Fortis Files Plans for 166 Apartment on Long-Vacant Lot in Arlington
By Keith Loria December 12, 2022 6:01 pm
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Fortis, a Washington, D.C.-based developer, is looking to build a 166-unit development at 2025 Fairfax Drive at a long-vacant lot in Arlington, Va.
In October of 2011, the Arlington County Board approved a proposal to build a 12-story, 104-unit development on the property, which sits at Fairfax Drive and North Courthouse Road, but the project sat dormant for more than a decade. Then in February of this year, Fortis filed plans for a 112-unit development at the site.
This month, the developer filed a new proposal to take the site up to 166 units and 141,338 square feet, amending its previous plan in response to site challenges that came up after the February proposal. KGD Architecture is the designer.
The new apartments would be next to the historic brick apartment buildings known as Wakefield Manor and Courthouse Manor. The Arlington County Board guaranteed the preservation of both of these properties during its original site plan approval in 2011, according to Arlnow.
The developer posted a video explaining its plan on YouTube. In the video, Andrew Painter, an attorney with Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley & Walsh’s land use and zoning practice group, who is representing Fortis, detailed the current proposal, noting it would require a major amendment to the original site plan.
“We believe that the proposed building will at long last fulfill the county’s land use, density, height, and housing diversity goals for the site, and deliver high-quality architecture,” Painter said in a statement.
Matt Bunch, vice president of acquisitions for Fortis, said the new plan will satisfy the existing residents’ parking needs, improve the project’s overall viability and address the county’s planning guidance.
“We believe this underutilized site is an excellent opportunity to provide new smart growth housing within the county that is easily walkable to the Courthouse Metro Station,” he said.
Fortis’ plan also calls for an underground parking garage and an interior walkway between the nearby apartments and Fairfax Drive.
The Fortis team has delivered more than 4,000 multifamily units in the D.C. metropolitan area with a combined value of $4 billion, according to company documents.
Update: This story originally misattributed source material. This has been corrected. We apologize for the error.
Keith Loria can be reached at Kloria@commercialobserver.com.
