Board Meeting Westmont Shopping Center
Nov 24th, 2018 Updated June 29, 2019, Update Sept. 16,2019
Town Center: Arlington Heights
Glebe Road and Columbia Pike
Redeveloping the Westmont Shopping Center
September 21, 2019
8:30 A.M. Public Comment
9:00 A.M. Consent Agenda and Regular Hearing
The Board will hold a public hearing and consider approving a plan to redevelop the single-story Westmont Shopping center at 3233-3263 Columbia Pike. If approved, the redevelopment would replace the commercial buildings and surface parking lot on the 1.8-acre site with a new six-story structure offering 250 apartments above about 22,500 sq. ft. of ground-floor retail and a two-level underground parking garage. This is a Form Based Code project which requires modifications to Form Based Code requirements and a Use Permit. The proposed redevelopment includes an interior courtyard and streetscape improvements along South Glebe Road and Columbia Pike.
Update June 27 2019: Community Meeting
On June 27th there was a community meeting at Walter Reed Community Center to discuss the new Westmont Shopping Center . It focused more on bringing the community uptodate rather than taking input from the audience because the plans for the building are in the last stages of being finalized and there is no room for any changes. There were a lot of questions about the center, many from those whose propery backs up onto the alley. The alley will go around the building with entrances on Glebe and Columbia Pike. They were concerned about the impact the construction will have on their property and also the impact of traffic on Glebe Road and Columbia Pike and the alley which has two parking entrances into the building. They wanted to be informed during the entire process and asked to be given names of contact for questions and complaints.
The other item which got some of the most intense attention from the audience was the architecture of the building. The main complaint was that all of the new buildings on the Pike basically look the same. The answer was that the design is what is required by the Form Base Code for Columbia Pike although recently some of the restrictions have been lifted. "Before limited architectual expressions of the building which required that there be changes every 60 feet are no longer required". And the design of this building was not the same as the others. It was pointed out that although the architecs might see the differences the buildings were basically all the same. (I might add that in other community meetings and individually I have heard many complaints about the sameness of the look of these buildings)
The final construction drawings for the county are due by July. The last tenant should be out by the end of 2020. Demolition will begin January 2021. First tenants about 4 years from now.
November 28, 2018: Future Westmont Shopping Center
Recently Westmont Properties LLC (owned by Polinger) submitted a proposal with Arlington County for permission to build a completely new shopping center to replace the Westmont Shopping Center that is on the north east corner of S. Glebe and Columbia Pike this is within the Columbia Pike Special Revitalization District. "The proposal includes 250 new residential units, approximately 23,000 square feet of ground floor retail, and two levels of below-grade parking containing approximately 345 parking spaces. Its possible that once the proposal has been accepted and work has began the name of the center will change.
May 2019 Architecture Plans: Drawings Part One, Drawings Part Two
Details
Site is approximately 79,237 square feet
6-story, mixed-use project
285 reserved (tenant) parking spaces
60 shared (visitor/customer) spaces
96 bicycle spaces (84 of which located within secure storage facility)
3 parking spaces located on-street (S. Glebe Rd) Streetscape improvements on S. Glebe Road and Columbia Pike (including clear sidewalk, street trees, benches and trash bins)
There will be an open space in the center of the building with Trees and greenery.
December 2018 Updated Transportation Impact Study
Comment
Keith Fred
It is time to put a stop to Arlington County's Form Base Code and developers that want to turn all of Columbia Pike into cookie cutter buildings that bring no benefit to existing nearby residents and creates an undesirable canyon effect. Any new development should be based on performance, including how it effects the surrounding environment, existing area residents and visitors, retail options and traffic.Keith Fred
History
Original Westmont Shopping Center
This area which includes the other three corners that face Columbia Pike and S. Glebe is know as Hunters Crossroads although the name is rarely used today.
History
The Westmont Shopping Center opened in 1941 and has been own by the Kramer family for the last 70 years.
Hunter's Crossroads
South Glebe Road was built in the 18th century to connect Northern Arlington to Alexandra. Columbia Turnpike was built in 1808. Hunter's Crossroads eventually became the name of the intersection.
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In the late 1850tys Louisa Hunter gave the land on the northeast corner of the of Columbia Pike and Glebe Road to the Methodist Church. The church became known as Hunter's Chaple. During the civil war in 1861 the church was seize and distroyed by Union Troops. The congregation eventually moved to a new church a couple of blocks away at 716 South Glebe. It is no longer at this location as of late 2015.
By the 1920s both Glebe and the Pike had surfaced roads.
Westmont Shopping Center
On the northeast corner where Westmont Shopping Center is located was Snoot's farm which housed the first fire truck for this area in one of its barn. A fire station was later built on Edgewood behind what is now Pike Park .
Another shopping center is scheduled for Arlington, Va. Progressive Building Corporation, headed by Hyman Eckhaus, president, has purchased as the site, more than 90,000 square feet at the northeast intersection of Columbia pike and Glebe road, it is reported. The transaction was handled through the office of Kelley, Steele & Branner and Gilliam Parramere. The structure described as an outstanding one, has been designed by E. J. Conner.Washington Post 06/16/1940
The projected center will represent an investment of approximately $250,000, and will be ready for occupancy October 1. According to estimates, density of Arlington traffic has increased almost 100 per cent since last year’s count. On this basis, it is estimated 12,000 cars on Columbia pike and 600 on Glebe road will pass the site daily. Kelley, Steele & Branner will be the leasing agents.
Library
There have been a lot of businesses in this shopping center including a Ben Franklin's Five and Dime. At one point there was a branch of the Arlington library . The Library moved into 3239 in 1959 and stayed until 1975, when it moved to its present location on S. Walter Reed. The library was on the the east corner of the center and its doors faced Glebe Road, the same section of the shopping center that is shown in the Hollywood Video photo below.
The Ben Franklin Five and Dime closed at the end of 1978. The store had been at this location for 27 years. The store closed because of an rent increase.
Benton, 46 and his wife, Sheila, bought the store for $50,000 five years ago. They say they are closing it because their profit margin is not high enough to meet a more than doubling of their rent.washington post 1978
Hollywood Video & Drug Stores
There were at least three drug stores Carrier Drug,
Dart Drug and Rite-Aid Pharmacy each replacing the other in that order. Hollywood Video replaced Rite-Aid. Hollywood Video arrived in 2003 and was gone by 2007. Simplicity Urgent Care Center opened in this spot in 2010. Simplicity changed it's name to NOVA but the ownership remained the same.Westmont was our little shopping center and I particularly remember Carrier Drug - Doc knew all the kids and would let you read comic books for free.Richard Lyon (Richard Lyon's family lived on 7th St from 1950 to 2010)
Notoriety
Notoriety came to Westmont via Champion Billards.
At Champion Billiards, authorities said, juveniles as young as 15 were found using cocaine and participating as intermediaries in drug transactions. Others as young as 12 were suspected by police of using and trafficking in illegal drugs....Washington Post 12/11/1981
Among those charged... "three managers of Champion Billiards at 3249 Columbia Pike in the Westmont Shopping Center, who were also charged with illegal gambling. Police said they found no evidence that the owners of the firms were involved.
Bakeries and Five Guys
There were two bakeries, the first was Clement's Pastry which moved to DC and was replaced by Brenner's Bakery. Brenner's was in Westmont for many years but lost their lease in 2001and H & R block moved into their location. Later it became a Mattress Discounters
In 1986 Jim Murrell and his sons opened their first location for Five Guys hamburgers and in the beginning their buns were baked by Brenners.
Brenners
Originally Brenner's Bakery was on the southeast corner of Hunters Crossroads where it had opened in 1946. It later moved into Westmont.
From Richard Lyon
Cop Shop Photo by Richard LyonYou may already know but the Auto parts store used to be from left to right Brenner's People's Hardware, and a barber shop before the Library, which was located where Carriers later moved. Mattress Discounters was a Ben Franklin and to it's left was a pet store where they once sold monkeys! The Boston Market was a Food Fair grocery store and before that I think it was an A&P. The Cop Shop owner was somewhat notorious and lived on S 8th St with a wolf dog.There used to be mechanical horses in front of Ben Franklin. We would get a lot of our toys at Peoples Hardware and they would do lay away even for little kids.Richard Lyon
