This is all directly related to schools. If these areas get more and better retail, local homes increase in value and wealthier families move in. And, maybe someday, pretty please, the slumlords that own barcroft apartments and other low income apartments along the central and western pike will sell and someone will bring higher end residences. Please!!!! We need some income diversity along the Pike.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where is drafthouse going? Sounds like someone wants to tank the Eastern end of the Pike.

Draft house has been having financial problems.
Don’t be surprised to see it go bye bye at any time.
It’s just not a sustainable business.

Why? Because after 30 years as a second run theater, it started showing first runs last December? Of course it's sustainable. And it's a major reason the restaurants nearby have business. I love sugar shack and the pizza place but they're a year old. hopefully the food star site will be a repeat of penrose square. But even that development saw two restaurants and a froyo place come and go. It's a Starbucks, a hair salon, and a dry cleaners, a dentist and taqueria poblano. It's got practical useful businesses, but not exciting placemakers. Those are usually in existing buildings where lower rents allow some creativity and biz models that don't depend on cycling people in and out the door as quickly as possible.

Anonymous wrote:Where is drafthouse going? Sounds like someone wants to tank the Eastern end of the Pike.

Draft house has been having financial problems.
Don’t be surprised to see it go bye bye at any time.
It’s just not a sustainable business.

Where is drafthouse going? Sounds like someone wants to tank the Eastern end of the Pike.

Sugar shack, chipotle, and the 1000 degree pizza place seem to be doing well.
I’m confused why someone doesn’t understand that the foodstar would be have some good options
Also I wouldn’t be too smug about the draft house. It’s not likely to be around much longer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The western Pike has almost no decent retail and no decent restaurants. Nothing to draw anyone. RB corridor does, so of course there is more street crime. Question is do you want to live in a retail and food desert and also have crime?

Depends what you're looking for. We eat on the Pike and love places like Mazagan, Tortas Y Tacos, Sofia's Pupuseria and Boru Ramen. Besides Kapnos and Ray's the Steaks, there isn't much I'd highly recommend in RB - especially at the prices some of those places are charging.

Those are spots on the east end of the pike, around the drafthouse.

And there's no reason to think there couldn't be some spots like this at the Food Star site.

Why? Is there a live entertainment venue opening on the food star site?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And food star condos are very small. Same with trafalgar flats. A lot of people are worried that even with the lower prices, trafalgar flats may not sell and may switch to apartments. That has happened before in arlington. The location is absolutely horrible. I cannot imagine anyone investing their money on a condo on that part of the Pike that will never get better. And, at night there is absolutely street crime on those very streets on a regular basis. Just read the crime reports.

The location definitely isn't Ballston or Shirlington, but it isn't horrible. I did look up those crime reports. They show one aggravated assault and a bunch of thefts. In fact fewer thefts than around Courthouse/Clarendon - which stands to reason because you've got a lot of people spending money there. There aren't many places left in Arlington to get a new condo for $200k, so you have to make compromises. You've got a couple places to eat like Cafe Sazon and you're right next to the W&OD Trail. It isn't like living in Penrose or further up the Pike, but the price of those condos is comparable to what you'd be paying in rent.

DP - I agree the crime is not that high there and you are safer than people think. I do think its pretty gutsy of that company to build condos there. I don't know that many people who want a condo want to live that far down the Pike, at least not for the size of the units. Some of them are quite small. When I first looked through the floor plans, I thought these would end up being sold to investors to rent out. That part of the Pike will change, but it has been slow to happen. I think the Food Star leaving will be a good thing - it will let people who drive through see that the area is really changing. The mixed retail will be nice.

I'm looking forward to the retail. I think we could end up with some decent restaurants, because unlike other parts of the Pike, we have nearby employers of professionals who could walk over and create lunchtime foot traffic (from the Foreign Affairs center and the National Guards center). And because there's not a lot of competition in walking distance, dinner service could do well, too.

It’s a bit of a hike from the National Guard Center on 50, no?

No, like 4 blocks that are relatively flat. Is that a "hike?" They park further away than that in the neighborhood and they're in great shape, probably because they don't consider a 5 minute walk "a hike." And the Foreign Affairs center is 2 blocks away. The way they're orienting the Food Star site, the retail will be about a block N of the Pike. The entrance to the Foreign Affairs center on George Mason is is 2 blocks N of where the development will be, and the entrance to the National Guard center on Mason is 4 blocks N of the site. I see people walking from the Pentagon over to Pentagon City all the time for lunch. That's a longer walk and requires crossing busier roads.

Something tells me there's a cafeteria on site run by an outside vendor that is going to have better options and prices and convenience than whatever could open in the new development.

You know, many people like to go out for lunch, right? Almost every workplace has a cafeteria, and yet, people still go out to eat. People even buy coffee on their way to work when there's a free coffee machine in the break room. So funny that.

What else you got?

It's going to be a grocery store, a nail salon and a laundromat, and vape store.

.


Probably a nail salon, a dry cleaner, coffee shop, at least one restaurant, and a Harris Teeter. I cannot wait!!!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The western Pike has almost no decent retail and no decent restaurants. Nothing to draw anyone. RB corridor does, so of course there is more street crime. Question is do you want to live in a retail and food desert and also have crime?

Depends what you're looking for. We eat on the Pike and love places like Mazagan, Tortas Y Tacos, Sofia's Pupuseria and Boru Ramen. Besides Kapnos and Ray's the Steaks, there isn't much I'd highly recommend in RB - especially at the prices some of those places are charging.

Those are spots on the east end of the pike, around the drafthouse.

And there's no reason to think there couldn't be some spots like this at the Food Star site.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The western Pike has almost no decent retail and no decent restaurants. Nothing to draw anyone. RB corridor does, so of course there is more street crime. Question is do you want to live in a retail and food desert and also have crime?

Depends what you're looking for. We eat on the Pike and love places like Mazagan, Tortas Y Tacos, Sofia's Pupuseria and Boru Ramen. Besides Kapnos and Ray's the Steaks, there isn't much I'd highly recommend in RB - especially at the prices some of those places are charging.

Those are spots on the east end of the pike, around the drafthouse.

Anonymous wrote:The western Pike has almost no decent retail and no decent restaurants. Nothing to draw anyone. RB corridor does, so of course there is more street crime. Question is do you want to live in a retail and food desert and also have crime?

Depends what you're looking for. We eat on the Pike and love places like Mazagan, Tortas Y Tacos, Sofia's Pupuseria and Boru Ramen. Besides Kapnos and Ray's the Steaks, there isn't much I'd highly recommend in RB - especially at the prices some of those places are charging.

Anonymous wrote:The western Pike has almost no decent retail and no decent restaurants. Nothing to draw anyone. RB corridor does, so of course there is more street crime. Question is do you want to live in a retail and food desert and also have crime?

People buy homes in safe areas that they can afford. Sfh’s in the neighborhood’s past Glebe are perfectly safe.
Can we get back to schools?

The western Pike has almost no decent retail and no decent restaurants. Nothing to draw anyone. RB corridor does, so of course there is more street crime. Question is do you want to live in a retail and food desert and also have crime?

Anonymous wrote:The RB corridor is so much more populous and dense than the western pike. Of course it will have higher rates of crime, particularly auto theft. But I bet if you looked at the crime rate based on density, the Pike would be much higher.

I’ll have to remember that the next time someone is mugged over in Rosslyn.

The RB corridor is so much more populous and dense than the western pike. Of course it will have higher rates of crime, particularly auto theft. But I bet if you looked at the crime rate based on density, the Pike would be much higher.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And food star condos are very small. Same with trafalgar flats. A lot of people are worried that even with the lower prices, trafalgar flats may not sell and may switch to apartments. That has happened before in arlington. The location is absolutely horrible. I cannot imagine anyone investing their money on a condo on that part of the Pike that will never get better. And, at night there is absolutely street crime on those very streets on a regular basis. Just read the crime reports.

The location definitely isn't Ballston or Shirlington, but it isn't horrible. I did look up those crime reports. They show one aggravated assault and a bunch of thefts. In fact fewer thefts than around Courthouse/Clarendon - which stands to reason because you've got a lot of people spending money there. There aren't many places left in Arlington to get a new condo for $200k, so you have to make compromises. You've got a couple places to eat like Cafe Sazon and you're right next to the W&OD Trail. It isn't like living in Penrose or further up the Pike, but the price of those condos is comparable to what you'd be paying in rent.

DP - I agree the crime is not that high there and you are safer than people think. I do think its pretty gutsy of that company to build condos there. I don't know that many people who want a condo want to live that far down the Pike, at least not for the size of the units. Some of them are quite small. When I first looked through the floor plans, I thought these would end up being sold to investors to rent out. That part of the Pike will change, but it has been slow to happen. I think the Food Star leaving will be a good thing - it will let people who drive through see that the area is really changing. The mixed retail will be nice.

I'm looking forward to the retail. I think we could end up with some decent restaurants, because unlike other parts of the Pike, we have nearby employers of professionals who could walk over and create lunchtime foot traffic (from the Foreign Affairs center and the National Guards center). And because there's not a lot of competition in walking distance, dinner service could do well, too.

It’s a bit of a hike from the National Guard Center on 50, no?

No, like 4 blocks that are relatively flat. Is that a "hike?" They park further away than that in the neighborhood and they're in great shape, probably because they don't consider a 5 minute walk "a hike." And the Foreign Affairs center is 2 blocks away. The way they're orienting the Food Star site, the retail will be about a block N of the Pike. The entrance to the Foreign Affairs center on George Mason is is 2 blocks N of where the development will be, and the entrance to the National Guard center on Mason is 4 blocks N of the site. I see people walking from the Pentagon over to Pentagon City all the time for lunch. That's a longer walk and requires crossing busier roads.

Something tells me there's a cafeteria on site run by an outside vendor that is going to have better options and prices and convenience than whatever could open in the new development.

You know, many people like to go out for lunch, right? Almost every workplace has a cafeteria, and yet, people still go out to eat. People even buy coffee on their way to work when there's a free coffee machine in the break room. So funny that.

What else you got?

It's going to be a grocery store, a nail salon and a laundromat, and vape store.