Putting Main St. On the Map

"I originally was going to build six single family homes there," Steinhauer said. "But I was approached by the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization folks and I decided to do live-work townhouses instead."

Although he has not started building, Steinhauer said he already has buyers interested in all 16 units and that the majority of the interested buyers were planning to live above their shops.

"I like what the county is trying to do there," Steinhaeur said. "I'm going to focus the rest of my career on the Columbia Pike corridor."

People who live near the Pike are adopting a wait-and-see attitude.

"What does everyone think of the redevelopment plans?" Rick Whitson, a long-time resident, asked rhetorically. "What redevelopment, they say? Everyone is just waiting to see if something happens."

Tom Greenfield, a neighborhood activist and member of the Arlington County Planning Commission, said: "There's a lot of tire-kicking going on. But plans are one thing. The results you want to see are shovels in the ground."

A few new retailers have come to the area over the past few years, including Rappahannock Coffee, which opened two and a half years ago on Columbia Pike near the Arlington Village townhouse condominiums.

"We picked this area because there were no other coffee shops here," said Brian Moore, part owner. "It wasn't a neighborhood full of chain stores and it was crying out for something new." Moore said business has been "steadily getting better" since he opened. He said the vast majority of his clients are local and walk to his coffee shop from nearby neighborhoods.

Residential property prices have been climbing in the Columbia Pike area over the past few years, as they have throughout the Washington area.

In the 42-acre Arlington Village development, a one-bedroom condominium has gone from about $87,000 to $200,000 over the past two years, real estate agent Jan Kennemer of Weichert Realtors said. And the average price for a modest three-bedroom house in the Columbia Pike area has increased to about $375,000, she said.

Already, property prices are climbing out of reach for many of the lower-income residents of the area. And prices will only accelerate further with any new development, agents predict.

One of the reasons developers are interested in Columbia Pike now is that prices are still below those of nearby Clarendon or Ballston, areas on the Metro line.

"It's cheaper than some of the other areas in Arlington," developer Garczynski said. "But it's not a Filene's Basement opportunity," he said, adding that prices had also risen along Columbia Pike, but just not as quickly as they had along the Orange Line. "Land owners are becoming more aware of the potential Columbia Pike represents. So it won't be cheaper for long."

So will the Columbia Pike area become too expensive for the people who live and do business there now, as has happened with some neighborhoods in the District and elsewhere?