The 1,100 Units in the Works Along the Columbia Pike Corridor

• October 5th 2021

by Nena Perry-Brown

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Although planners anticipate that Amazon's new Virginia headquarters will create housing demand in the Columbia Pike area, the development pipeline remains as slow and steady as ever. 

Below, UrbanTurf catches up with what's in the works in terms of residential development along the Pike. In addition to residential development, a number of infrastructural projects are in the works, from the renovation and reopening of the Columbia Pike Branch Library to safety improvements on the bridge above Four Mile Run to the reconfiguration of the street to accommodate the expansion of Arlington National Cemetery. An affordable complex off the Pike has even transferred its density allowance to facilitate a massive project in Ballston.

In case you missed them, here are the other neighborhoods we have covered so far this year:

• The Nearly 3,000 Units From Route 1 to “Hyattsville Crossing”
• St. Elizabeths and 170 Units: What Remains on Track in Congress Heights
• Boulders, Makerspace, Woonerfs and the Next 1,100 Units Up for Union Market
• DC’s Busiest Development Neighborhood in 2021: The 20 Projects in the Works For NoMa
• Up in the Air and Hitting the Road: The 14 Developments in The Works for Ward 7
• A Food Hall, A Trail Lobby and the 20 Developments Planned From Brookland to Langdon
• The 6 Project Residential Pipeline Around DC’s Starburst Intersection
• Gallaudet’s Big Plans, 16 Acres Off New York Ave: The Residential Pipeline From Trinidad to Ivy City
• The Nearly 2,000 Units Just Approved in Southwest DC
• The 2,200 Units Landing Soon in National Landing
• The Buzz Around the Thousands of Units Planned for Buzzard Point
• The 3,000 Units in the Anacostia and Skyland Pipelines
• A Look at the 400 Units Planned in Historic Takoma, and the 1,200 in the Works at Walter Reed
• The Nine Developments Expected to Redefine Rosslyn
• Four Units Here, 70 Units There: The Georgetown Residential Pipeline
• What’s Next, and When, for The Wharf
• The 23 Projects on the Boards For Downtown Bethesda
• The 1,900 Units on the Boards Between Tenleytown and AU Park
• The 2,700 Units (Eventually) Slated for Navy Yard
• 1,900 Units Down, 1,900 to Go: The Status of the South Capitol Street Pipeline
• The 15 Projects and 870 Units on the Boards Around Shaw, and What’s Up Next
• The 240 Units in the Works in Adams Morgan
• The 250 Units Still in the Pipeline Along 14th Street
• The Last 75 Units Headed to the H Street Corridor
• On-Campus and Off-Campus: The Howard University Rundown

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Arlington View Terrace

Nonprofit developer AHC, Inc. received approval almost two years ago to redevelop a portion of Arlington View Terrace with a four-story, 77-unit affordable development at 1420 S. Rolfe Street (map). Outside of one studio unit, the unit mix will span from one- to three-bedrooms, and there will also be 64 below-grade vehicular and 33 bicycle spaces. Cunningham Quill Architects is the designer.

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2400 Columbia Pike

A development at 2400 Columbia Pike (map) was initially approved by the Arlington County Board in 2016; since then, a new developer has taken the helm. This past April, the Board approved an amendment to the plans, submitted by YW Capital Development, to increase the number of residential units from 105 to 120. The number of below-grade parking spaces also increased from 119 to 140 (in addition to 36 surface parking spaces), and the building will include 13,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and office space.

The development is designed to incorporate the façades of two of the three commercial buildings that are currently on the site; existing tenants Rappahannock Coffee and Carpets ERA are expected to return to the completed project.

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The Elliott

In February, a rezoning application was filed to enable a redevelopment of the Fillmore Gardens Shopping Center at 2601 Columbia Pike (map). If Columbia Pike-specific zoning is approved, property owner Fillmore Center, LLC and development partner Insight Property Group will work on a six-story building with 248 apartments above a new 9,500 square-foot CVS pharmacy and a 30,000 square-foot grocery store.

The unit mix would span from studios to two bedrooms, and the development would also have three courtyards, a pool, and a rooftop terrace. The development would also have three levels of below-grade parking with 162 retail/shared spaces and 250 residential parking spaces. MV+A Architects is the designer. 

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Pike West

Last November, the Arlington County Board approved a preliminary site plan application to redevelop the site of 14 residential buildings (totaling 90 units) from 834-877 S Greenbrier Street (map). The first phase of the Pike West development would deliver 401 condo and rental units, 124 of which would be affordable to households earning up to 60% and 80% of area median income, across a pair of six-story buildings. 

The second building would wrap a six-level parking garage with 418 spaces, and would also front a new street that will bisect the first and second phases of the project. The unit mix will range from junior one-bedrooms to three-bedrooms, and there would also be 170 street-level bicycle spaces. Merion Group is the developer and KGD Architecture is the designer.

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Westmont Shopping Center Redevelopment

In September 2019, the County Board approved a six-story, 250-unit apartment building with 22,500 square feet of retail at the site of the Westmont Shopping Center at 3233-3263 Columbia Pike (map). Last November, the developer returned to the Board to seek modifications to accommodate a potential grocery tenant on the ground floor. The project will also have 345 below-grade parking spaces across three levels. Republic Properties is the developer and Lessard Design is the architect. 

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the-1100-units-in-the-works-along-the-columbia-pike-corridor/18782.