Arlington Should Act Quickly To Buy Key Bridge Marriott: Candidate

ARLINGTON, VA — A candidate for Arlington County Board said the county should consider purchasing the former Key Bridge Marriott hotel that was condemned for safety and health reasons on Friday.

But the county needs to act swiftly and bring public and private stakeholders together to explore possibilities for the site, Natalie Roy, a Realtor who is seeking the Democratic nomination for county board, said in a news release Monday.

"The key is to not let what happened to the Rouse Family Estate happen to this Arlington gateway," Roy said.

In 2021, Arlington County, following a unanimous vote by the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board to conduct a study of the home, was too late in designating the Rouse Estate — also known as the Febrey-Lothrop House — as historic. The designation could have prevented the demolition of the mansion at the corner of Wilson Boulevard and N. McKinley Road.

“If elected as a County Board Member, I will make it a priority to work with other Board Members to develop a strategic county-wide land use plan, so we are not playing catch-up when opportunities present themselves," Roy said.

READ ALSO: Arlington Condemns Key Bridge Marriott, Clears Out Homeless People

The empty hotel and surrounding property in Rosslyn represent a “tremendous opportunity for Arlington,” said Roy, adding that land is at a premium in Arlington and when it becomes potentially available, as it has in this case, the county needs “to make smart decisions quickly.”

Arlington County should “explore ways to form a private-public partnership to purchase and then re-utilize this prime property,” Roy said. “The site could be a showcase for Arlington and include a mixed-use complex that provides affordable housing and retail for essential workers and the most vulnerable members of our community,” she added.

Arlington County officials on Friday condemned the former hotel, evicting unhoused people who had been staying at the abandoned hotel. About 17 people who had been staying in the vacant hotel took the county up on its offer for alternative temporary shelter.

The Key Bridge Marriott, at 1401 Langston Blvd., was purchased in 2018 by KBLH LLC, a subsidiary of the owner Woodridge Capital Partners, and it ceased operating as a hotel in July 2021. More than a year earlier, the Arlington County Board approved a site plan project from KBLH to partially demolish and renovate the existing hotel and construct two new residential buildings.

But Arlington County said Friday the current property owner has not proceeded with the residential building project. Sometime after it closed as a hotel in May 2021, homeless people started using the building as a place to live.

According to the Virginia state building code and fire code, Arlington County should be able to recoup the costs of its actions to secure the building from the property owner, a county official said.

Along with providing affordable housing and retail, Roy said Monday that the county could use the site for a sports field, an arts facility or a large tree lined park. The former hotel’s garage could be the site of a state-of-the-art pickleball facility, she added.

“The potential is great,” Roy said.