TIRE: Resident non-amenities

In a prior life, I was a condo developer in Manhattan. We focused on properties with an architectural heritage (that deal fell through, btw) that offered more than a very nice amenity package to residents.

When I moved to DC, it was quite obvious that developers were a little behind the times in the floorplans, finishes, and amenity packages being offered. After working in non-condo related capacities for two of the more serious developers in the area, I can say their projects would be mid-grade in Manhattan at best. Even where developers tried to offer the world, the presentation and design just didn’t quite get there.

And yet.

No one in DC or NYC believes me when I try to describe my potential neighbors at the Club at Quincy. Located across from the Central Library and Quincy Park in Arlington, Virginia and within 2 blocks of 2 Metro stations this 12-story, 125 unit property is currently on hold with an unknown start date. Rife with design challenges and difficult negotiations with the longtime owners, the project has gone through several developers and a couple of rounds of ‘proffers’ to Arlington County. The most egregious was a 75-seat black box theater that the County requested before it would release permits. I live a block away and my needs run toward good retail, not an experimental theater.

But no one, absolutely no one, thought the existing owner would stay and request to have their business integrated into the ground floor. That wouldn’t normally be a problem except that the current landowner is the Arlington Funeral Home.

And they aren’t leaving.

As the Post sets it up:

On the second floor, they’ll have a fitness center, a private theater with tiered seating, a “newsroom” with current periodicals and a catering kitchen for social gatherings.
Just above the mezzanine level of the 12-story tower to be erected in the bustling Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, residents will be able to lounge on a landscaped deck, swim in a large pool, relax in an outdoor spa or admire a decorative fountain.
On the first floor, they can make arrangements to bury their loved ones.

Which explains this.

This Is Real Estate