Firm Shareholder, Andrew Painter, will instruct a course on the history of development in Northern Virginia for the Center for Real Estate and Entrepreneurship at George Mason University’s Costello College of Business.  Andrew works in the firm’s Land Use and Zoning practice group, where he focuses on securing zoning entitlements across Northern Virginia, including Arlington County, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, the City of Falls Church, the City of Fairfax, and the Town of Leesburg. A native of Northern Virginia, Andrew has spent much time traveling and writing about the region’s land development history and received an award from the Virginia Chapter of the American Planning Association for his review of enduring rural landscapes in Fairfax County.

At the lecture, Andrew will cover questions such as: How did the built environment of Northern Virginia develop into the places we live, work, and entertain in today? How did residential communities develop, from the early settlement of Arlington through the emergence of postwar communities in Fairfax during the 1940s and 1950s to the establishment of large-scale communities in western Fairfax and the expansive planned unit developments in Loudoun and Prince William? What lessons from the past can we learn as we work to develop the region’s future?

If you are a real estate professional who moved to this area, just started your career, or want to learn more about the economic and development history of Northern Virginia, join us to deepen your understanding of this dynamic market, register for the lecture HERE.

Many Northern Virginians have visited Goodwill of Greater Washington’s retail store and donation center at 10. S. Glebe Road in Arlington County. The approximately 1.4-acre site, which features an aging two-story building constructed in 1954 and associated surface parking, experiences the highest volume of donations in Goodwill of Greater Washington’s portfolio, and is one of the most successful Goodwill donation centers nationwide. 

On February 24, 2024, the Arlington County Board approved a rezoning and 4.1 site plan to permit the redevelopment of the site into a new 178,425-square foot mixed-use building.  

The building will include a new Goodwill retail store and enlarged donation processing center, a 3,000-square foot child care facility with capacity for up to 40 children, as well as five floors of all-affordable housing, containing 128 committed affordable housing units (CAFs). With an eye towards serving families and larger households, approximately 73 percent of the CAFs will be two- and three-bedroom units. The building will be served by two levels of below-grade parking. 

The project represents a unique partnership between two non-profit organizations that have long served Arlington County: Goodwill of Greater Washington and Affordable Homes & Communities (AHC).  

Founded in 1935, Goodwill of Greater Washington is a nonprofit organization that provides free job training, education, and supportive services to people faced with disabilities and/or barriers to employment. AHC, established in 1975, is a regional developer of affordable and workforce housing.  

The project represents the first time that Goodwill, anywhere in the country, has partnered with an affordable housing provider to redevelop one of its facilities into a vertically-integrated mixed-use building.  

Planning for the project began more than three years ago when Goodwill of Greater Washington began exploring ideas for upgrading the existing retail store and donation center. After several discussions and design consultations with project architect Michael Foster of MTFA Architecture, PLLC, Goodwill decided to explore the concept of partnering with an affordable housing provider to create a larger mission-driven family-focused mixed-use project. It selected AHC as its joint venture partner.  

Atypical of most Arlington 4.1 site plan applications, a predominant focus of the proposed design is Goodwill’s critical need to accommodate and efficiently process onsite a large volume of community-based donations. Additional considerations include the need to improve the donation and employee experience, bicycle access, and pedestrian safety. 

MTFA’s design, as approved, separates donation, residential, and retail traffic, creates a donation drive aisle, reduces queuing along S. Glebe Road, accommodates loading truck maneuvering, and moves all donation drop-offs and processing within the new building.  

The project will enhance pedestrian safety through the closure of one of the two-existing driveways along S. Glebe Road. It will also deliver an enhanced 10-foot wide clear width sidewalk with plantings, as well as a portion of the planned Arlington Boulevard multi-use trail. An onsite 10-foot wide high visibility raised crosswalk with stop bar and signage will also be provided.  

Environmental sustainability and landscaping figures prominently into the overall design. The mixed-use building will achieve EarthCraft Multifamily Gold certification, and the project nearly doubles the amount of landscaped open space on site, provides an approximately 5,550-square foot outdoor play area, plants additional trees, and features bioretention planters.  

When taken together, the project will provide critical upgrades to an important non-profit facility that is heavily used by Arlington County residents. It also advances goals found in the County’s Affordable Housing Master Plan, Child Care Initiative, Master Transportation Plan, and Community Energy Plan. 

Walsh Colucci shareholder Andrew Painter and associate attorney Lauren Riley represented Goodwill and AHC throughout the process. 

Interest in large outdoor video screens in mixed-use developments, outdoor shopping malls, and lifestyle centers has increased in recent years as a way to augment retail vitality as well as imbue a sense of place and visual interest in mixed-use common areas.

With rapid technological advancements in technological color and high-definition over the past decade, such screens have been used to display motion pictures, media broadcasts, live events, concerts, art displays, animation, media advertising, and more. Two well-known local examples of large outdoor entertainment displays may be found at Mosaic District and Comstock’s Reston Station development.

On February 24, 2024, the Arlington County Board authorized a request to advertise public hearings (an “RTA”) to begin the process to amend the Arlington County Zoning Ordinance to permit such visual display screens in certain large mixed-use developments. The amendment would replace the current Zoning Ordinance definition of “Large Media Screens,” and add definitions and performance standards regarding brightness, hours of operation.

While the performance standard parameters have yet to be drafted, it can be reasonably assumed the amendments will include requirements related to outdoor speakers/sound amplification, hours of usage, and locational criteria (e.g., limitation on distance from residential uses and lines of sight to public roadways).

Similarly, a determination of qualifying retail developments is not yet known; however, it is anticipated that these screens would be allowed in projects such as Westpost (formerly Pentagon Row), the Village at Shirlington, The Crossing Clarendon (formerly Market Common), Courthouse Plaza, Ballston Quarter, Pentagon Centre, and the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City.

The RTA represents a major step forward in the implementation of the second round of Commercial Market Resiliency Initiatives (“CMRI”), which seek to enable the County to better respond to changing economic conditions and consumer trends in the face of increased office vacancy and decreased commercial property tax revenue.

The request to advertise authorizes Planning Commission and County Board public hearings as early as April 2024.

Walsh Colucci will continue monitoring this initiative. More information may be found here: https://meetings.arlingtonva.us/CountyBoard/Documents/ViewDocument/_1%20-%20Board%20Report%20(Final)%20-%2026504305%20REQUEST%20TO%20ADVERTISE%20A%20PUBLIC%20HEARING.pdf?meetingId=2458&documentType=Agenda&itemId=51932&publishId=31579&isSection=false

This article was written by firm Shareholder Andrew Painter.

I don’t know whether to be proud or to be depressed by the fact that I am now at the point in my career when I can use phrases like: “When I started practicing law…”  or “When I learned how to do it, we always….” Causing every younger attorney within earshot to roll their eyes.   In any event, I was recently involved in a matter in which I was sorely tempted to start using those phrases.  Here’s the story, the facts have been greatly simplified and the names have been changed to protect the innocent: 

The story starts with a real estate agent, Betty Sellitnow.  Betty received an email, generated through a marketing website, from the owner of an undeveloped lot, Joe Lotowner.  Joe expressed an interest in selling his lot and, of course, Betty wanted to sell it, now. 

Even though the county tax and other records showed that Joe lived less than 5 miles from Betty’s office, Betty nonetheless elected to email the listing agreement to Joe to sign via DocuSign, rather than meet with him in person.  Betty also had Joe send her a copy of his driver’s license, just to be sure he was not a scammer. Joe e-signed the listing agreement and promptly returned it, along with the copy of the driver’s license, to Betty, all via email.  Betty jumped right on selling the property, now. 

Betty found a buyer, John and Alice Happycouple, who offered to buy the property for $400,000.00.  Betty promptly emailed the contract to both sides for execution.  Both sides signed the contract, once again via DocuSign.  All was right with the world. 

Betty referred the closing to Impregnable Title to handle closing, with the title insurance policy to be issued by Awesome Title, an agency in which Betty co-owned an interest along with the owners of Impregnable.   

Shortly before the scheduled closing date, Joe contacted Impregnable, by email,  to let them know that he would be on vacation in the Outer Banks on the day of closing.  He asked them to email the closing documents to him so that he could print them up, sign them, get the relevant documents notarized locally, and return them to Impregnable.  Joe remotely signed and returned the closing documents, including an original notarized deed.  Closing went down without incident.  Impregnable wired Joe’s proceeds to an account Joe had provided. 

Shortly after closing, Impregnable got a call from the local police.  The police had been monitoring the account in question because of past fraudulent activity.  They asked why Impregnable had wired such a large amount of money to the account.  Further investigation revealed that: 

• The person claiming to be Joe (who had communicated with both Betty and Impregnable only via email and whom nobody had even met face-to-face) was not really Joe. 

• The signature and notary’s acknowledgement on the deed were both forgeries.   

• Even though Joe said that he was on vacation in the Outer Banks, the deed was allegedly notarized in Hanover County, Virginia and was overnighted to Impregnable from Norfolk, Virginia. 

• The emailed driver’s license was a fake.  

Impregnable immediately contacted their bank to try to recall the wire.  Alas, it was too late, the money was gone. 

Impregnable, to their credit, immediately tracked down the real owner, Joe Lotowner, to notify him of the fraudulent transaction and advised John and Alice Happycouple to make a claim of their title insurance policy.  They also immediately notified their Errors and Omissions carrier of the potential claims. 

Impregnable’s Errors and Omissions carrier immediately denied coverage and filed suit in the U.S. District Court for declaratory judgment over the coverage issue.  Impregnable was on their own. 

The real Joe immediately filed suit against John and Alice Happycouple under a number of theories to rescind the deed or otherwise quiet title.  John and Alice responded with a third-party complaint against Betty and Impregnable for their failure to confirm that the Joe with which they were dealing was the real Joe.   

The title insurance underwriter, after a thorough investigation, confirmed that the deed and notarization were both forgeries.  Because of this, the title insurance underwriter paid policy limits of $400,000 to John and Alice, but that’s not the end of the story.  The title insurance underwriter then immediately filed suit against both Impregnable and Awesome Title under multiple theories, including breach of their agency agreements. 

John and Alice’s claim for damages was far in excess of the $400,000 purchase price for the property, because they claimed to have had expended quite a large amount of money designing and pursuing construction of the “home of their dreams”.  So, John and Alice were not done with Impregnable and Betty.   

The last I checked, and I do not plan on checking again, ever, Impregnable and Awesome had settled with the title insurance underwriter and had also settled with John and Alice.  Both settlements were funded directly by Impregnable.  John and Alice’s suit against Betty is still on-going, as far as I know. 

All of the title insurance underwriters now have standard operating procedures for remote closings.  However, even when a closing agent follows all of those procedures, a fraudulent seller can slip through the cracks.  When I started practicing law, we always made sure that both sides were physically at the closing table and that one of our own notaries took the steps necessary to confirm the identity of the parties.  While the world has changed, the basics have not.  The entire mess could have been avoided in its entirety if someone, anyone, involved in the transaction would have insisted on meeting the seller in person.  If that was not possible, many other steps could have been taken at any point in the process to confirm that Joe was really Joe or at least that the notary was really the notary.  Don’t let it happen to you. 

This article was written by firm Shareholder John Rinaldi.

 

Congratulations goes to Joanna Thomas and Brooke West, who participated in the 42^nd Annual National Trial Advocacy College at University of Virginia School of Law. During this intensive week-long course, they were instructed by some of the country’s finest trial lawyers and judges on how to effectively present opening statements, conduct direct examinations, cross-examine adverse witnesses, and craft compelling closing arguments. The week culminated with a mock jury trial with state and federal judges presiding. Both Joanna and Brooke successfully advocated for their client, resulting in a jury verdict in their favor.

Credit goes to Andy Burcher encouraging Joanna and Brooke to participate.

This experience will allow Joanna and Brooke to help our clients in the complex trials we have scheduled for 2024 and beyond.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors recently approved an application by JLB Realty LLC to build a 230-unit multifamily residential development on an undeveloped parcel in South Riding, Virginia.  The South Riding development was originally approved in the 1990s and is known as one of the finest large-scale communities in Loudoun County.  As with many planned developments, however, there remain small pockets of undeveloped land which require creative solutions for “infill” development. In order to accommodate the project, JLB requested a rezoning to the R-24 Multi-Family Residential zoning district, as well as two zoning modifications for a road corridor buffer type adjustment and an increase in building height for one of the buildings. 

 The property is composed of approximately 19.32 acres and is located south of Route 50 along Defender Drive.  South Riding Boulevard lies to the east and Elk Lick Road to the west of the project. 

JLB’s design team created a highly-amenitized project that consists of 230 multifamily rental units located within four buildings.  The buildings are configured to face internally to a central courtyard with lounge areas and a pool for the residents to enjoy.  A state-of-the-art indoor fitness center will also provide year-round indoor recreational space for the future residents. The community will have ample parking, with covered tandem parking spaces. The proposed development will contain thoughtfully designed amenity areas and active recreation space.  Enhanced landscaping and superior architectural design provided throughout the development will increase the visual appeal for the residents and surrounding community.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Loudoun County has long struggled with the issue of affordable housing units.  The project is expected to provide approximately 168 one-bedroom units, 15 Affordable Dwelling Units (ADUs) and nine Unmet Housing Needs Units (UNHUs). JLB committed to provide 10 percent of all units as affordable, which far exceeds Loudoun County’s requirement since the project was technically exempt from providing any affordable units. The proposed rental units will help address a needed housing product in this area of the County, which sorely needs smaller-sized units, and will respond to the demand for a continuum of housing in the sought-after South Riding community.   

A key component of this project is JLB’s conveyance of approximately 10.41 acres to the South Riding Proprietary to be used as open space. The South Riding Proprietary’s Board of Directors fully supports the project and was actively involved throughout the rezoning process. In exchange for this conveyance, the project will be annexed into the Proprietary allowing future residents to take advantage of the South Riding open space and amenities. The Proprietary plans to use the open space area as a soccer field. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JLB is particularly proud of the many pedestrian-friendly features throughout the project, including pedestrian connections to active recreation areas, a natural surface trail connection to Elk Lick Park, a “missing link” sidewalk to Tall Cedars Parkway, crosswalks, and additional sidewalk connections.  This project will also help to ensure the success of local businesses by increasing pedestrian traffic to the shops, restaurants, fitness center, and other commercial uses located along Defender Drive.  Attractive buffering will be provided and native vegetation will be featured in the onsite landscaping as well as tree conservation areas. 

The resolution of traffic concerns was a crucial factor in obtaining approval of the project.  The South Riding/Route 50 intersection is operating at a “failing” level of service.  The traffic report prepared by Wells & Associates concluded that the project would have a minimal impact on the intersection generating only 1.6 percent of the overall trips.  County planners recommended that the developer pay almost $1 million toward improvements at the intersection based on a legacy proffer from the original South Riding rezoning.  Walsh Colucci was able to assist JLB in successfully negotiating to contribute half of that cost. This revised contribution accounts for the actual development area proposed by the application and reflects JLB’s conveyance of 10.41 acres of open space to the South Riding Proprietary. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Defender West/South Riding Boulevard intersection is part of Loudoun County’s Intersection Improvement Program (IIP). However, as noted by Supervisor Letourneau, the processes necessary to obtain County funding for the intersection could take several years to complete. The project team was able to successfully mitigate Supervisor Letourneau’s concerns by agreeing to install the traffic signal if it is recommended by VDOT. In order to ensure that the signal is operational as soon as possible, the project team also agreed to complete the signal’s design prior to receiving VDOT approval for the signal. Consequently, the signal will likely be provided two to four years earlier than it otherwise would be, making the roadway safer for future Defender West residents and the overall South Riding community. 

The result of these efforts will be a blueprint for how to utilize “infill” development areas to provide a premier development on under-utilized property and to expand the County’s affordable housing options. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Frederick County Board of Supervisors recently approved an application by Carmeuse Americas to allow for a 400-acre expansion rezoning of its existing High Calcium Limestone quarry located in the Clear Brook area of Northern Frederick County, east of Interstate 81. Frederick County is blessed by having very high-quality underground seams of Limestone enriched with Calcium Carbonate (CaCO3) that were embedded into sedimentary rock created during the Cambrian Period when oceanic waters inundated what is now Frederick County, Virginia. Carmeuse is one of the largest producers of Limestone products in the world and operates a global network of 80 plants and 50 limestone quarries in Western, Central and Eastern Europe, North and South America, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. With its global headquarters located in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, Carmeuse Group has approximately 4,500 employees and serves over 8,500 customers globally. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Approval of this application will protect this nonrenewable resource for productive economic use. High Calcium Limestone is used throughout the mid-Atlantic region for fertilizer, building materials, animal feed, cement production, water treatment, and steel manufacturing. It is also a strategic mineral that supports America’s defense initiatives. One regional business provided public hearing testimony that High Calcium Limestone from Carmeuse America’s Frederick County quarry allows for most eggs sold in grocery stores in our region to have strong shells allowing for them to go to market without breaking. According to a fiscal impact report issued by Chmura Economics & Analytics, approval of the Carmeuse EM (Extractive Manufacturing) rezoning will provide app. $45.6 million in local tax revenues to Frederick County over the course of the next 30 years. 

Over the course of a year-long rezoning process, Carmeuse worked with Frederick County to develop one of the strongest proffer packages ever offered on an industrial rezoning application in the county that includes:  

• A $1.75 million cash donation toward the improvements of the Brucetown Rd. / Rt. 11 / Hopewell Rd. intersection

• Purchase and dedication of two parcels of land necessary for the alignment of that intersection improvement
•  Donation of 30,000 tons of aggregate (currently valued at approximately $450,000) toward the improvement of that intersection

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As a part of its proffered commitments, Carmeuse will also reduce the height of its stockpile visible from Rt. 11 and the Frederick County Fairgrounds, provide over $1.5 million to fund Frederick County capital facilities in the vicinity, and install impact-mitigation and wellhead protection measures far in excess of minimum requirements in Virginia mine permit regulations. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carmeuse will also continue and expand its partnership with Frederick County allowing for its quarry pits to become potable water reservoirs to provide drinking water resources for Frederick County citizens for centuries to come.   

Randy Minchew, Managing Shareholder of our Loudoun Office, together with Erin Swisshelm of our Loudoun Office, represented Carmeuse on this successful Frederick County rezoning effort.  

On December 13, 2023, the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors approved a new, rewritten Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance, which now governs land use and development in Loudoun County. This newly adopted ordinance reflects the land use recommendations of the 2019 Loudoun County General Plan and supersedes the Revised 1993 Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance. The new zoning ordinance may be found by clicking here.  

Applications which were officially accepted for County review prior to the December 13, 2023 adoption date will continue to be administered under the prior Revised 1993 Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance, subject to grandfathering provisions adopted by the Board of Supervisors concurrently with the new ordinance. The resolution adopting the grandfathering provisions may be found by clicking here.  

New legislative and administrative land use applications officially accepted after December 13, 2023 will be administered under the newly adopted ordinance, subject to vested rights associated with the Route 28 Tax District, or as previously approved through legislative or administrative applications. The newly adopted Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance contains new regulations which will affect the development potential of land for residential, commercial, or industrial purposes. Some of these key provisions include:  

• New zoning districts, dimensional standards, and permitted uses;  
• New use standards for specific uses developed in the County, whether agricultural, residential, commercial, recreational, industrial, or energy-generation;  
• New overlay district regulations, including updates to environmental regulations in the Floodplain Overlay District, Mountainside Overlay District, and Limestone Overlay District; 
• New affordable housing regulations which require new projects to provide fifteen percent (15%) of single-family units as affordable, and ten percent (10%) of multifamily units as affordable, with additional density available for exceeding the required ADU percentages;  
• New open space requirements within individual zoning districts, and new regulations governing how open space is calculated;  
• New parking regulations for commercial, industrial, and residential uses, including a requirement that each residential garage space shall be counted as one-half space for the purposes of calculating required parking;  
• New data center regulations which require approval of a Special Exception to develop data centers on land zoned to the Office Park – OP zoning district, and increase requirements for façade treatments and setbacks from residential uses; and  
• A new Planned Unit Development District, which allows for customizable land use regulations consistent with the 2019 Loudoun County General Plan.  

Our Leesburg Office stands by ready to assist our clients in analyzing how the newly adopted Loudoun County Zoning Ordinance may affect development potential for properties located in Loudoun County. For any questions related to the new ordinance, or regarding vested rights, please reach out to the Loudoun Office so that we may assist.  

This article was authored jointly by Randy Minchew, Erin Swisshelm, Sasha Brauer, Mike Romeo, and Morgan Hadlock, all of the Leesburg office.

Andrew Painter works in the Land Use and Zoning practice group of Walsh, Colucci, Lubeley, & Walsh where he focuses on securing zoning entitlements across northern Virginia, including Arlington County, the City of Falls Church, Fairfax County, Loudoun County, the City of Fairfax, and the Town of Leesburg. Andrew advises clients on all aspects of the land entitlement process and real estate matters, and frequently appears before planning commissions, local governing bodies, and citizen organizations.

Prior to joining Walsh Colucci in 2007, Andrew worked for two members of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, the County Administrator of Caroline County, Virginia, and former Virginia Governor (now U.S. Senator) Mark Warner. Andrew has spent much time traveling and writing about the region’s land development history and has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Richmond and the University of Mary Washington. Andrew is also the author of a 2018 book chronicling the history of the Virginia wine industry, Virginia Wine: Four Centuries of Change, published by George Mason University Press and distributed by the University of Virginia Press.

This February, Andrew returned as a BISNOW moderator for the 2024 Future of Reston and Herndon panel.