On Nov. 16, 2024, the Arlington County Board adopted several policies designed to lay the groundwork for office-residential projects in Arlington County, Virginia.
The Board adopted zoning ordinance amendments for “adaptive reuse” projects that involve changing a building’s use from office to hotel or residential with only nominal changes in density and/or height. The amendments establish an expedited entitlements process for adaptive reuse projects. According to a staff presentation from the Nov. 16 Board meeting, the intent of the amendments is to establish a 120- to 150-day review process for adaptive reuse projects. Prior to Board adoption of the adaptive reuse zoning ordinance amendments, board approval of an adaptive reuse project could take more than 12 months.
The Board also adopted the County Board Policy on the Transformation of Commercial Office Buildings in Arlington. The office policy includes a foundational policy guidance statement for future Arlington County zoning and policy efforts for commercial office buildings:
“A bold and urgent public policy and regulatory intervention is required to urgently address the adverse economic, fiscal and placemaking impacts on Arlington of a declining commercial office sector and to establish as a public priority new or amended policies, programs and regulatory processes that support and incentivize private-market efforts to transform the supply of existing, obsolete office buildings to more productive uses.”
The office policy flags future possible efforts that could help repurpose obsolete office buildings. These policy efforts could include creating tools to help entitle office repositioning and ground-up redevelopment projects.
The adaptive reuse zoning ordinance amendments and the office policy are part of Arlington County’s Commercial Market Resiliency Initiative.