One of the most densely populated areas of Northern Virginia, Arlington County is continuing to grow and rework the real estate landscape. Take a look at what is currently happening and what is proposed for Arlington County’s future.
By Lynn Norusis
PROPOSED PROJECTS
An addition with more parking has been proposed for the WETA headquarters that sits in Shirlington. The proposal calls for a 17,000-square-foot, four-level addition.
A senior living center is being proposed by Artis Senior Living of Arlington to turn existing single-family homes into a six-story, 175-unit facility that will include 80 memory care units and 95 assisted living units as well as some open space at the corner of Lee Highway and N. Taylor Street.
Two buildings are being proposed on the northwest corner of Crystal Drive and 23rd Street South: 1) a 31-story building with 645 residential units and 20,000 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail; 2) a 24-story office building with 520,000 sq. f.t of office space and 15,000 s.q. ft. of ground-level retail. The applicant, JBGSmith, is going through the rezoning process and plans to demolish the existing buildings at 223 23rd Street and 2250 Crystal Drive.
JBGSmith is also proposing more development in the Crystal City area with a nine-story office building with ground-floor retail at 101 12th St. S – Crystal Gateway along with constructing two mixed-use buildings that will house 124 townhomes, 126 two-over-two units and 725 multi-family units along with ground-floor retail at 1400 Joyce St. – RiverHouse.
Two hotels might be turning over to residential space. The Key Bridge Marriott may be partially demolished and renovated to hold 151 condos and 300 apartments (pictured above). Clarion Collection Hotel Arlington Court Suites is proposing to turn the nine-story, 187 hotel suites into 180 residential units.
Additional proposals are to bring in a lot more housing as well. Over at 1900 Crystal Drive, proposals call for construction of two mixed-use towers: one 27-story tower with 472 units and another 26-story tower with 339 units with interior connections and 1,535 parking spaces along with almost 40,000 sq. ft. of retail. While over at 1731 N. Veitch Street in the Colonial Village neighborhood there is a proposal to demolish a single-family home and build seven townhomes. And Ames Center is proposing to construct two multi-family residential towers for a total of adding 778 units with ground-floor retail while incorporating the current church and give lobby access to the Hyatt Centric Arlington Hotel.
On the affordable housing front, the county is working with applicants, Standard Communities and Foundation Housing, to develop an affordable and mixed-income housing project at Park Shirlington, a 294-unit apartment complex. And AHC Inc., at Arlington View Terrace, is proposing to build a four-story affordable housing project that will hold 77 units.
APPROVED PROJECTS
The Ballston Quarter redevelopment is underway with the mall getting a facelift and residential projects are moving forward. Once complete, the current Macy’s Home Store will be a 22-story building with 405 units and 51,000-plus square feet of ground-floor retail.
Also moving forward are the plans to expand Virginia Hospital Center, which was approved in 2018. Plans call for replacing some buildings with a new seven-story medical office building and to convert 120,000 square feet of medical offices to hospital use.
Commercial office space at 1555 Wilson Blvd. is being redeveloped into two residential buildings with ground-floor retail and a new Fire Station 10 and Highlands Park. The developer, West Rosslyn Development Company, is partnering with the county for the improvements to the public service aspect and, once finished, will house 561 units in the East Building and 331 units in the West Building plus a total of 1,050 parking spaces for residential, retail patrons, fire station and school use.
Gables North Rolfe Street is underway to bring in two residential units (395 units), a County transitional living facility with 14 housing units and a 8,000-sq. ft. park.
Centro, what is currently known as Village Center, is going to be a six-story mixed-use building with 350 residential units and 82,200 sq. ft. of ground-level retail to include a grocery store. It will also include a public square at the intersection of Columbia Pike and S. George Mason Drive.
Pentagon Center is moving through development of the approved project that will bring the area a 25-story residential building with 440 units, a 10-story residential building with 253 units and a seven-story above ground parking structure, all of which will have ground-level retail.
The Trove, what was Wellington Apartments, is changing the existing apartment complex into affordable housing units and building a six-story project that will have 402 market-rate units. There will also be 35,531 sq. ft. of private open space and streetscape improvements and new street connections on S. Ross St. and 12th St. South.
