Rezoning granted for new construction slated for Langston Park

City of Hopewell:

“An amendment to the zoning of the Langston Park Public Housing Development was granted by City Council Tuesday, amid questions and hesitations from some councilors about a plan to revitalize the development. Community Housing Partners, plans to demolish the 52-year-old development in favor of building energy efficient mixed-income units. CHP is a nonprofit organization that works with public and private partners to provide energy efficient and quality affordable housing.

The current 30-unit development will be replaced by 56 units, 26 of which will be rented at market rate. Thirty of the units will be under the Section 8 voucher program. Construction of the apartments is slated to cost about $9.5 million. CHP has acquired all of the funding for the project, which includes state and federal tax credits, grants and private investment.

The area is currently zoned R-4, but is slated to become a Planned Unit Development following Tuesday's decision. During a Council work session last month, developers stated that the new designation would allow more open space, and be landscaped into a safer, more well lit environment.”

~Writes Leah Small of Progress-Index

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Site of razed Virginia Beach shopping center sold

Virginia Beach:

“The site of a former shopping center near the Sentara Independence outpatient treatment facility has been sold to a Virginia Beach developer. An entity controlled by developer Michael Sifen paid about $9 million for the 13.5-acre site at 717-745 Independence Blvd., according to deed records filed at the Beach.

The seller, a unit of Lowe's Cos. Inc., paid $13.5 million for the site in 2007 and demolished a shopping center there in preparation for a new home improvement store. The former Giant Square center had been anchored by a Farm Fresh grocery up until about a year before Lowe's took possession.

When the economy soured, Lowe's greatly scaled back its expansion plans and shelved the store project, said Gerald S. Divaris, CEO of Divaris Real Estate, which represented Lowe's in the recent sale.”

~ Writes Dave Mayfield of The Virginian-Pilot

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Demolition to Begin Early March To Make Way for Harris Teeter

City of Falls Church:

“It’s only one month away now, the day every structure will be demolished at the site of the upcoming ‘flagship’ Harris Teeter grocery and 285 rental apartments on six levels above it. That means the old post office, that means the old Anthony’s Restaurant.

Rushmark Properties Developer Patrick Kearney told the monthly luncheon of the Falls Church Chamber of Commerce Tuesday that Monday, March 3 is the target date for the wrecking ball. Many Falls Church residents, recalling their many happy years of patronizing the old Anthony’s, will undoubtedly be present to pay respects, even as a new Anthony’s begins to rise a mile away at Rt. 50 at Annandale Road. The demolition date is contingent on getting the building permits that have been filed for at City Hall, but according to Kearney, there’s no reason to think there will be any delays with them.

All the news was good coming from Kearney and his colleague Stefan Gassner, including the fact that VDOT OK’d their request for a left-turn option into the project for travelers going west on W. Broad St.”

~ Writes Nicholas F. Benton of the Falls Church News-Press

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‘Blue Goose’ Redevelopment Includes Funds for Pond, Custis Trail, Metro Entrance

Arlington County

“The developer that plans to demolish the “Blue Goose” building in Ballston has agreed to contribute more than $6 million to community improvements for the Ballston area. The proposed site plan amendment for the project will go before the Arlington County Board at its meeting this Saturday, Jan. 25. The Shooshan Company hopes to bulldoze the distinctive blue building at the corner of Fairfax Drive and N. Glebe Road and replace it with a nine-story office building — to be used to house the Marymount University programs now in the Blue Goose — and a 15-story residential high-rise.”

~Writes Ethan Rothstein of Arlington Now

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Public Hearing Scheduled Today for Lightfoot Marketplace Proposal

James City County

“Pending a decision from the James City County Planning Commission today, the Williamsburg Outlet Mall could move closer to demolition. The commissioners will consider whether to recommend to the Board of Supervisors approval of a special use permit that would allow Lightfoot Marketplace — a planned development for retail and office use — to be constructed as currently proposed in the location where the outlet mall currently stands.

Lightfoot Marketplace would include a Harris Teeter and Walgreens, other retail stores and restaurants in a group of six buildings at 6401 Richmond Road — the intersection of Richmond and Centerville roads. Before Lightfoot Marketplace could be built, the project needs a special use permit from the county because the building area exceeds 10,000 square feet.”

~Writes Brittany Voll of the Williamsburg Yorktown Daily

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