County Officials Approve Columbia Pike Development

Arlington County officials have approved two major development projects that will add nearly 500 apartments, a grocery store, other retail shops, and a public square to Columbia Pike.

Officials said the projects, which have been in the planning stages for several years, could break ground as soon as next fall. Together they account for about a half-block of slated new construction on Columbia Pike, one of Arlington's most heavily traveled arteries, and promise to bring a much-needed facelift to the heart of the corridor, officials said.

"These were always considered the centerpieces of the revitalization effort for Columbia Pike and signal new revitalization for the area," said Richard Tucker, coordinator of the Columbia Pike Initiative, a group that was created to study development plans for the thoroughfare.

The first project approved by the board, Penrose Square, will provide half the land the county needs to build three public squares along Columbia Pike between Cleveland and Adam streets.

Plans call for the development to have 299 rental apartments, a 61,500-square-foot full-service Giant grocery store and about 36,000 square feet of additional retail space.

Tucker said the county is also negotiating with the developer to lease more than 120 public parking spaces in the building's garage.

Adjacent to Penrose Square, between Adams and Wayne streets, plans call for the construction of 188 apartments and more than 46,000 square feet of retail and office space on the site of what used to be a Safeway supermarket, Tucker said.

"This site, perhaps more than any other, represents the transition that we're trying to achieve" on Columbia Pike, said County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman (D), adding that the abandoned Safeway is an aging building with worn white walls facing the Pike. "With these two projects, an area that today is covered by lots of asphalt will be transformed into the kind of development people have been talking about for a long time."

The projects mark significant steps toward realizing the "community's vision for the Pike," he said.

But some residents of the area worry that the development will mean more traffic and will strain the neighborhood's infrastructure.

Resident Tom Greig called the proposed Penrose Square "too large and hugely dysfunctional" for the Penrose neighborhood. There would be "too many cars coming in and out," he said.

Chris Alvord, co-president of the Penrose Neighborhood Civic Association, said that the nearly 500 rental apartments will have a "huge impact on the population density in our neighborhood."

"It's going to cause huge problems," he said at the recent meeting at which the projects were approved. "We already have traffic problems on Columbia Pike. The new residents and businesses are going to have to use the same infrastructure."

A small Giant supermarket sits at the site proposed for Penrose Square. While the project is being constructed, Tucker said, the store will maintain its pharmacy services across the street and will also offer nearby residents the option of having some groceries delivered.

Plans to revitalize Columbia Pike were adopted in March 2002, with the goal of transforming the South Arlington neighborhood into a commercial boulevard that would have a mix of storefronts, sidewalk cafes and apartments, much like Market Common at Clarendon.