A new article from the Washington Business Journal examines the slowdown in construction activity in Arlington, VA during the second quarter of 2012. Even though there is over 4 million square feet of office space planned and approved by the county, none of the projects are yet under construction, making the second quarter the first quarter in the past decade without any new commercial construction started. An excerpt from the article:
But Arlington doesn't consider a project as "started" until it's above ground, so work at The Penzance Cos.' office building in Clarendon or Virginia Square Towers, both of which were in the dig or demolition phase during the second quarter, wasn't counted.
Robert Ruiz, who leads Arlington's urban planning research team, said the slow quarter was "definitely an anomaly," though it may be the result of several factors: the recession, the lag between county approval and construction, or a delay-spurred rethinking of projects.
Projects under construction during the second quarter will eventually total 962,282 square feet of office space, 147,660 square feet of retail, 1,404 residential units, 183 hotel rooms and 929,828 square feet of "other" space (public facilities, school, health care, etc). Much of the work now underway is found in Rosslyn, at Monday Properties' 1812 N. Moore St., The JBG Cos.' Sedona and Slate residential project and Abdo Development LLC's Gaslight Square.
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