Siding with county staff and a new corporate arrival over recommendations of its Planning Commission, Arlington County Board members on July 22 voted 5-0 to close public access to an observation deck at Central Place Tower in Rosslyn.
In return, the building’s owner (CoStar) will tender the county government nearly $14 million, which will be used to advance the schedule for a major renovation of the nearby Gateway Park.
“This is not an easy decision, but it is actually the right decision,” County Board member Takis Karantonis said as the vote neared.
For six years, the public has had access to the 8,900-square-foot observation deck, which sits more than 30 stories above ground and offers monumental views spanning 360 degrees.
That public access was guaranteed in perpetuity as part of a development deal that allowed construction of the Central Place complex. CoStar was not a party to that agreement, having purchased the property earlier this year.
Public opinion on the matter has been split, but the July 11 Planning Commission meeting brought out critics and resulted in a recommendation that the proposal be rejected. In addition, leadership of the North Rosslyn Civic Association said its members have delivered “much pushback” on the proposal.
But county staff pressed hard for approval, suggesting that the observation deck – which opened in 2018 at 1201 Wilson Blvd. – was underused and that the county government, facing a 23-percent office-vacancy rate, should not be antagonistic to what it believed was a reasonable request from a major new corporate tenant.
According to county staff, initial estimates for annual visitation at the observation deck had been 500,000. In 2023, the figure was 32,000, with fewer than 5,000 of them county residents, staff said.
County Board Chairman Libby Garvey said she understood the Planning Commission’s opposition, but noted that access to the observation platform first had been approved to compensate for a loss of park space in Rosslyn owing to the Central Place development.
“It replaced a park, and now we are replacing it with an even greater, cooler park,” she said. “It is the best thing for the community.”
County Manager Mark Schwartz, pushing hard to get staff’s position ratified by elected officials, told County Board members that the nearly $14 million in cash will enable Gateway Park’s renovation to move forward by 10 years. One of his staff members later in the meeting pegged it at eight years.
But several speakers told County Board members that their action is sure to send a further chill up the spines of those who work, often for years, to craft a community-benefits package for specific developments, only to see those benefits rescinded or exchanged at a later date.
A similar event occurred several years ago, when a developer was allowed to hand over cash to the county government rather than provide a black-box theater in the Virginia Square neighborhood that had been part of the overall development plan for the project.
