The Arlington County Board approved a set of applications to build an 88-unit, eight-story residential condominium at 1501 Langston Boulevard during its regular meeting on Saturday, September 19, 2026.
The building will include a ground-floor "institutional" space for a museum and 149 parking spaces in the existing underground parking garage, which will remain. The project will demolish and replace the vacant office building that formerly served as headquarters for the Air & Space Force Association (AFA), adding housing in a transit-accessible location near the Rosslyn Metro station.
According to the County, the redevelopment advances goals to reposition obsolete office space and add housing in an area well served by transit and multimodal transportation options. The building and site design respond to surrounding conditions, including a steep change in grade and proximity to lower-density housing to the north and west. The project also includes two new public spaces and transportation improvements, including work on the adjacent Custis Trail, narrowing a section of Langston Boulevard, and removing a section of sound barrier next to the trail.
The Board also adopted a five-year Vision Zero Action Plan Update, developed from lessons learned implementing Vision Zero, recent crash data analysis, before-and-after studies, and two phases of community engagement. Vision Zero aims to eliminate all transportation-related fatalities and severe injuries while ensuring safe, healthy, equitable mobility for all. Arlington has averaged about 43 serious injuries and 3 fatalities each year over the last five years, and the County's target is zero by 2030.
The plan formalizes the program structure, adds 26 new action items, and identifies progress and outcome measures. The action items fall into four categories: engineering, engagement, plan and policies, and behavior change.
At a recessed meeting on Tuesday, September 22, 2026, the Board denied a use permit request for live entertainment at Big Tony's, located at 3100 Clarendon Boulevard. During the review, the establishment conducted live entertainment on multiple occasions without required approval, resulting in Notices of Violation and monetary tickets. Staff from multiple departments had significant concerns about the operator's ability and willingness to adhere to use permit conditions. The denial does not affect the restaurant's ability to continue operating, but it cannot lawfully conduct live entertainment.
The Board adopted amendments to use permits for live entertainment at Clarendon Ballroom and Buena Vida, expanding related hours of operation from 1 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday to align with other permits in the area. Both permits are subject to Board review in eight months, in May 2027, and include a condition allowing an off-schedule review if documented violations occur.