Arlington County on Saturday approved plans for a 16-story, 250,000 square foot complex that combines residential, retail and office space and would be the first LEED gold certified residential building in the county.
The construction plan contains approximately 240,000 square feet of housing space, 254 residential dwelling units and about 15,000 square feet of office and retail space. The complex also has a 3-level parking garage with over 270 spaces.
The complex would be located on the north side of 14th Street North between North Troy and North Taft streets, and would replace a seven-story office building and two-story parking deck currently located on the site.
“The plan here is always mixed use,” said board member Chris Zimmerman, adding that the overall goal of mixing residential and commercial property is to make residents less dependent on cars for transit.
The site would also be Arlington’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design gold certified residential building. Platinum is the highest rating, followed by gold, silver, and certified. The system from the U.S. Green Building Council awards points to buildings in categories such as water and energy efficiency, as well as indoor air quality and ventilation. The points can be used to request slightly larger buildings than would normally be allowed by county code.
“In this tough economic environment, it is encouraging to see that people are still willing to build — and to build smart,” said Board Chairman Barbara Favola. “This building has it all — high-quality housing, ground-floor retail and office space and a public plaza that will offer great views of the national monuments.”
The proposed building would use storm water retention for irrigation, low flow plumbing fixtures, include a recycling room and bike racks for its tenants, and obtain 35 percent of its power from a green source grid.
Jonathan Kinney, an agent/attorney for the project developer, said construction on the building would not begin before March or April of next year.
