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WASHINGTONBUSINESS JOURNAL
May 30, 2014Vol. 33, No. 6, $4.00
1555 Wilson Blvd.Suite 400Arlington, VA 22209
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BY TINA REEDPAGE 30
BY TINA REEDPAGE 30
UNRAVELING ROSSLYNBY MICHAEL NEIBAUER | PAGE 26
COVER STORY
Arlington o� icials aim to fix 50 years of planning mistakes — and create a whole new skyline.
RResidential real estate companies 32
RCenter stage: Your home, for sale 36
RHost Hotels tops list of public REITs 38
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HOW I... EXECUTIVE PROFILE
FEDBIZ
Iridium CEO’s honest appraisalMatt Desch says the company’s new network of satellites will keep Iridium in business — but that was not a foregone conclusion.JILL R. AITORO, 14
HEALTH
D.C.’s newest hospital ownerIf all goes as planned, a Connecticut hedge fund will own D.C.’s only two long-term acute-care hospitals. But just who is Silver Point?TINA REED, 16
TOPSHELF
A culinary communityAl Goldberg went looking for a home for his catering business. He ended up finding an incubator for foodies everywhere.REBECCA COOPER, 6
MADE MILLIONS ON THE GOLF COURSE40
HE’LL BUILD YOU A HOME — AND BEAT YOU AT TENNIS44
Ed Bersoff ’s new bizFederal contracting vet jumps into small business lendingMARK HOLAN, 18
PHOTO ILLUSTRATION COURTESY PICKARD CHILTON VIA VORNADO/GOULD
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2 WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL
ABCAdams, Richard ................ 18Alexander, Yvette ............. 17Alloy, Steve ..................... 44Atefi, Bahman .................. 14Baker, Rushern ................... 4Bakke, Tom ...................... 22Banner, Bruce .................. 12Bersoff, Edward ............... 18Bezos, Jeff ......................... 4Bowser, Muriel ................... 4Burick, Mary-Claire .......... 27Buslik, Brad ....................... 7Carmack, John ................. 13Case, Steve ...................... 12Catania, David ................... 4Chapa, Victoria ................ 15Chisanga, Caroline ........... 40Clarke, Michael ................ 19Cornelsen, James ............. 19
DEFDesch, Matt ..................... 14Devolites, John ................ 12Dewberry, Sidney ............. 55Dhir, Alok ........................ 15Dooley, Dan ..................... 22Duffy, Bob ....................... 26Edwards, Steve ................ 12Ein, Mark ......................... 20Ellis, Lynda ........................ 7Essaid, Rami .................... 13Faneca, Alan ...................... 3Fernandez, Raul ................. 4Fisette, Jay ...................... 27Friedler, Ariel ................... 15
GHIGaus, Wesley ................... 18Gerety, Bill ...................... 15Goldberg, Al ...................... 6Gray, Vincent ..............17, 20Griffin III, Robert ............... 3Hall, Max ......................... 15Hanessian, Chris .............. 26Harner, Brian ................... 27Hines, Russell .................. 21Horn, Andrew Van ............ 26Hoskins, Victor .................. 4
JKLJacks, Joel ....................... 18Kakolyris, Angelo ............. 20Keefe, Mike ....................... 7Keffer, David.................... 15Leogue, Niall ................... 18Lew, Allen ....................... 20Lindoerfer, David ............. 43
MNOMaiwurm, Jim .................... 3Mendelson, Phil ..........17, 20Merritt, Mary ................... 42Milkovich, Robert............. 22Muendel, Erik Ryan .......... 12Nadeau, Rick ................... 15
PQRParker, Tiffany ................. 37PINSKY, MARK ................. 19Plank, Kevin ...................... 4Preis, Garrett ................... 24Ptacek, Russ ...................... 6Ramer, Samuel ................. 15Rosner, Lisa Joy ............... 12Schar, Dwight .................. 44Schlossenberg, Mark ........ 41Schmidt, Howard ............. 15Schulte, Peter .................. 18Shook, Gary ..................... 19Turner, Lyric .................... 37
STUSchar, Dwight .................. 44Schlossenberg, Mark ........ 41Schmidt, Howard ............. 15Schulte, Peter .................. 18Shook, Gary ..................... 19Turner, Lyric .................... 37
VWXYZVradenburg, George ......... 54Waldron, Cory .................... 7Xie, Renai ........................ 16Yang, Qi .......................... 16Yeonas, Stephen ................ 3Zaslav, David ..................... 5Zhang, Alice .................... 16Zhang, Christine .............. 16
1st Portfolio Wealth Advisors ............... 43
ABCAccess National ............... 19Akridge ........................... 20Alion Science and Technology ............... 14American Diabetes Association NCA ............... 42Artisan Builders ................. 3Beacon Capital Partners ... 29Bellezza Spa .................... 43BJ’s Wholesale Club .......... 43Boeing ............................ 15Boston Properties ............ 24Bozzuto ........................... 55Brightline Interactive ....... 12Bristol Group ................... 29Brookfield Properties ....... 28Caddie Tours .................... 18Capital Impact Partners .... 19Capitol Concierge ............... 7Carr Properties ................ 22Caruthers Properties ........ 26Cassidy Turley .............21, 43CIM Group ....................... 28City First Bank ................. 19CM Equity Partners .......... 18
DEFDanaher .......................... 54DBMC Design ..................... 6D.C. Bar Foundation ......... 54D.C. United ...................4, 20Dewberry ........................ 55Discovery Communications ................ 5Distil Networks ................ 13Donohoe ......................... 43DynCorp ............................ 4EagleBank ....................6, 18El Zol .............................. 43Epilepsy Foundation of America ......................... 3First Potomac Realty Trust ..................... 22Fosterlane ....................... 20
GHIGould Property Co. ......24, 28Hines .........................20, 22H&R Retail ......................... 7IntelliDyne ...................... 15Iridium Communications .. 14
JKLJBG ............................26, 43JLL .................................. 24JM Zell ............................ 22Lockheed Martin .............. 54
MNOMacFarlane Partners ........ 29Matan ............................. 43Maxient ........................... 15MedStar Health ................ 43Mess Hall ........................... 6
Middleburg Financial ........ 19Militello Capital ............... 13Mirae Asset Global Investments .................... 20Monday Properties ........... 28Monument Realty ............ 21Neustar ........................... 12Northrop Grumman .......... 54NVR ................................ 44Oculus VR ........................ 13Old Line Bancshares ......... 19Opportunity Finance Network .............. 19
PQRPacolet Milliken Enterprises ...................... 29Parker Interiors ................ 37Patton Boggs ................3, 20PAVE Systems .................. 15Penzance Cos. .................. 28Pepco .............................. 20PFF ................................. 18Pigmental Studios ............ 13Potomac Wealth Advisors . 41Red House Staging & Interiors ....................... 37Republic Capital Access .... 18Revolution ....................... 12Ridge-Schmidt Cyber ....... 15Roadside Development ..... 55Rosslyn Business Improvement District ...... 27
STUShooshan Cos. ................. 24Silver Point Capital........... 16Snell Properties ............... 26Specialty Hospitals of America ....................4, 16Squire Sanders ..............3, 20SRA International ............. 15Stanley Martin Communities ................... 44Steuart Investment .......... 24StonebridgeCarras ........... 24Subway Development Corp. of Washington ......... 42Symplicity ....................... 15Telcordia Technologies ..... 12TEOCo ............................. 12Trammell Crow Co. ........... 24Under Armour .................... 4United Bankshares ........... 18University of Maryland ..... 16UrCart ............................. 40
VWXYZVenable ........................... 24Vida Fitness ..................... 43Vornado Realty Trust ........ 28Washington Post ...........4, 22Washington Real Estate Investment Trust ............. 22We Are Golf ..................... 18Weissberg Corp. ............... 29Windward IT Solutions ..... 43ZeniMax Media ................ 13
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READERS GUIDE
As part of our cover story, Sta� Reporter Michael Neibauer sat down with many of the region’s business and government leaders, including Andrew VanHorn of The JBG Cos., left, and Arlington County Board Chair Jay Fissette, for a free-flowing discussion about the future of Rosslyn.
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26 WASHINGTON BUSINESS JOURNAL
“It was built on a lumberyard and I think it opened in 1966,” said Chris Han-essian, executive vice president of Snell Properties, which co-owns the Ames Cen-ter with Caruthers Properties LLC. “It was a signature high-rise, a signature offi ce building, home to a federal government agency.”
But times have changed.In 1962, Ames was representative of new
Rosslyn, as described by the county, where “confl ict between pedestrian and vehicu-lar traffi c would be minimized,” where an “internal loop” road would serve every building, where an “ideally located prob-lem area could be redeveloped to meet the high demand for new offi ce space within the limits of established public policy.”
Fifty years later, Ames is a reminder of everything that’s wrong with Rosslyn — an underutilized property, with nothing to off er anyone on foot, that is nearing the end of its useful life. � e 1962 plan led to
planning mistake after planning mistake.“For the past 20 years, we’ve been
unwinding that, block by block,” said Andrew Van Horn, principal with � e JBG Cos., a fi rm with a massive investment in a modern, vital Rosslyn, from its Central Place to the future Rosslyn Gateway.
� at “unwinding” is about to get even more dramatic, with major blocks of Ross-lyn primed for redevelopment and coun-ty offi cials embarking on a new plan that will fi x the mistakes of the past and set the neighborhood on a new course for the next several decades. Its success is vital to many Washingtonians: Not only is Ross-lyn a major commuter thoroughfare, it's perhaps the most important offi ce district outside of downtown D.C. and now fea-tures some of the priciest real estate in the region. And, for many, it represents Wash-ington's only true skyline.
Despite its problems, the 1962 plan did what it was designed to do: Between 1960
and 1970, Rosslyn experienced a surge in offi ce construction — 2.7 million square feet in that decade alone. Another 1 mil-lion square feet followed in the 1970s, and 3.5 million more in the 1980s.
But the offi ce product proved forgetta-
COVER STORY
BY MICHAEL NEIBAUER | [email protected] | @WASHBIZNEIBS
WHAT’S WRONG WITH ROSSLYNHow to fi x 50 years of planning errors
IT WAS SITE PLAN No. 1, the starting gun to Rosslyn’s stunning shift from tank farms, seedy bars and light industrial properties to, instead, an automobile-oriented concrete jungle of undistinguished midrise offi ce buildings linked by pedestrian bridges.
Arlington County approved plans for the Ames Center, 1820 N. Fort Myer Drive, on March 24, 1962. � e building, which delivered four years later, still stands, as home to the Art Institute of Washington, among other tenants. � ere is no retail, but there is a surface parking lot in the back and four levels of above-grade parking.
ROSSLYN IN PHOTOS
YESTERDAY, TODAY AND TOMORROW"
Take a stroll through the history of Rosslyn with our online
slideshow — and see what major developers have planned for some of the neighborhood's buildings most in need of redevelopment at washingtonbusinessjournal.com
ble, and we now know that Interstate 66 cutting off 50 acres between Rosslyn and the Potomac River — touted as a positive in a 1965 publication — was wrong.
What followed Ames — 23 offi ce build-ings in the 1960s, or the 27 more that fol-lowed in the two succeeding decades — will not be easy to unravel. Rosslyn’s transformation into “Arlington’s world-class downtown,” as the county wants it to be perceived, is a work in progress. � e county is coming to the end of the 15-month Realize Rosslyn process, a sec-tor plan update designed to breathe life into Arlington’s “front door,” to broaden the mix of uses, to improve mobility — to create a place.
“What we see on the ground today, we continue to improve upon and build upon,” said Bob Duff y, Arlington’s plan-ning director. “It’s a new city. So much has been accomplished. And there’s so much potential. � is plan is going to carry Ross-lyn forward for the next generation. It’s that important.”
Tomorrowland gone awry� at Rosslyn needs fi xing is nothing new to the powers-that-be.
Maybe the epiphany came in 1992, 15 COURTESY ARLINGTON COUNTY
This photo shows Rosslyn in 1962, before the new plan for the area ushered in an era of skywalks and planning errors.
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MAY 30, 2014 27
years after the Rosslyn Metro station wel-comed its fi rst passengers, when the coun-ty updated the Rosslyn Station Area Plan with a smarter growth bent. While that document recognized the importance of pedestrian safety and sidewalks, not sky-walks, as the main people mover, it still envisioned only 12- and 13-story “focal” offi ce buildings in the core, by the Metro, on what the Arlington board called “cen-tral place.”
Or maybe the epiphany came in 1993, when Arlington fi nally abandoned plans to develop the elevated “Loop Road Bridge” — a project that would have ensured Ross-lyn remained auto-oriented for decades to come. Loop Road was ultimately refash-ioned into the elevated Freedom Park.
No, Rosslyn’s renewal is best tracked to 1996, when the county acknowledged that its core demanded something more city-like. � at year, the board created the “C-O Rosslyn” zoning, which allowed for 300-foot-tall, high-density towers within roughly a quarter-mile of the increasingly crowded Metrorail station.
“� e instant that was created as an option for developers to redevelop their property and — in some cases, double or triple the density that they have today —
once that started to occur, it was already starting to move in a direction beyond what the sector plan had envisioned,” said Anthony Fusarelli, the Arlington planning point person to Realize Rosslyn.
With the C-O in place, several modern towers followed — among them 1801 N. Lynn and the Waterview from JBG, Turn-berry Tower and, most recently, Monday Properties’ shining, but still tenantless, 1812 N. Moore St.
“Individually it’s been doing that proj-ect by project, but this eff ort is really tak-ing a look at the broader whole and try-ing to ensure with future development it all fi ts into place,” Fusarelli said.
Power to the pedestrianRosslyn features, from the right angle or the right fl oor, spectacular views of the Potomac River and the District. It is a short walk to Georgetown. It is crisscrossed by popular trails.
It includes roughly 50 existing build-ings, about half of which will be, or may be, demolished and replaced over the next 30 years with 4.4 million square feet of offi ce space, 1,300 residential buildings, 600 hotel rooms and 200,000 square feet of ground-fl oor retail.
It is a process — tearing down the sky-walks, demolishing the 40-year-old offi ce properties, luring new residents to new residential buildings, and developing a mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly commu-nity that doesn’t shut down at 5 p.m.
Just in the last two years, Rosslyn has seen the introduction of the Sedona and Slate apartments from JBG, the delivery of 1812 N. Moore, the opening of Heavy Seas Alehouse on North Oak Street, the reno-vation of 1500 Wilson’s street-level retail.
Nothing is more important to Ross-lyn’s renewal than bringing people down to the street. � e Rosslyn of today may be in transition, but it still refl ects the Ross-lyn of 1975. � e lack of pedestrian and bicycle-friendly infrastructure, danger-ous intersections, sparse retail options, too few restaurants and remaining sky-walks continue to drive tens of thousands of commuters away from the sidewalks and straight to their cars, or to Metro.
“I think most people would rather just run across the street, risk getting hit rather than going up into the skywalk system,” Hanessian said. “It doesn’t work. Times have changed.”
Focus groups conducted by the Ross-lyn Business Improvement District have revealed two priorities, said Mary-Claire Burick, BID executive director: more retail, more bars, more restaurants. And a supermarket.
How does Arlington move people from the sky to retail? Other than demolishing the bridges, which will come down with adjacent development, Van Horn suggests, it means literally changing direction.
“I honestly believe a lot of that’s driven by two-waying Fort Myer and Lynn, [both one-way streets],” Van Horn said. “It’s low-hanging fruit. It’s a little complicated at the ends, but I think there’s a lot of val-ue to Rosslyn. You have traffi c going both ways and you can park north or south and access retail. You can create a better place for retail, a better place for pedestrians.”
Green is the new blackReclaiming Rosslyn’s streets for pedestri-ans is one Arlington goal. Creating new gathering spaces, whether Gateway Park at the foot of the Key Bridge or the Ross-lyn Esplanade, a grand mixed-use boule-vard planned for the community’s north-ern and eastern edges, is another.
For Brian Harner, an Arlington plan-ning commissioner and chair of the Real-ize Rosslyn process panel, it’s something that should be started now.
“A coordinated investment in pub-lic space would be the one thing that we could do now that would be really signifi -cant,” Harner said. “� at might be public-private investment to transform Gateway Park. It might be building the fi rst piece
WHAT’S WRONG WITH ROSSLYNRAILS AND TRAILS
TRANSPORTATION OPTIONS FOR ROSSLYNRosslyn is a transportation hub — a crowded one. Metro station capacity is maxed out between the Blue and Orange lines. Roads are jammed, and there’s no additional capacity on the Key Bridge. Trails get backed up and intersections are dangerous. And it will only get worse with the impending introduction of the Silver Line.
Here are a few options that have been discussed, either in detail or in vague terms, to address Rosslyn’s mobility challenges.
SECOND METRO STATIONIn 2012, Blue Line Metro service through Rosslyn was drastically
scaled back, both to prepare for the Silver Line opening and support Orange Line demand. With only one tunnel running beneath the Potomac, Rosslyn is Metro’s biggest choke point. As part of its long-term planning, Metro has suggested building a second Rosslyn station to serve a new Blue Line. The $1 billion station would feature an underground passageway to the existing station.
STREETCARD.C. has proposed to extend its fledgling streetcar to
Georgetown. It doesn’t make any sense, Arlington o� icials say, not to carry it across the river. “If D.C. is looking to expand its streetcar system, we would actively be working with D.C. to identify an alignment that allows that streetcar to actually connect to Metro,” said Arlington Board Chairman Jay Fisette. “The streetcar system works at its best and its most e� icient when it interconnects with the existing heavy rail system.”
ESCALATORThe Realize Rosslyn plan suggests a “public outdoor
escalator” along 18th Street North that “mitigates the climb to Rosslyn’s higher elevations.” “There is a need to look at alternative ways to move pedestrians, make that connection across the river,” said Arlington Planning Director Bob Du� y.
GONDOLAThe Georgetown Business Improvement
District has pitched the idea of linking the two sides of the Potomac via a high-capacity gondola. The BID is raising money for a feasibility study.
TRAILSRealize Rosslyn, building on past plans, envisions a pair
of cycle tracks on North Lynn and Fort Myer Drive, multiuse trails to the east through the Esplanade, improvements to Key Bridge trail access, a new connection to Roosevelt Island and at least one new crossing over I-66.
CONTINUED ON PAGE 28
JOANNE S. LAWTON / STAFF
JBG has started work on Central Place in the shadow of two of Rosslyn's newest buildings, 1812 N. Moore St. and Turnberry Tower.
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COVER STORY
1 1801 N. Lynn St.: From The JBG Cos., this 24-story, 348,000-square-foot
trophy class o� ice building was the first tower developed under the revised Rosslyn, C-O zoning, which allowed buildings to be up to 300 feet tall and have a floor-area ratio of up to 10. Completed in 2002, it is home to U.S. State Department o� ices.
2 Waterview: JBG, with Brookfield Properties and the CIM Group,
delivered this two-tower, 1.3 million-square-foot property at 1919 N. Lynn St. in 2008. It includes a 30-story condominium/hotel tower (154 keys in the Hotel Palomar and 133 residential units), a 24-story, 634,000-square-foot o� ice tower, and 8,500 square feet of street-level retail.
3 Turnberry Tower: Turnberry Ltd. completed this condominium tower
at 1881 N. Nash St. in 2009, on the site of a former Best Western hotel. Every luxury condo unit in the building has since sold out.
4 Sedona/Slate: JBG completed these two adjacent apartment buildings,
totaling 474 units, at 1510 Clarendon Blvd. in 2013. The 271-unit Sedona building was 90 percent leased six months after it opened early last year. Slate delivered in October. Both buildings were sold to ASB Real Investments in November for $220 million.
5 1812 N. Moore St.: Monday Properties completed the 35-story,
580,000-square-foot 1812 N. Moore in 2013. The shining, 390-foot-tall o� ice tower, complete with 480-space garage and significant street-level retail, was developed speculatively, and remains tenantless.
COMPLETED
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of the Esplanade. It might be working on the streets and, on a holistic basis, transforming a large segment of streets with new sidewalks. � at kind of state-ment about investment and transfor-mation, targeted, so that something happens early.”
� e Esplanade represents the ide-al, the reconnection of Rosslyn to the Potomac via a realigned North Arling-ton Ridge Boulevard, a new connec-tion to Roosevelt Island, and a large, level park, fi eld and trail system run-ning from Wilson Boulevard to North Lynn Street.
� e project is especially complex, however, given it requires not only the Rosslyn Plaza's redevelopment (between North Arlington Ridge Road and North Kent Street) by Vornado Realty Trust and Gould Property Co., but also a new deck over I-66 — the highway that cut off Rosslyn’s access to its riverfront.
The Esplanade buildout is years away, if it happens ever.
� at said, Rosslyn will get greener, and relatively soon, with a new public plaza and fountain at JBG’s two-tow-er Central Place, adjacent to the Metro station, and the proposed 18th Street pedestrian-only corridor between North Oak and North Lynn streets, as envisioned in Realize Rosslyn.
Monday Properties has a site plan before the county now to create the fi rst leg of the pedestrian corridor as part of its redevelopment of 1401 Wil-son Blvd. and 1400 Key Blvd. � e Ames’ owners are expected to follow suit, in about a decade when the Art Institute’s lease expires, with a pair of “substan-tial buildings” split by the pedestrian plaza.
“� e minute we get Central Place fi xed and we get two beautiful build-ings and a central plaza with retail on two fl oors all the way around it, that’s the heart, that will transform,” Arling-ton Board Chairman Jay Fisette said.
More people, more activityRosslyn is home to about 11,000 res-idents. Central Place, 1400 Key and Rosslyn Plaza, among other projects to come, will draw several thousand more.
“� at really is what drives the retail,” Burick said. “Rather than the sidewalks rolling up at 5 p.m., that’s what keeps the streets vibrant. � at transforma-tion to a mixed-use community is really going to be a selling point.”
Burick, on the job as Rosslyn BID director for only eight months, has seen the other, all-too-familiar side of Rosslyn. She used to work for Allbrit-ton Communications Co. at 1000 Wil-son Blvd. Like so many other commut-ers, she came, she worked, she went home.
“I’ll admit I was one of those that sort of came to the offi ce and left,” Burick said. “� ere weren’t the restaurants and the bars we have today.”
Future Rosslyn will feature “con-centrated nodes” of activity, extending the bustle beyond Central Place and the Metro. Without a moving sidewalk,
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 27
THE NEW ROSSLYN: WHAT'S NEXTThe first major e� ort to redevelop Rosslyn occurred in 1996, when Arlington County approved new zoning allowing for taller, denser buildings near the Metro station. That resulted in several completed
redevelopments highlighted below and several projects under construction or in the planning stages shown on the next page. Even more projects are on the books in the new planning initiative.
Completed
Under construction or in active planning“Where planning should anticipate change” over the next 30 years
as Realize Rosslyn envisions, the daunting Rosslyn hill is mitigated somewhat, Burick said, if there are reasons to stop along the way. Today, there are few.
At the very top of the mount, The Penzance Cos. is in the earliest stages of
planning the redevelopment of 1555 Wil-son and surrounding parcels into a mixed-use community. Monday Properties con-trols the destiny of the hill’s center, as it owns 1401, 1500, 1501 and 1515 Wilson, plus 1400 Key, all of which are targeted for new
projects over the next three decades. Toward I-66, Vornado and Gould have
submitted plans for Rosslyn Plaza, to include 1.8 million square feet of offi ce, 350 residential units, a hotel and more than 90,000 square feet of retail. � e partner-
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COVER STORY
UNDER CONSTRUCTION OR IN ACTIVE PLANNING
1 Central Place: JBG has started
construction on the first phase of this massive project, a 31-story, 355-unit residential tower between North Lynn and North Moore streets, on the north side of the new high-speed Metro elevators, and a public plaza featuring outdoor seating, a splash fountain and space for community events. The second phase, a 521,000-square-foot office tower, will sit immediately to the south of the new elevators.
2 1401 Wilson Blvd. and 1400 Key Blvd.: Monday Properties has submitted
plans to redevelop these two existing office properties, both of which sit between North Oak and North Nash streets. The Key property will be home to a residential building, anchored by a new supermarket. The Wilson property will be redeveloped as office. A pedestrian-only plaza will split the two, along the alignment of 18th Street North, which currently ends at North Oak. The site plans are under review by the county.
3 Rosslyn Gateway: JBG and MacFarlane Partners have an approved site plan
to redevelop roughly 2.2 acres currently anchored by 1901 and 1911 Fort Myer Drive, with a 26-story residential/hotel building (148 keys and 133 luxury residential units), a 25-story, 320,000-square-foot office building, and another 20-story residential building. JBG is not expected to start work until Central Place is complete.
4 Rosslyn Plaza: Vornado Realty Trust and partner Gould Property
Co. have proposed to redevelop the existing Rosslyn Plaza, currently dominated by aging office and apartment buildings, with 1.8 million square feet of office space, up to 700 residential units, 300 hotel rooms, more than 80,000 square feet of retail and a couple acres of open space. The project would replace six buildings — 1601, 1611, 1621 and 1777 N. Kent St. and the London and Normandy apartments — and the Spectrum Theater. This conceptual rendering, from Pickard Chilton, is part of the site plan process and meant to show the developers' intent to create an imaginative, iconic skyline.
1 The Ames Center: The site plan for this 13-story office building,
home to the Art Institute of Washington, was approved in 1962, and the building
delivered in 1966. The center includes 1830 Fort Myer Drive, home of Arlington Temple United Methodist Church, which sits atop one of Rosslyn’s few gas stations.
2 Plaza East: The Bristol Group Inc. owns this aging, 250,000-square-foot
office property at 1800 N. Kent St., though it is locked up for at least the next six years with General Services Administration leases. It was one of those 1969, mid-rise office buildings that continues to define Rosslyn to this day.
3 International Place: Beacon Capital Partners owns this 12-story, Class
A office building at 1735 N. Lynn St. The building was constructed in 1969 and renovated in 1991.
4 Rosslyn Building East: Weissberg Corp. owns this office building at 1901
N. Moore. It is another of the circa-1969 office buildings that Arlington would like to see redeveloped.
5 1200 Wilson and 1701 N. Fort Myer: Monday Properties owns
these adjacent office properties, which sit between Wilson Boulevard and 17th Street.
6 1515 and 1501 Wilson Blvd.: Monday Properties also owns these twin office
properties, one of which houses the oft-maligned Rosslyn Safeway, and the other the new Heavy Seas Alehouse and Roti in its new, street-level retail spaces.
7 1500 Wilson Blvd.: This 17-story, 250,000-square-foot office building,
owned by the Penzance Cos., lost its only tenant, the Department of Defense, as a result of base realignment and closure. Mostly vacant, the property recently underwent a major overhaul, to include a new glass curtainwall facade, a modern lobby and 30,000 new square feet of retail.
8 1555 Wilson Blvd: Another Penzance property (and home to
the Washington Business Journal), this
declining office building at the top of the Rosslyn hill will get the wrecking ball some day, as part of a redevelopment of several public and privately owned parcels between Wilson and 18th Street North.
9 Holiday Inn: Located at 1900 N. Fort Myer Dr., the hotel sits on the west
side of Fort Myer Drive, while JBG’s Rosslyn Gateway sits on the east side. Both are immediately south of Gateway Park.
10 Rosslyn Overlook: TIAA-CREF owns this 19-story, 303,262-square-foot
Class A building at 1616 N. Fort Myer Drive, which also fronts North Fairfax Drive, just north of Route 50.
11 Architects Building: Pacolet Milliken Enterprises Inc. owns this 12-story
building at 1400 Wilson Blvd., which was designed and built in 1965 to house the American Institute of Architects. It is currently 100 percent occupied by the State Department.
“WHERE PLANNING SHOULD ANTICIPATE CHANGE” OVER THE NEXT 30 YEARS
ship has described its multiphase develop-ment, facing the Potomac, the Watergate and the Kennedy Center, as a new “front door.”
To the north, JBG has an approved site plan for Rosslyn Gateway, which will fea-
ture two new residential buildings (one paired with a hotel) and an office tower, and the likely, much-needed overhaul of Rosslyn Gateway Park.
Arlington was convinced in 1965 that separating pedestrians from vehicles in
Rosslyn would create an exciting, conve-nient, efficient new downtown for all, that I-66 was a blessing, and that with pub-lic and private support, Rosslyn would “become an unparalleled example of cooperative urban rebuilding.”
That was then. This is now.“I think in the last several years alone,
you’re noticing a significant change in the street front activity,” Duffy said, “and it’s really a start of what the Realize Rosslyn Plan is attempting to expand on.”
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