The Arlington County Board on May 10 unanimously approved a package of land‑use changes and a site plan to replace the largely vacant office building at 3033 Wilson Boulevard with an eight‑story, 309‑unit mixed‑use building that will include ground‑floor retail, a new public plaza and a protected bicycle lane along Wilson Boulevard.

County planning staff said the plan repurposes existing concrete parking and building core, shortens construction time and helps meet county goals to convert obsolete office space to housing near transit. “This plan advances the goals of the Clarendon sector plan,” Peter Schultz, a planner in the county’s Community Planning, Housing and Development division, told the board during the presentation.

The board approved four related actions: a general land‑use plan amendment to reclassify the site as medium‑density mixed use and fold it into the Clarendon Revitalization District; changes to the Clarendon zoning map to allow an 85‑foot maximum height at the site (with a lower 65‑foot limit on the northeast corner that abuts single‑family lots); a rezoning of a small strip now zoned R‑5 to C‑3 to match the rest of the parcel; and the site plan (SPLN‑204‑00003) and related ordinance to vacate certain sidewalk and utilities easements. The board also authorized the real‑estate bureau chief to execute the vacation deeds.

Project details in the county staff report and applicant materials include:
- Building: up to 85 feet tall (eight stories) with a stepped back massing to reduce impacts on adjacent houses.
- Units and mix: 309 residential units; approximately 6,000 square feet of ground‑floor retail.
- Parking and loading: 324 parking spaces in the retained garage; about 49 spaces will be available for lease to nearby users; a reconfigured loading area and upgraded garage access.
- Affordable housing and sustainability: eight on‑site committed affordable units set at 60% AMI for a 30‑year period; the applicant is pursuing LEED Gold and the county’s Green Building Incentive Program to earn additional density (applicant reported a target performance about 24% below energy code and a high proportion of electrification).
- Public realm: redesigned public plaza maintained by the developer, expanded tree canopy and a protected two‑way cycle track on Wilson Boulevard; the applicant committed to coordination on robust materials and fortification of the bike lane.

Matthew Weinstein, lead attorney for the applicant, CAR/Clarendon owner representatives and their design team described retaining the existing cast‑in‑place garage and building core as a key carbon‑reduction and cost‑saving strategy. “We voluntarily agreed to move [the on‑site affordable total] up to eight,” Weinstein said when describing the applicant’s housing commitments. Tom Argeers, CAR’s development director, described a community garden and other landscape buffering intended to limit impacts on nearby single‑family homes.

The project went through two Site Plan Review Committee (SPRC) meetings, multiple submissions and hearings. County commissions recommended approval: the Transportation Commission (7‑0) urged that the developer and staff harden the protected bike lane against vehicle intrusion; the Housing Commission recommended approval (11‑0); the Planning Commission recommended approval at its May 5 hearing (7‑0); and the Climate, Energy & Environment Commission (C2E2) delivered design suggestions for stronger green‑building measures. Lyon Village Civic Association, the immediate host association, asked for deferral in a letter; Clarendon/Courthouse Civic Association supported the plan after SPRC revisions.

Board members who spoke in the vote discussion praised the applicant’s early community outreach, the reuse of the garage to reduce demolition impacts and the project’s contribution of housing near Metro. The motion carried 5‑0 with all board members recorded in the affirmative.

Next steps: the county will record the vacation deeds and the applicant will move into civil engineering and construction permitting. Staff noted the project still requires typical civil, building and permit reviews to implement the site plan and agreed to additional coordination on streetscape and sustainability details.