The Arlington County Government affirmed on May 16 that it prefers demolition of 70-year old apartments and their greenspace to their preservation. Their news to Arlington renters and historians: drop dead. The county Historic Affairs Landmark Review (HALRB) Board at the urging of the county staff and manager (and presumably the county board) voted in May to allow the bulldozers to continue to operate in Westover for at least another year.


On May 16, the HALRB refused to designate any of the over 700 units as historic, and instead voted to postpone any action on the historic petition for eight months or more. During 2016-18, a developer demolished garden-apartment buildings with about 100 moderate-cost rental apartments, and the county government refused to do anything to stop the destruction even though it accepts that these apartments are historically significant and contribute the largest number of affordable market-rate rental apartments in any North Arlington neighborhood.

Arlington Greens along with 160 Arlington residents filed a historic preservation petition with Arlington County in June 2016, and the county then began a historic study of historic Westover Village. Then over the next two years, the HALRB held two hearings, and in addition there were a half-dozen other community meetings over Westover historic preservation. Meanwhile, the county professional historic staff who were supposed to prepare a detailed architectural and planning study and inventory of existing historic buildings did nothing.

Now, two years later in May 2018, the HALRB voted to defer any decision for another at least 8 months until the county government implements another ordinance called Housing Conservation District, a novel and new idea never actually tried. The HCD has no legal relation to anything the HALRB is charged with doing under state historic law and county ordinance.

The county staff and board exhibit a bias against keeping older garden apartments in Arlington, and instead favor high rise development including infill in Westover. The county government believes that historic preservation and moderate income apartments are incompatible despite the example in Arlington of two other large historic garden-apartment complexes with many moderate income units, Colonial Village (since 1978) and Buckingham (1980s). Both complexes contain a mix of moderate cost rental units and condos and a mix of income and ethnic groups. Why not in Westover in a historic district? Does every neighborhood have to look like Ballston?

The county board’s bias in favor of developers and against current residents is very clear: build very expensive high rise apartment buildings and demolish existing low rise garden units that house renters. The failed policy of building new subsidized units as affordable housing results from the very high cost of such new units (well over $400,000 each) that then can only be rented to a favored few (generally below 300 households a year) who also generally must earn above $60,000 a year. Lower income renters are virtually all excluded and denied any housing assistance to rent in high cost Arlington.

Preserving existing units in Westover built 70 years ago that have been updated and are generally in good condition but smaller and without the bells and whistles of new units (but also much lower in cost) is a proven way to keep some market-rate, unsubsidized apartments in high cost Arlington which continues to drive away its working income renters.

Arlington County Blocks Historic Preservation of Older Neighborhoods in a Bow to the Developers

On December 19, 2017, the Arlington County Board voted unanimously to eliminate the right of all Arlington citizens to nominate a neighborhood or group of buildings for consideration for local historic preservation. The Board bowed to pressure from investors and developers seeking to profit by bulldozing older apartments and detached houses in Arlington. County staff are angered that Arlington citizens have asked for protection of local historic districts and buildings, particularly in Westover, and wanted to effectively block citizens from petitioning the local government to protect whole neighborhoods or apartment complexes like Westover Village.

Under the new county rules, only civic associations, condo boards or homeowner associations may ask for historic preservation for multiple properties or a homeowner who obtains at least 25 percent of other property owners’ permission. Tenants have no rights at all.

In the past, only a few civic associations have ever asked for historic preservation and often have opposed it owing to developers and investors greed in demolition. Tenant associations and historic groups can no longer petition for historic status. The first neighborhood protected in Arlington was the Colonial Village in 1980 with a petition from the tenants association. Colonial Village today is a mix of lower income and moderate income tenants and condo associations living in a garden-like area with mature trees, green space, adjacent to the Courthouse Metro.

The latest government elimination of citizens’ rights to petition their local government resulted from the Arlington Greens and local tenants asking for historic protection of Westover Village apartment buildings in 2016. An investor has already demolished nearly 100 apartment units that were moderate income rentals, and built luxury townhouses costing over $800,000 for rich people. There are another over 300 units at risk of demolition. The Westover Village was designated as a national historic district in 2006, owing to its distinct WWII architecture and style from the 1940s.

The county board on a unanimous vote showed its true colors: protect developers, investors and absentee property owners to the neglect of tenants, neighbors, and historians. Dollars trump human rights to affordable housing and preserved older neighborhoods.

On November 30, the Historic Affairs Landmark Review Board (HALRB) voted 6-2 to proceed to the final study and review of designating the apartment buildings in Westover area of Arlington as a historic district. Arlington Greens including Steve Davis, Kirit Mookerjee and John Reeder spoke in favor of a local Arlington historic designation of Westover Village, particularly the apartment district threatened with demolitions.
A number of tenants and historic preservation supporters spoke as well in favor of historic designation that would make it difficult to demolish existing apartment buildings which provide over 700 moderate income rental units in Westover.

The county historic staff will next research and complete a full report within 6-12 months, and then the HALRB will vote whether to accept local designation and forward this to the Arlington County Board for its approval or denial.

Arlington Greens have been working with tenants and historic preservationists to maintain the current moderate income rental units in Arlington; there are about 470 apartments that are market rate affordable rental units (affordable at 60 percent of the area median income) and about 223 subsidized committed affordable units. Developers have demolished about 62 units in the past two years and another 8 units are scheduled for demolition. Expensive townhouses are built in the place of these 70 year old apartments.

With the demolition of about 70 apartment units in Westover over the past two years, it is clear what the fate of the remaining market-rate affordable units will be in the near future: a bulldozer. For this reason, community activists in June 2016 filed a petition to the county government to designate Westover Village as a local historic district, thereby providing some protections against any further demolitions. The county HALRB is to hold a public hearing on November 30 to evaluate this petition.

Developers and some Westover homeowners argue against the historic district, and suggest other affordable housing tools be used to preserve the 400 units at risk. Unfortunately, the county has no other ways to stop demolition so this is disingenuous. In any event, the county cannot compel apartment building owners to sell to them or to a nonprofit. A nonprofit housing group APAH with county funding was able to buy 68 units, but 400 unprotected units remain under bulldozer threat.

The Arlington County Board approved in September 2016 an $11 million loan to APAH to purchase these 68 units in Westover for preservation as affordable units, amounting to $161,000 per unit. Then APAH says it will remodel the units at a cost of $188,000 per unit, raising their cost to nearly $400,000 each. This leaves 400 units at risk.

If the owners of the remaining 400 units were provided the same financing per unit, the county would need another $62 million in AHIF loans. But, the balance of AHIF funds is only $21 million currently after the latest APAH project, and thus the county is $42 million short. Thus, the county could not immediately finance the additional 400 units even if its owners wanted to sell right away.

Some affordable housing supporters say that historic preservation will not solve the affordability problem, but in fact this is disingenuous. If the apartment buildings are demolished, there is no possibility of keeping historic affordable rental apartments at all, whereas with historic preservation and the buildings preserved at least short term, then there is time to find means to keep affordable rents.

Longer term with a historic district in Westover, the county and nonprofits would be likely to finance gradual purchase of buildings as their owners decide to sell. The local historic ordinance requires that the owner of an historic building must first offer it for sale for one year at a fair market price before it can be demolished. Thus, a nonprofit or the county housing agency could purchase such a building.

Thus, designating all Westover apartments as a historic district under local Arlington County ordinance is the necessary first step if the Arlington County Board sincerely wishes to preserve affordable rental housing. The later and necessary second step will be to provide financial resources to later purchase units or to subsidize their owners who will agree to permanently keep them as affordable rental units as has been the case in Westover for the past 75 years.

Two more apartment buildings in Westover Village are scheduled for demolition in the near future as the owner submitted a request to Arlington County for demolition permits. The buildings contain at least eight apartments rented at moderate levels; some of the current tenants were previously evicted from an adjacent apartment building demolished earlier this spring.

The two buildings are located at 5718 and 5724 N. 10th Road, Arlington VA, next to the Westover Park. This developer was also the one who demolished six buildings earlier this year to make way for luxury townhouses, selling for in excess of $800,000 each.

So far about 62 apartment units were demolished this year, and these two buildings would add 8 more demolished apartments and evict these families. The building owner did not offer relocation and moving expenses to these tenants.

Community activists and Greens have petitioned the Arlington County Government to designate the entire Westover Village as a local historic area and thus bar the demolition of these historic buildings which are in good condition. The county government has not yet officially begun the historic designation process. Greens previously petitioned the county board to bar the temporary demolition of any buildings until the historic review process is completed within a year or two. The county board refused to do so.

The picnic of Greens and Westover tenants was a fun event with about 100 people attending, and enjoying food and good music from Westover Beer garden musicians. Over 30 tenants signed up to be part of the new tenants association and to be part of the effort to keep existing apartments in Westover from demolition.

Arlington and Virginia Green members staffed a booth at the Arlington County Fair during Aug. 19-21, and gathered many signatures for a petition urging historic preservation of Westover Village in Arlington, and also many signatures to get Jill Stein for president on the Virginia ballot in November.
Below are Greens Kirit Mookerjee and Steve Davis at the booth at the county fair which as usual was held at the T-J Middle School in south Arlington. Greens got to meet many Arlington supporters and old friends at the fair.

Greens and tenants in Westover have been advocating for the past three months to have Arlington County historically designate and protect the Village area which contains over 700 rental apartment units. Greens also are upset at the high rate of tear downs of well maintained 60 or 70 year old brick detached houses for middle income homeowners now being demolished to make way for ugly, overlylarge McMansions destined for the wealthy able to buy a $1.5 million energy guzzler with no trees, greenspace or taste.

Jill Stein was nominated by the U.S. Green Party for president, but has yet to get on the Virginia ballot. She is on the ballot of about 20 states in the U.S. but not so far in Virginia nor 29 other states that make it difficult for third party candidates to actually appear on the election day ballot. The two dominant parties of course wish to limit third parties like we Greens from appearing democratically on the ballot.

The county government is moving ahead with its review of the petition to designate Westover Village as a historic district. The Historic Affairs Landmark Review Board (HALRB) will shortly announce a public hearing next month in September 2016 allowing the public to speak about this historic designation review. Approximately 2-3 months after the HALRB completes this process. the Arlington County Board will hold follow up public hearing.

Greens and neighborhood residents will shortly deliver petitions the county government with over 100 signatures from Arlington residents calling for historic designation of Westover Village and a halt to more demolitions of buildings. There is still concern over more demolitions since two more apartment buildings appear about to be demolished to make way for more luxury townhouses. Construction permits have been filed with Arlington County for two buildings on North 10th Road near the Westover Park.

In the first week of August, an anonymous flyer was taped to the doors of detached houses in the Westover area with a series of erroneous claims against historic designation, such as owners would be unable to make any changes to their properties, historic designation would reduce the property value, historic designation discriminates against owners, and that property owners actually vote to approve or disapprove designation. All of these allegations are false. The authors of the flyer were anonymous and provided no substantiation of these claims which are contrary to county ordinance and national historic patterns.

In fact, owners may make exterior changes to their properties after approval from the county government (interior changes are permissible without permit); studies of historic districts indicate that designation raises property values; historic designation is a zoning procedure long upheld by the U.S. and Virginia Supreme Courts; and only members of the HALRB and the county board vote to approve or disapprove historic designation. Renters, neighbors, historians, property owners, and other Arlington residents may voice their opinions, but none actually vote.

Within the boundaries of the Westover Village, there are about 2,200 residents (based on the 2010 Census), of whom about 67 percent are renters and only 29 percent are owner-occupiers. About half of the households in Westover are single person-households; another nearly 25 percent are two-person households. Renters live not only in the 700 apartments, but also rent some of the detached houses and duplexes as well. Thus in the community of Westover Village, it is the well being of the tenants that is the most pressing concern for this community.

Greens and neighborhood residents will shortly be distributing a fact sheet to all of the 2,200 residents of Westover Village. A September community picnic is being planned at which Westover tenants and community supporters can gather for questions and for a celebration of the great community of Westover.

Residents of Westover area and Arlington Greens went to the Arlington County Board on June 18 asking the board to initiate a study of local historic district protection for the Westover Village and to temporarily block any more demolitions of apartment buildings there. The board agreed to begin the process of historic study of Westover, but would not agree to temporarily block more demolitions.

Over the past 2 years about 7 apartment buildings were demolished in Westover, eliminating about 70 market rate affordable units. These apartments have existed for about 76 years and were surrounded by many hundred year old trees and vegetation. In their place will be million dollar townhouses with virtually no green space and virtually the entire surface area paved over.

The county government will hold a public community meeting in July to explain the legal process of designating the current national historic district of Westover Village as a local Arlington historic district. With a local historic district, buildings could not be demolished without being offered for sale to another investor for one year.

Here is a map of the current national historic district of Westover: