Clarendon Project Underway

Clarendon is on its way to getting yet another apartment building. Zom Inc., which is developing USAA Real Estate's parcel at 1200 N. Irving Street in Arlington, finally began construction earlier this month on a 10-story apartment building with ground floor retail that will front both N. Irving Street and Washington Boulevard. The project was designed by Esocoff & Associates.

Formerly known as The Waverly at Clarendon Station, the development has now been christened The Beacon at Clarendon West, according to Greg West, chief development officer for the Florida-based Zom. "We’ve revised the design and rebranded the project," he said.

The company's original condo concept is off the table. Instead, the project will include 187 one- and two-bedroom units averaging 850 square feet, each with de rigeur hardwood floors, granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. About half will have balconies, and a rooftop pool is included in the package.

The building will have "a very unique and interesting radius shape," said West. In part, that curvilinear facade is designed to take advantage of the lot's outline. On the ground floor, lining both N. Irving Street and Washington Boulevard - but not the corner itself - will sit 17,000 square feet of space designed for retail. Zom has hired Asadoorian Retail Solutions to fill the spaces, but West claims the development partners have not decided on a specific mix of types. "We have a lot of flexibility as to the size and variety of what we can take," he said. "We just want to find the best tenants who will provide a good amenity value to the building."

Construction of the project, which is being done by Donohoe Construction, is beginning with a major excavation to make room for two floors of underground parking. The development, which will incorporate an historic facade that’s still on the property, should be finished in about two years.

The site, located two blocks from the Clarendon Metro station, has a fairly long history. Zom bought it from Faison in 2006 but the property lay empty for several years. In 2011, USAA bought the property and is developing it together with Zom.

The partners are also involved in a second Arlington venture, located at 1919 Clarendon Boulevard in Courthouse. The Clarendon Boulevard project, which is also currently under construction, is similar to the N. Irving Street one: although it's five stories rather than 10, the development includes 191 high-end apartments and another 17,000 s.f. of ground floor retail. Asadoorian is screening tenants for that property as well. "We'll be selecting retailers soon," said West.

Arlington Virginia real estate development news

Buildings Gone on Wilson Boulevard, Construction "By November"

Zom Inc., developer of USAA Real Estate's transit-oriented residential and retail project at 1900/1916 Wilson Boulevard, asserted in July that construction would be underway "this fall;" and today, Graham Hatcher, VP of construction for Zom again stood behind a November start date, adding that general contractors are bidding on the project this week.

Both buildings previously on site - Hollywood Video and an office - have been razed in anticipation of new construction; however, according to Arlington County Inspection Services, two building permits applied for by Zom, in July and September, are trudging through inspection and zoning reviews, with one permit ready to be picked up by the developer, revised and resubmitted, and the other awaiting review by zoning before it will be released back to the development team.

The design, by Torti Gallas and Partners, was approved by the County last year, with only a few minor changes taking place in the schematics since that time, explains Michael Parker, project manager and Torti Gallas architect.

For one, the residential entryway was relocated further down Clarendon Boulevard, where it could have 20' high ceilings, combating digs by Country reviewers that the initial entryway location (at the corner of Troy and Clarendon) was "cavelike." Additionally, Juliet balconies were added to 33 residential units along Troy, Clarendon and Wilson Boulevard to "add texture to the building." Lastly, a darker red brick was introduced to frame main elements of the building and residential bays along Wilson, a change that created more of a warehouse feel.

Parker also notes how the design came together after a relatively minor land acquisition, by USAA, of an approximately 20,000-s.f. surface parking lot owned by property neighbor NSTA. With the extra land on the eastern edge of the property, the building design could be reconfigured from an initial "pan-handle scheme" into the "W" formation shown above, allowing for two courtyards (versus one) and an extra dozen or so apartment units.

With 191 apartment units in all, the units range from a 450-s.f. studio to 1400-plus-s.f. 3-bedroom layout. The building is 230,000 s.f. above grade, and will rise 5 stories, as is allowed in the Rosslyn-Ballston Corridor plan which affects land along Wilson and Clarendon Boulevards, although the land was zoned to allowed for 16 stories. There is ample parking on site, 256 spaces will be included below grade (18 more than is required by the County).

As for retail to enliven the Corridor, 17,500 s.f. of street-front retail will be divided into several storefront spaces: one on the corner of Wilson Boulevard and Troy Street, one on the corner of Troy and Clarendon, and three further down Clarendon Boulevard; if any retail space has been claimed, Zom wasn't ready to announce it.

With County approval, owner USAA, who bought the property/project from Zom in 2010, will also be required to create a public park worth $100,000 on a triangle swath of land nearby.

Also located nearby in the Court House district, is the future Tellus, a planned 16-story, 254-unit apartment building, expected to break ground next spring; in order to move forward, developer Erkiletian partnered with Jefferson Apartment Group.

Arlington Virginia real estate development news

Demolition Permits Falling into Place in Court House District

A demolition permit was granted, yesterday, to property owner USAA Real Estate to demolish one of the two buildings it owns at 1900 and 1916 Wilson Blvd. in the Court House district of Arlington. Obtaining the permit is one step in the right direction for USAA, currently on track with a timeline to deliver 167,000 s.f. of mixed-use residential-and-retail along the 1900 block of the Wilson Blvd. corridor in less than two years.

Though one raze permit is in the hands of The Berg Corporation to demolish the former Hollywood Video at 1900 Wilson Blvd, another permit for 1916 Wilson Blvd. - formerly an office building - still awaits approval (it was filed yesterday), as does one for infrastructure/sewer work (filed July 1st), and demolition on site is not likely imminent. Construction, under general contractor Harkins Builders, is due to officially begin "in the fall," according to a representative, today, at Zom Inc., the development manager on the project.

Zom Inc. (Mid-Atlantic region) is now the development manager, but was once the owner, having bought the site in 2006, for $21.5 million; Zom was financially forced to sell, and USAA Real Estate purchased the property in 2010, for $18 million.

The 1.73 acre property will become a transit-oriented, mixed-use development thanks to its location two blocks from the Court House Metro stop. The new Torti Gallas and Partners-designed buildings on site will rise five stories, the majority of use going to multifamily apartments (191 units) with 17,300 s.f. of ground floor retail and 256 parking spots.

A collection of renderings have been filed with the Arlington government. USAA originally planned a Fall 2011 start date; if the project continues to adhere to the proposed timeline, the development, one of three big projects planned for the corridor, will deliver in June of 2013.


Arlington, Virginia real estate development news

Arlington's Block Busting Year

One of Arlington's most stubbornly static development sites - a superblock of three stagnant development parcels at the Courthouse Metro station - is finally ready to start construction in what could be a fraternity of development initiatives. Developers of the 1800, 1900 and 2000 blocks of Wilson Boulevard, all located on the same block, have been working separately for years to build large, mixed-use projects on their respective sites, and now the latter two say they will start construction this year for vast amounts of retail, housing, and office space, broken up with a new street between them.

Elm Street Development plans to start its construction on 2000 Wilson Boulevard (formerly the Taco Bell and Dr. Dremo's site), known now as 2001 Clarendon, with 30,000 s.f. of retail space and 154 residential units, while USAA, which purchased the 1900 block of Wilson Boulevard late last year, plans to start work this fall on a mixed-use, predominantly residential project. Working out approvable developments on both sites required land swapping and an endowment of land to Arlington to extend Troy Street, connecting Wilson and Clarendon Boulevards. Meanwhile, developers at the eastern end of the superblock on Rhodes Street are still vying to get financing to double the size of the office space and integrate retail.

2000 Wilson
The stuttering progression at 2001 Clarendon was initially planned to begin in late 2007 as a condominium, but in 2008 switched to apartments (in theory), shooting for a 2010 completion. In early 2010 Elm Street VP Jim Mobley said the team was again "looking at" the concept of condos, "financing dependent." With financing now in place (underwritten as apartments), construction is near, with the likely chance of condo conversion down the road. Retail space will front 3 streets, subdivided into small storefronts. Because of Elm Street's rejiggering of the plans, at Arlington's suggestion, no permits have been issued, but sources for the project say work is expected to commence late this year.

George Dove, Managing Principal at WDG Architecture, which designed the 6 story "extremely contemporary" building, notes the challenges facing the climbing site. "From a zoning standpoint, between Courthouse and Rosslyn, you have a sequence of height limits, and you have elevation changes, so it has a series of levels that drop-off as you move down the street, like stair-steps. This had alot to do with driving the design." Besides shooting for basic LEED certification, an Arlington requirement, 2001 Clarendon will incorporate a series of green roofs. "This is the antitheses of the high-rise, urban, compact residential project. It stretches out over a much larger floorplate. That gives alot of rooftop areas at different levels, it is definitely not a boring facade," said Dove.

1900 Wilson
Across the (not yet built) street, USAA has purchased 1900 Wilson Boulevard, along with its plans for a 5-story mixed-use residential building. USAA bought the Hollywood Video site from Zom, Inc., which had already birddogged plans to construct residences through Arlington's approval process. USAA will retain Zom as a fee developer to build out the project. Torti Gallas designed the more urban seeming structures with large retail spaces along Clarendon Boulevard and live/work spaces along Wilson Boulevard.

Sources involved in the development say no dates have been set, but that work is "on target" to materialize this year, and Hailey Ghalib of USAA says the the developer expects to build in the third quarter of this year and is working with Harkins Builders on pre-construction issues, but has not yet signed a construction contract nor obtained construction permits. Construction is expected to last 22 months.

1800 Wilson
The lone holdout at this point is the eastern end of the block, slated to demolish Rhodeside Grill and Il Radicchio to more than double the office space used by the National Science Teachers Association. The NSTA has teamed with developer DRI to expand their Arlington headquarters at 1840 Wilson, with an approved site plan in hand. NSTA hopes to build a 107,000 s.f. office building with 10,000 s.f. of retail, taking up an adjacent surface parking lot. The site plan was initially approved in November 2005, amendments were approved in July 2008 and November 2008 to resolve façade and parking issues, but the project is on hold pending financing, which the team is "working very hard" to secure, of course. The NSTA has already contracted Davis Carter Scott as the architect and DPR Construction Company as the general contractor, if and when the bankers come to the rescue.

As if that weren't enough, work is now underway next door in the 1700 block of Wilson Boulevard, where Skanska is building a 5 story office building. Get ready for a loud but productive year, and lots of cranes.

Arlington Virginia real estate development news