Bye-Bye Blue Goose: Arlington paves way for redevelopment
http://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/bye-bye-blue-goose-arlington-paves-way-for-redevelopment/article_8d8bca04-8698-11e3-abe4-001a4bcf887a.html
Arlington County board members on Jan. 25 approved a development proposal that marks the end of the line for the Kennedy-era “Blue Goose” building at the corner of North Glebe Road and North Fairfax Drive, seeing that 1960s icon replaced by a mixed-use package of two mid-rise towers.
The vote paves the way for Marymount University to proceed with redevelopment of a prime corner of North Glebe Road and North Fairfax Drive on the western edge of Ballston.
The unanimous County Board vote came after the county government’s Transportation Commission and Planning Commission voiced their support of the project.
“There is still much work to be done before this project becomes a reality, but Marymount remains excited about our future site, which remains a gateway to Arlington,” university president Matthew Shank told the Sun Gazette after the Planning Commission vote.
The university is collaborating with the Shooshan Co. on a plan that calls for 165,000 square feet of university space in one building and 267 apartments with some retail space in the other on the two-acre site. The project, with three levels of underground parking, would replace the current building and surrounding surface parking.
As part of the deal, the development team agreed to pay $5.7 million to offset additional density that the county is allowing for the office building. County officials plan to use some of the funds to support construction of a future western entrance to the Ballston-MU Metro station.
Eleven of the 267 apartment units will be maintained as affordable housing in coming decades, and the development team will contribute about $275,000 to the county government’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund.
The current building was constructed in 1963 and housed a variety of federal agencies until it was purchased by Marymount in 1992. The site currently is assessed at $22 million, although because it is used for educational purposes, the university does not pay taxes on it.
Last year, the advocacy group Preservation Arlington placed the “Blue Goose” – so nicknamed for its distinctive color scheme – No. 7 on its updated list of most endangered historic places in the county. The organization said the building’s design represented an era of architecture that was only beginning to be fully studied and appreciated, and asked Marymount to incorporate the building into new development rather than raze it.
The university has agreed to use some of the building’s blue panels in the retail space of the new complex, and donate others to organizations that might want to display them.
The project marks Marymount’s second major expansion effort in Arlington over the past decade. The previous effort added classroom and dorm space and an outdoor plaza along Old Dominion Drive near the university’s main campus on North Glebe Road.
http://www.insidenova.com/news/arlington/bye-bye-blue-goose-arlington-paves-way-for-redevelopment/article_8d8bca04-8698-11e3-abe4-001a4bcf887a.html
Arlington County board members on Jan. 25 approved a development proposal that marks the end of the line for the Kennedy-era “Blue Goose” building at the corner of North Glebe Road and North Fairfax Drive, seeing that 1960s icon replaced by a mixed-use package of two mid-rise towers.
The vote paves the way for Marymount University to proceed with redevelopment of a prime corner of North Glebe Road and North Fairfax Drive on the western edge of Ballston.
The unanimous County Board vote came after the county government’s Transportation Commission and Planning Commission voiced their support of the project.
“There is still much work to be done before this project becomes a reality, but Marymount remains excited about our future site, which remains a gateway to Arlington,” university president Matthew Shank told the Sun Gazette after the Planning Commission vote.
The university is collaborating with the Shooshan Co. on a plan that calls for 165,000 square feet of university space in one building and 267 apartments with some retail space in the other on the two-acre site. The project, with three levels of underground parking, would replace the current building and surrounding surface parking.
As part of the deal, the development team agreed to pay $5.7 million to offset additional density that the county is allowing for the office building. County officials plan to use some of the funds to support construction of a future western entrance to the Ballston-MU Metro station.
Eleven of the 267 apartment units will be maintained as affordable housing in coming decades, and the development team will contribute about $275,000 to the county government’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund.
The current building was constructed in 1963 and housed a variety of federal agencies until it was purchased by Marymount in 1992. The site currently is assessed at $22 million, although because it is used for educational purposes, the university does not pay taxes on it.
Last year, the advocacy group Preservation Arlington placed the “Blue Goose” – so nicknamed for its distinctive color scheme – No. 7 on its updated list of most endangered historic places in the county. The organization said the building’s design represented an era of architecture that was only beginning to be fully studied and appreciated, and asked Marymount to incorporate the building into new development rather than raze it.
The university has agreed to use some of the building’s blue panels in the retail space of the new complex, and donate others to organizations that might want to display them.
The project marks Marymount’s second major expansion effort in Arlington over the past decade. The previous effort added classroom and dorm space and an outdoor plaza along Old Dominion Drive near the university’s main campus on North Glebe Road.