 22-story office buildings, three retail pavilions, a childcare center, a permanent home for Arlington Community High School, 2.5 acres of public green space, multi-modal pathways and underground parking.

Amazon is massaging out the details with county staff, commissioners and community representatives to ready the plans for Planning Commission and County Board review, possibly in the spring. The tech giant has already updated the three office buildings, pathways and green spaces in response to requests for more architectural diversity and plantings.

“The team has been careful reviewing all comments and believe together, we are making PenPlace a better project for the entire community,” said Joe Chapman, Amazon’s Director of Global Real Estate and Facilities, during a meeting last night. “We are committed to the process and to the community.”

Project designers presented their changes during a Site Plan Review Committee meeting last night (Monday). County staff, commissioners and community members asked for better accessibility for people with disabilities, more pedestrian safety features, increased tree canopy and even more plants.

“In general, everyone really likes the presentation and appreciates the refinements to the design from the [Long Range Planning Committee] to now, and from the comments raised in the online period,” Planning Commission member Elizabeth Gearin said. “There’s very strong and widespread appreciation for changes to the design, for the early incorporation of sustainability, biophilia and art.”

Still, commissioners recommended leveling the entrances to underground parking garages so drivers have clearer views of pedestrians. They and county staff asked Amazon to revisit a set of stairs leading from Army-Navy Drive to an “elevated forest walk” on the northern end of the site.

“We’d really like to see the stairs removed and replaced with ramp that everyone can use equally,” Gearin said.

A rendering of the “elevated forest walk” and stairs from Army-Navy Drive (via Arlington County)

Those suggestions follow up on changes Amazon made this summer to the Army-Navy frontage, “to greatly improve what was seen as a foreboding frontage,” county planner Peter Schulz said.

Others called for more and taller trees throughout the site — not just in the “elevated forest.”

“Anything less than towering oak will look out of place next to 22-story buildings,” said Arlington Tree Action Group member Anne Bodine.

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Review Process Set to Begin for Wendy’s Development Project in Courthouse

By Jo DeVoe
1/4

The county review process is just about to begin for Greystar Real Estate Partners’ proposed redevelopment project for the vacant Wendy’s site in Courthouse.

It’s the same process that former developer Carr Properties went through seven years ago to get county approval to build an office building. After Carr received the County Board’s go-ahead in 2015, the fast food spot was demolished in 2016 but the office building never materialized.

For almost five years the triangle lot sat vacant; for the last two years it was used as a construction staging area for the 2000 Clarendon condo project across the street. Now, the site plan review process is about to kick off for Greystar’s plans to turn the 0.57-acre lot at 2025 Wilson Blvd into a 16-story apartment building, with up to 231 residential units and 4,000 square feet of retail, according to the county’s site plan website.

In September, residents will have an online engagement opportunity in which they can comment on land use, building size, architecture, transportation and open space. Site plan review meetings are slated for the fall, but dates for the final approvals from the Planning Commission and the County Board are still to be determined.

As part of the project, Greystar proposes a nearly 3,300-square-foot public pedestrian plaza at the intersection of N. Courthouse Road, Wilson Blvd, and Clarendon Blvd. The plaza, with movable tables and chairs and space for temporary vendors, would surround a possible retail entrance at the tip of the Wendy’s site, facing N. Courthouse Road.

The project includes a 104,789 sq. ft. transfer of development rights from “Wakefield Manor,” a small garden-apartment complex less than a half-mile from the proposed development. The housing on N. Courthouse Road — featuring Art Deco and Moderne design elements — is designated as having “a historic easement,” according to the county.

That could be part of Greystar’s plan to achieve higher density while providing affordable housing. Greystar’s proposal clocks in at 166 feet tall and 16 stories, much higher than the recommended maximum of 10 stories in the Rosslyn to Courthouse Urban Design Study.

Documents filed in April stated Greystar “is open to the provision of on-site affordable housing to further justify the increase in height” but said nothing further than that the developer is committed to “work with staff throughout the site plan process to develop an affordable housing plan.”

Another development preparing for site plan review also proposes using the transfer tool. Insight Property Group plans to transfer density from garden-style apartments it owns on Columbia Pike to the Ballston Macy’s, which is set to be redeveloped as an apartment building.

Greystar, meanwhile, has another project in the works nearby. Demolition has started of the low-slung commercial buildings that make up the Landmark Block, making way for a new 20-story apartment building adjacent to the Courthouse Metro station.

Hat tip to @CarFreeHQ2

Committee: Amazon HQ2 Designs Are Colorful But Unambitious

By Vernon Miles
1/3

Amazon’s designs for a new headquarters need to do more to become true landmarks for the Pentagon City skyline, say members of an Arlington County planning committee.

At the first Site Plan Review Committee meeting for HQ2 last night (Monday), Amazon and ZGF Architects pitched the new 2.1 million square foot project in Pentagon City. The meeting, held in Shirlington, primarily focused on the design and architecture of the buildings, with other concerns about Amazon’s arrival saved for future meetings.

Amazon’s proposal involves the construction of two new office buildings at the corner of 15th Street S. and S. Eads Street — almost the perfect midway point between the Pentagon City and Crystal City Metro stations. The project is part of the first phase for Amazon’s permanent offices opening in Arlington.

Metropolitan Park Phases 6 and 7/8, as the project is dubbed in reports, consists of a pair of buildings with outward-facing retail and restaurants, and the Amazon headquarters portion of the building facing inwards towards a central park.

Brian Earle, the project architect with ZGF Architects, said the focus of the design was integrating the building into the neighborhood.

Design Evolution, Color Revolution

There are no rooftop signs planned for the project, and the exterior design is terracotta masonry and glass — an inoffensive design that will feel familiar to anyone who has seen the new Marymount buildings in Ballston or the Wharf in D.C., Amazon’s architects said.

The project drew the most praise where it stood out, and most of the criticism was focused on where the project seemed unambitious. Earle played up the modernist and art deco influences of other buildings on the block, like The Gramercy and The Bartlett, but to the untrained eye, they seem to have the same tan and dark glass facade.

“These are the tallest buildings in the area,” Planning Commissioner James Lantelme said. “It’s handsome, but I’m wondering if more can be done with the crown. Some buildings don’t have a formal crown but a distinctive top. This is just a continuation of the block going up. Is there anything that can be done to make it a centerpiece of this area?”

Committee members were mainly impressed with the polychrome glass planned for the building, with colors ranging from fuchsia to teal across the buildings.

“I’m always excited for colors,” said Planning Commissioner Nancy Iacomini. “It’s always been beige or grey. Rosslyn is a sea of grey and it’s just as bad as Ballston beige. I’m happy to see the terracotta as grey but a lot of polychrome.”

“People are getting tired of seeing the same beige building,” Lantelme agreed. “I’m hoping this is the start of a different design trend away from the beige. We may have an emergence of a colorful district.”

Retail Tensions

Plans for ground floor retail in the Amazon buildings was also a focus of some excitement — and concern. Brick and mortar retail is suffering, ironically in no small part due to the building’s primary tenant, and committee members expressed concern that the project could have too much ground-floor retail that it wouldn’t be able to fill.

Earle said the idea is to have a 50-50 split between restaurants and community-serving retail, like barber shops and pet stores, on the ground floor.

“One of Amazon’s strategies is they design the in-house food service [to serve] only 25 percent of the lunchtime traffic to encourage employees to go to other restaurants,” said Earle.

Commissioners also couldn’t resist little jabs at the Amazon-versus-retail tension, particularly the middling reception the company’s physical bookstores have gotten so far.

“A Busboys and Poets would be great there,” said Planning Commissioner Jane Siegel, “with their book store.”

The next meeting for the project is planned for September 23 at 7 p.m. in the Parks Operations Building (2700 S. Taylor Street).

Parking Plans Spark Debate Over Pentagon City’s PenPlace Development

By Alex Koma
1/4

Plans for a new parking lot at the large “PenPlace” development in Pentagon City are shaping up to cause a bit of friction between county staff and the project’s developer.

JBG Smith is hoping to build a temporary, 204-space retail parking lot adjacent to the development, located on a nine-acre plot of land along S. Fern Street and just off Army Navy Drive. But Arlington officials would much rather see the developer construct a lot roughly a quarter of that size, over fears that so much parking would contribute to a car-dependent culture in the area.

The real estate firm argues that the parking is necessary to meet demands of the up to 50,000 square feet of retailers who will someday occupy the development, noting that the lot will only be a temporary necessity. Yet county staff have repeatedly insisted on changes, marking another dust-up over the development after officials previously expressed skepticism about JBG’s desire to significantly scale back the size of some buildings planned for the site.

The County Board approved the project back in 2013, when it was proposed by Vornado before the company spun off its D.C. holdings in a merger to form JBG Smith. Original plans called for three office buildings between 20 and 22 stories tall, an 18-story, 300-room hotel and a 300-unit apartment building between 16 and 18 stories tall.

JBG decided earlier this year to spread the residential space among two seven-story buildings instead, shifting the hotel rooms to some of the other buildings on the site, which prompted a new round of county scrutiny of the project.

Documents prepared for the project’s Site Plan Review Committee over the last few months show that county staff remain concerned about the reduced density on the site, citing the “dramatically lower heights and scale” of the seven-story buildings as especially problematic given their potential to house people close to the Pentagon City Metro station. Arlington planners previously called it “highly unusual” that a developer would seek to build something less dense than originally approved, though JBG executives have said the change was meant to “improve the pedestrian experience in the area.”

The newest debate centers around the parking lot proposed for a new segment of 11th Street S., which would sit behind two of the buildings to be built along S. Eads Street.

JBG argues that its plans for copious new retail in the area make the new lot essential, at least until another 1,600 parking spaces become available as the developer builds garages alongside the office buildings it has planned for the area.

“In addition, the applicant has claimed that a larger amount of parking is necessary due to the type of retailers being sought,” county staff wrote in a July 23 SPRC report on PenPlace. A JBG executive did not respond to a request for comment on the exact nature of the developer’s plans.

But to add so much parking for the new buildings, JBG needs an exception from the county’s zoning ordinance, which only lets developers construct one space for every 1,000 square feet of retail space. JBG’s proposal, by contrast, works out to about one space for every 196 square feet.

That’s a problem for county officials, who believe the parking lot “encourages auto traffic to the site, and proliferates surface parking.”

JBG has offered to shrink the size of the lot slightly, adding a 10,000-square-foot temporary dog park to cut the number of spaces to 180. Arlington planners wrote in the July 23 report that such an offer is an “improvement,” but lament that the change “does not address comments from staff regarding confining parking lots to future building footprints.”

So far, the SPRC has met four times to discuss the PenPlace plans, but does not yet have another meeting scheduled to hash out this dispute. Plans will ultimately need to go to the Planning Commission and then the County Board for final approval.

New Condo Development Coming to Rosslyn

By ARLnow.com
1/10

A new residential redevelopment is coming to Rosslyn, but it’s not without a measure of controversy.

Reston-based developer NVR, Inc., the parent company of homebuilder Ryan Homes, is proposing a townhouse and condominium development at 1411 Key Blvd. The proposal was heard by Arlington’s Site Plan Review Committee last night, and is expected to be heard by the Planning Commission next month.

NVR is proposing a total of 63 dwelling units in a six-story, 66-foot-tall building with 64 parking spaces. The developer is asking Arlington County for a change from “Low-Medium” to “Medium” residential zoning in the General Land Use plan in order to accomplish that. In return, NVR is promising LEED Silver sustainability certification and on-site affordable housing.

Located 2-3 blocks away from the Rosslyn Metro station, the new development would replace an aging but affordable building: the Metro Rosslyn Apartments.

Residents of the building were notified via a letter dated Oct. 1 that the building is being sold and they must vacate by Jan. 31, 2016. However, a sign placed on the door of the building says that the notice, which called the forced move an “inconvenience” and did not offer moving assistance, is being reviewed by Arlington’s Tenant Landlord Commission.

“All tenants are entitled to relocation assistance: monetary compensation and assistance in finding a new apartment,” the sign says. “The 120-day notice may be rescinded (recalled) by law.”

A second, smaller apartment building is also slated to be demolished to make room for the new development.

First Look: The Future Plans for Pentagon Centre

By Ethan Rothstein
1/12

Kimco Realty has released the renderings of its plan for Phase I of the redevelopment of the Pentagon Centre mall.

The real estate company will present the renderings to the Site Plan Review Committee tonight as it tries to amend its approved site plan. Its initial plans for the 16.8-acre site that includes the Costco, Best Buy and Nordstrom Rack in Pentagon City were approved in 2008, but those called for constructing the six-structure complex’s office buildings first.

Because of the realities of Arlington’s stagnant office market, Kimco now wants to build residential first, including a 25-story apartment tower at the corner of 12th Street S. and S. Hayes Street. That tower would be steps from the Pentagon City Metro entrance and would include ground floor retail.

Also in Phase I would be two buildings along 15th Street S.: a 10-story residential building with ground floor retail at the corner of S. Hayes Street, and a seven-story parking garage next to a new S. Grant Street, which would alleviate the loss of parking spots in the Costco’s surface lot.

The two residential buildings would give the area an influx of 703 residential units, and the parking garage would supply the area with 394 spots.

Phases II and III of the redevelopment — planned for 20 and 40 years after Phase I — have not been rendered. If approved, those phases of the redevelopment will see the demolition of the main mall building and the Costco, replacing it with three office buildings, a hotel and a park along S. Fern Street.

AHC Seeks Approval for New Housing Complex

By Katie Pyzyk

Rendering of the new, proposed Berkeley Apartments(Updated at 1:55 p.m.) AHC has proposed replacing The Berkeley apartments (2910 S. Glebe Road) in the Long Branch Creek neighborhood with a new housing development on the site.

The proposal requests approval of a site plan for two new five-story apartment buildings with 287 units and 264 parking spaces. There would be 171 units designated as affordable to households earning less than 60% of the area median income.

Currently, The Berkeley has 110 affordable units out of 137 total units. The two four-story buildings built in 1961 would be demolished under the proposal.

County staff members are reviewing the site plan application and hope to begin the public review process soon. The first Site Plan Review Committee meeting for this proposal is scheduled for Thursday, November 21.

Committee to Examine Affordable Housing Development Proposal

By Katie Pyzyk

The Springs Ballston renderingA proposed affordable housing development near Ballston will go before the county’s Site Plan Review Committee (SPRC) tonight.

As announced in August, the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) plans to replace the existing 3-story Carlyn Springs apartment complex with a new 5-story complex dubbed “The Springs” at 4318 N. Carlin Springs Road. Part of the building’s first floor would house offices for APAH’s headquarters. The offices would have an entrance on N. Carlin Springs Road, separate from the residential lobby and community room entrance on N. Thomas Street.

The proposed building would be 5-stories tall, offering a transition from other high-rises in Ballston to nearby low-rise residences. It would consist of 104 units.

The development would have two levels of underground parking, accessible from N. Thomas Street. The developer is requesting 104 spaces for residential use and seven for office use. Although 10 office spaces are required, special permission for a reduced number has been requested. The developer contends that the spaces will be shared between residents and office workers, so office workers will be able to use open spaces during the day while residents are at work.

Currently, sidewalks surrounding the property measure four to five feet wide, with a two to three foot treeless green strip. The development plan recommends expanding the sidewalks to 11-13 feet wide, with adjacent tree pits.

One issue the SPRC hopes to work through is the 26 foot setback area at the south side of the building, which is proposed to be a recreation area and play space for residents. The developer wishes to locate an above ground transformer at this location. County staff suggests moving the transformer vault inside the building or underground in the parking garage.

Although it may come up at future SPRC meetings instead of at tonight’s, county staff is expected to further discuss construction of a pedestrian/bike path to break up the “superblock” at this site. The path would also provide access to a park proposed for the area.

The developer has proposed building ground level apartment units, and county staff has encouraged the developer to consider stoops and street entrances for these units. That would give residents direct access to the proposed pedestrian/bike path, should the path be built.

Tonight will be the second time The Springs has been addressed at an SPRC meeting. There’s no word so far on exactly when the $35 million redevelopment proposal will be ready to go before the County Board.

County to Review Blue Goose Redevelopment Plan

By Katie Pyzyk

"Blue Goose" building in Ballston (photo courtesy Preservation Arlington) (Updated at 12:05 p.m.) A proposal for redeveloping Marymount University’s “Blue Goose” building in Ballston will go before the county’s Site Plan Review Committee tonight.

The proposal involves tearing down the existing 8-story building and replacing it with two new buildings. One would be a 9-story office and educational building, and the other would be a 15-story multi-family residence.

The L-shaped residential building would sit at the north end of the site, and would include 267 units. The ground floor would house about 3,000 square feet of retail space along Glebe Road. A landscaped plaza with specialty paving, lighting and planters would separate that building goose planfrom the office/educational building at the south end of the site, at the corner of N. Glebe Road and Fairfax Drive. The plaza plan includes outdoor seating for the retail and food vendors. A wall would separate the outdoor retail area from the ground floor residential area.

Both buildings would sit on top of a 3-level underground parking structure, which would include 265 residential spaces. Currently, the Blue Goose has 202 surface parking spaces with an entrance along Glebe Road. The plan for the underground structure involves moving the parking entrance to the lesser traveled N. Wakefield Street.

Rendering of proposed development on "Blue Goose" siteThe redevelopment proposal would keep the street lane configurations the same on Glebe Road and Fairfax Drive, but expand the width of the sidewalks. The developer would also provide a cycle track adjacent to the Fairfax Drive frontage. County staff will look at how best to improve bicycle and trail access with the wider streetscape.

In response to comments about the historic preservation of the existing Blue Goose structure (built in 1962) — which recently made Preservation Arlington’s “Most Endangered Historic Places” list — the developer has agreed to include blue panels on the ground floor retail space’s building facade and on part of the interior.

So far, it’s unclear if this will be the last time the Site Plan Review Committee addresses the Blue Goose development, or if more tweaks to the design are anticipated at future meetings. Once the committee feels a consensus has been reached on any outstanding issues, the project will move on to the Planning Commission, and then on to the County Board for final approval.

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