The plan to revitalizes Columbia Pike neighborhood, one of the last affordable and most diverse neighborhoods in Arlington County, might get started soon. To revitalize mix-use development along the 3.5 mile Columbia Pike, the County has adopted a form based code, an optional process that serves as a guideline that sets where buildings should be constructed, how tall and what kind of uses inside and materials use.
Since its implementation, three projects received the okay's from the County. The first project approved was for Halstead at Arlington, an eight story mix-use project of 269-condominium with over 40,000 square feet of retails and 500 underground parking located at corner of S. Walter Reed and Columbia Pike Road.
Image: Halstead at Arlington
The other two approved for redevelopment are Penrose Square a.k.a. Adams Square (where Giant is) and lot where the vacant Safeway sits.
There are four designated area for area improvement. Via Arlington Connection.
The county has identified four "nodes" of Columbia Pike that are primed for redevelopment. The "Town Center," which runs from approximately Barton Street west past Glebe Road, will be the entertainment and cultural hub of the corridor. Besides hosting new neighborhood amenities like the Giant, it will have three public squares for concerts and other public gatherings.
Further west on the Pike, located around George Mason Drive, will be the "Village Center," which is expected to house a mix of office, retail and commercial development. The district surrounding Four Mile run has been dubbed the "Neighborhood Center," and is characterized by lower-scale development. Finally, a "Western Gateway" linking Arlington and Fairfax County will see slightly taller apartments and office complexes.
Penrose Square South Adams and Columbia Pike (Rounds Vandouser Architect)
Penrose Square is part of the Town Center area. While Safeway has long been gone from the area, that left Giant as the only supermarket that serves immediate Pike's neighborhoods. The redevelopment plan will bring some 500 apartments, retail space and revamp Giant.
Though the County envisions having a street car that goes up and down the Pike from Pentagon the Skyline area with budget over $110 million, it looks like we might have to wait for years before we could see the realization of this project.
For now, we'll see slowly but surely revitalization for the area... without the street car until the County have the money for funding it. Imagine, what Columbia Pike would look like fast forward 10 years from now. Today's Columbia Pike is a "hidden gem" in one of the most expensive counties to live in Virginia. The last affordable neighborhood in Arlington. Unlike Rosslyn to Ballston corridor -- the area is not fully developed yet.
