Barcroft or Randolph ES Arlington?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mixed income costs the AH developers more so they claim they cannot or won't do it. The financing gets complicated.

Even market rate along the pike is cheap. The new luxury apts that will go up at the Food Star site will be dirt cheap compared to North Arlington. We'll see if the developer can even rent everything out.

No one who can afford a decent apartment in a good neighborhood will live along the west end of the Pike. why should they?

Uh, there are plenty of people who can't afford nice apartments if they're also located in a highly desirable neighborhood but who'd be perfectly fine neighbors. This is a decent option for those young 20 somethings who want to be close to the city, but can't afford the top locations in DC or the R-B corridor, but who are maybe not quite the type to be the urban pioneers in an up and coming affordable DC neighborhood. Good commute, and maybe not the top neighborhood, but safe and clean and in a nice new building with decent ground floor retail, and somewhat decent nightlife along the Pike, too. Look at what happened in Penrose. For goodness sake, when we (Gen Xer) were young Clarendon was still "edgy" and you could rent a house with a group of other young professionals for a decent price. And of you had a little more money you could even buy a house around there for a reasonable amount. Things change. Places change. It's changing here, and that's why the old timers are freaking out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mixed income costs the AH developers more so they claim they cannot or won't do it. The financing gets complicated.

Even market rate along the pike is cheap. The new luxury apts that will go up at the Food Star site will be dirt cheap compared to North Arlington. We'll see if the developer can even rent everything out.

No one who can afford a decent apartment in a good neighborhood will live along the west end of the Pike. why should they?

No. Sorry. You don't know what you are talking about.
Food star will a luxury building. 2 bedrooms will be around 2500. That's not going to be for cab drivers and constructions workers.
It will not command the premium the orange and blue lines can charge, but it will not be "dirt cheap " in comparison.
Take a look at the condos at west village on four mile. They are Right next to the crappy Barcroft apts, and it's out of reach for many people. A 1 bed 1 bath is around 325k.
Families considering renting a 2 bedroom at Pike 3400 will be in the 2500 range.
I've seen it written before that Foodstar will be cheap housing.
Take a moment to look into similar housing in that area. It will clear up your confusion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mixed income costs the AH developers more so they claim they cannot or won't do it. The financing gets complicated.

Even market rate along the pike is cheap. The new luxury apts that will go up at the Food Star site will be dirt cheap compared to North Arlington. We'll see if the developer can even rent everything out.

No one who can afford a decent apartment in a good neighborhood will live along the west end of the Pike. why should they?

No. Sorry. You don't know what you are talking about.
Food star will a luxury building. 2 bedrooms will be around 2500. That's not going to be for cab drivers and constructions workers.
It will not command the premium the orange and blue lines can charge, but it will not be "dirt cheap " in comparison.
Take a look at the condos at west village on four mile. They are Right next to the crappy Barcroft apts, and it's out of reach for many people. A 1 bed 1 bath is around 325k.
Families considering renting a 2 bedroom at Pike 3400 will be in the 2500 range.
I've seen it written before that Foodstar will be cheap housing.
Take a moment to look into similar housing in that area. It will clear up your confusion.

The Halstead at Walter Reed and the Pike was asking about $2700/month for a 2 bed 2 bath a few years back and its mostly gone up. Wildwood or Infinity might offer cheaper rents, but the rent overall on the Pike has gone up. Barcroft only does month to month and raises the rent whenever it feels like it. The difference between the new buildings and the old is that with the key fobs and income requirements, its much harder to have one person rent and have several people live in the unit. When I first started out and lived near Four Mile Run, I could afford a 1 bedroom, but most of my neighbors were large families or multiple people starting 1 and 2 bedrooms. It worked because there was no front door - each building had its own card entrance. Of course, only 3 people per lease could get a key card and so they would just randomly call units and ask to be let in. The building was bursting with people.

The nicer buildings would avoid that because they are out of reach of most low income people, but barely in reach of the young working people. You might see some young families in them too now, South Arlington remains a great deal for a commute into the city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The key transfer rate is for a completely different reason. People buy into Abington's zone so they get guaranteed admission to Claremont. Campbell is considered almost a neighborhood school for the neighborhood and is hardly even a choice school.

I live in alcova and used to live in barcroft. The issue isn't the year round school. The issue is the quality of education at barcroft. Before the good principle left, the school had a chance, but not now.

The the popularity of Henry isn't just the parents' support. It is the gentrification of the neighborhoods and resulting lower number of farms kids. The school is about to, if it has not already, lost its title I standing. THAT, is why the school has turned around. barcroft is going in the opposite direction.

What is the reason for the Key transfer rate?

[Anonymous]

Sorry, but $2500 a month for a 2bed/2bath is a bit more than what will be charged at the new food star building. It is not meant for construction workers and cab drivers, that is who lives all around the food star site. But it will be "cheap" luxury housing. This is not the Pike and Walter Reed area that has little affordable housing. The corner of the Pike and Georgemason, and areas just east and west are almost entirely affordable housing. This is particularly true for the entire south side of the Pike, it is one cheap rental after another. The foodstar site with be an island.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry, but $2500 a month for a 2bed/2bath is a bit more than what will be charged at the new food star building. It is not meant for construction workers and cab drivers, that is who lives all around the food star site. But it will be "cheap" luxury housing. This is not the Pike and Walter Reed area that has little affordable housing. The corner of the Pike and Georgemason, and areas just east and west are almost entirely affordable housing. This is particularly true for the entire south side of the Pike, it is one cheap rental after another. The foodstar site with be an island.

Sweetie- this county may be run by morons, but the free market still rules the day. Could you please provide a link and support why you think this development will command anything but top dollar?
Why didn't you google 55 hundred down the road right across from the Shell? It's surrounded by shit and walkable to nothing. The cheapest 2 bed/ 2 bath is 2200.
Why do you think the developer of the Food star site is going to take a penny less than what the market will bear? Oh, it's an island? Sure- except the high end townhomes being built right at four mile and Columbia Pike. Development doesn't happen over night. Once a nice big Harris Teeter is built, all of those lots with crappy strip malls and Penske truck rentals will be prime for redevelopment. And guess what? The form based code doesn't apply to those parcels- because they don't currently have residential on them. They don't ( and won't) have any AH. The land is so close to the pentagon and downtown -$$$.

[Anonymous]

@5/12 8:03 - They don't like your dog or your fancy $1m dog parks either.

[Anonymous]

13:05 - 55 hundred is quite cheap for this area -$2200 for 2 bed/bath? Any less and it would be the same price as the market rate affordable units! Are you aware that the food star developer is very aware of the risk they are taking by even building there? Yes, risk. You think those high end townhomes on buchanan will be expensive relative to other parts of arlington and well quickly? Are you aware that much of the central and west end of the pike is under the neighborhoods plan that requires all of the market affordable units to stay affordable, whether CAF or not? Are you aware that as we type on this silly website the county board is changing the rules so that even mixed-use developments must have affordable units along the pike? Are you not aware that AHC and the other developers and AH advocates will make sure that all market rate affordable housing stays affordable and isn't turned into high-end housing? The county board (well, the developers actually) have already rigged the system along the pike to keep it cheap. That is the whole point of the Pike to the county - a place for poorer people to live.

Free market does not rule the day along the Pike. The county has seen to that. They have imposed all kinds of requirements to keep the pike from gentrifying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:13:05 - 55 hundred is quite cheap for this area -$2200 for 2 bed/bath? Any less and it would be the same price as the market rate affordable units! Are you aware that the food star developer is very aware of the risk they are taking by even building there? Yes, risk. You think those high end townhomes on buchanan will be expensive relative to other parts of arlington and well quickly? Are you aware that much of the central and west end of the pike is under the neighborhoods plan that requires all of the market affordable units to stay affordable, whether CAF or not? Are you aware that as we type on this silly website the county board is changing the rules so that even mixed-use developments must have affordable units along the pike? Are you not aware that AHC and the other developers and AH advocates will make sure that all market rate affordable housing stays affordable and isn't turned into high-end housing? The county board (well, the developers actually) have already rigged the system along the pike to keep it cheap. That is the whole point of the Pike to the county - a place for poorer people to live.

Free market does not rule the day along the Pike. The county has seen to that. They have imposed all kinds of requirements to keep the pike from gentrifying.

Do you not want poorer people to have a place to live? Trust me, I think there does need to be much, much more AH built in N. Arlington, I do worry about the true motives of some of the AH developers, and I understand a lot of the concerns here, but you also have to realize that historically the Columbia Pike Corridor has been one of the more affordable parts of Arlington. I bought in this area knowing and understanding that. 22204 is also one of the most ethnically diverse zip codes on t he eastern seaboard and I love that. And no, I am not a senior citizen who hates white middle class families. I am in my 30's. My oldest child attends one of the schools that this this thread is purportedly about, and we are happy there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:13:05 - 55 hundred is quite cheap for this area -$2200 for 2 bed/bath? Any less and it would be the same price as the market rate affordable units! Are you aware that the food star developer is very aware of the risk they are taking by even building there? Yes, risk. You think those high end townhomes on buchanan will be expensive relative to other parts of arlington and well quickly? Are you aware that much of the central and west end of the pike is under the neighborhoods plan that requires all of the market affordable units to stay affordable, whether CAF or not? Are you aware that as we type on this silly website the county board is changing the rules so that even mixed-use developments must have affordable units along the pike? Are you not aware that AHC and the other developers and AH advocates will make sure that all market rate affordable housing stays affordable and isn't turned into high-end housing? The county board (well, the developers actually) have already rigged the system along the pike to keep it cheap. That is the whole point of the Pike to the county - a place for poorer people to live.

Free market does not rule the day along the Pike. The county has seen to that. They have imposed all kinds of requirements to keep the pike from gentrifying.

You really are beyond ignorant. A market rate affordable until with 3 beds at Barcroft apts ( across the street from Food Star) is 1650, and a fortune to the people trying to make rent there. Please get informed and check your privilege.
Food Star isn't going to be cheap by any sane person's measure.
It's a good thing for the area. It's been over saturated with low income. This will be good for the neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

Back to to main topic of this thread - Barcroft's new principal is Judy Apolostico-Buck, principal at Ashlawn. Anyone have any thoughts on her and if this is a big plus for Barcroft?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Back to to main topic of this thread - Barcroft's new principal is Judy Apolostico-Buck, principal at Ashlawn. Anyone have any thoughts on her and if this is a big plus for Barcroft?

Also, has Randolph picked a new Principal? The current one is supposed to be an interim admin, correct?

[Anonymous]

New Barcroft principal announced! Thirty year APS veteran, as a teacher and administrator. Hopeful this is a step in the right direction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Back to to main topic of this thread - Barcroft's new principal is Judy Apolostico-Buck, principal at Ashlawn. Anyone have any thoughts on her and if this is a big plus for Barcroft?

This is a very good thing. She is highly regarded, well-liked, and has at least some familiarity with serving a (more) diverse population.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back to to main topic of this thread - Barcroft's new principal is Judy Apolostico-Buck, principal at Ashlawn. Anyone have any thoughts on her and if this is a big plus for Barcroft?

Also, has Randolph picked a new Principal? The current one is supposed to be an interim admin, correct?

The original plan was for two years, which mean they will work next year to select a new one. I have heard her hint she might be around longer but I have no idea what that means.