Former Red Cross headquarters in Arlington will be redeveloped into housing

In a unanimous vote, the Arlington County Board has approved a rezoning and site plan that will redevelop a block of property in Arlington, Virginia, with a 97-unit multi-family residential building and two rows of townhomes. The site, located at 20 N. Thomas Street, 15 and 19 N. Trenton Street and 4333 Arlington Boulevard, was once home to the County’s Red Cross headquarters.

Along with this new project, developer Wesley Housing Development Corporation will also preserve the four buildings that comprise Whitefield Commons as they are eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. The interiors will be reconfigured, and five units will be added to the existing 63 residences. Whitefield Commons was constructed in 1943.

Additional plans involve renovating an existing playground as well as improving circulation around and through the site by widening sidewalks. Missing sidewalk links will also be filled in.

For the first phase of this project, the 19 townhouses will be constructed, while the multi-family building will be completed in the second phase.

In a statement, Arlington County Board Chair Katie Cristol said, “This redevelopment meets many of the goals of our Affordable Housing Master Plan ... Our community, facing an ever more severe deficit of affordable housing, needs more projects like this one.”

• Former Red Cross Headquarters Site to be Redeveloped [Arlington Newsroom]