New County Library in the Westover Neighborhood of Arlington
A lot! This just in …
ARLINGTON, VA. — The new Reed-Westover Facility, a joint project between Arlington Public Schools and the Arlington County Government, has been awarded Gold Certification in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) program by the US Green Building Council (USGBC). The joint facility includes the Reed School which houses the district’s teen parenting program and the Children’s School and Integration Station, a countywide preschool program, and the Arlington Public Library’s new Westover Branch. The facility was completed and dedicated in October 2009.
Let’s review what LEED certification means:
LEED, a national benchmark
The LEED rating system was designed by the U.S. Green Building Council to encourage and facilitate the development of more sustainable buildings. The rating system, the national benchmark for the design, construction, and operations of high-performance green buildings, is divided into five categories including; water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources and indoor environmental quality. There is also a category on innovation and design process.
Buildings receive points for each of the LEED rating system categories. A building needs at least 39 points to achieve a Gold rating. The Reed Westover facility received 40 points from the USGBC, using the following strategies:
Low-emitting paints, adhesives, sealants and carpet used for better air quality
Utilization of a green housekeeping program
Conveniently located bike racks
Facility located within 1/4 mile of four public bus lines and approximately a mile from the Falls Church Metro station
Landscaping not requiring permanent irrigation
Thermal comfort verification
Use of waterless urinals, dual flush toilets and low-flow plumbing fixtures
Highly efficient lighting to reduce electrical consumption
Showers for bicycle commuters in the school and library
A large glass wall façade of the Library’s Children’s Reading Room maximizes day-lighting to save energy and supports student’s well-being by providing views to the outdoors
Have you seen this library? It’s amazing. I will admit that I was not keen on them tearing down the old library where my children spent countless hours and attended so many summer reading challenge events (sentimental me), but this new structure is beautiful and the light that streams in is just magnificent. Plus they have a large DVD collection for rent
Kudos to us!
[For more information about the Westover neighborhood of Arlington VA check out my zip code level blog about Arlington 22205.]
For all of your real estate needs in the Washington DC metro area, call real estate pro Christine Rich at 703-362-7764. Whether buying or selling a home in Arlington VA, Washington DC, Fairfax County, Alexandria VA, Falls Church City, or Montgomery County, MD, Chris has the knowledge and expertise you can count on.
Did you know that I can always set up a direct feed from our local multiple listing service (MLS) to your email inbox? Just tell me the home specs and your budget, and how often you’d like to receive the email (as often as every time a new listing hits the MLS or as infrequently as once a month) and we’ll get you started. Relying on third-party websites often won’t get you the info in time, since there is often a delay of 24-48 hours before a listing goes from the MLS to sites like Realtor.com and Redfin.
All you have to do is email me and I’ll get you set up. Don’t snooze, don’t loose.
I’ve been on the hunt for a two bedroom condo priced under $575,000 along the Orange Line for a client, and thought some readers might be interested in the outcome. The following data is taken for 2 bedroom condos located anywhere in the zipcodes of 22201, 22209, and 22203 — not always directly spitting distance to a metro stop, but in the right area:
First of all, two bedroom condos usually only have 1 parking space assigned, so that’s an issue. Visitor spots are virtually non-existent in some buildings, and renting another spot can cost between $50-$150/month. Since the first of the year, only 15 condos priced at $575,000 or less with 2 parking spaces have sold. Three are currently on the market: one at Spout Run Terrace, one at the Astoria, and one at Ballston Park. This is compared to 81 2-bedrooms that have sold so far this year (an average of only 18 days on market!), and 60 that are currently on the market. So, roughly .5-2% of two bedroom condos actually include two parking spaces.
Floorplan is key. The most desirable floorplan has two master suites, usually one each side of the living room. Thus, each bedroom is large enough (ideally) for at least a queen sized bed, and has it’s own bathroom.
So of course the best ones we saw were priced at the max of $575,000.
Will my client buy one of the two that she identified as possible contenders? Time will tell. Average days on market for condo sales in Arlington has been holding steady at around 47 days. Neither of the two places has been on the market 40 days plus. Prices, on the other hand, have gone up 7% from June 2009 to June 2010.
For all of your real estate needs in the Washington DC metro area, call real estate pro Christine Rich at 703-362-7764. Whether buying or selling a home in Arlington VA, Washington DC, Fairfax County, Alexandria VA, Falls Church City, or Montgomery County, MD, Chris has the knowledge and expertise you can count on.
5 bedrooms, 4 full bathrooms, almost 4500 square feet of finished living space. Available for rent now, only $4700/month. This is a stunningly beautiful house. Perfect for entertaining!
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If you’re going to be renting, why not treat yourself? This house is not only gorgeous, it’s spacious, luxurious, practical, and beautiful. Please call me for more info, or if you’d like to get inside to take a look for yourself.
For all of your real estate needs in the Washington DC metro area, call real estate pro Christine Rich at 703-362-7764. Whether buying or selling a home in Arlington VA, Washington DC, Fairfax County, Alexandria VA, Falls Church City, or Montgomery County, MD, Chris has the knowledge and expertise you can count on.
Finally, I can stop blogging about this. HR 5623, which extends the closing deadline for claiming the homebuyer tax credit to September 30, was passed by the Senate Wednesday, and will apply retroactively.
The Senate also passed HR 5569, which extends the National Flood Insurance Program to September 30.
Living in Arlington VA during the summer months necessitates a visit to the beach at some point. Either that or way too many trips to the local pool — it’s too hot and muggy around here in the summer. So here’s my short list of beaches I love:
Lewes Beach, Delaware. This is a great little historic town with a number of fine restaurants, set very close to the beach. We always rent a home along the strip of homes right along the beach, and then bicycle into town for a little shopping and diversion. The beach here is very calm, so we also bicycle down the road a bit to head for Cape Henlopen State Park, where the waves are a rougher, and if you’re feeling energetic there is a nice web of bike trails to take you around the park, and along the way explore different terrain and some interesting WWII history.
Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Lewes can be very quiet, so for some action we drive down Route 1 a few miles, enjoy the tacky scenery of all those seafood restaurants and water slide attractions, and turn left into the nearby town of Rehoboth. There is a lot of stuff for the kids at this beach. including our personal favorite called Funland, an arcade right on the boardwalk (Lewes doesn’t even have a boardwalk). A summer just wouldn’t be the same without a day (or two) at Funland, with the accompanying shopping spree at the candy store.
Outer Banks, North Carolina. It’s a little bit longer drive … ok, we’re getting up at 3 am tomorrow to head out, and praying that we’ll get there before noon … but worth it. It can get a little tricky to schedule your vacation around hurricane season in this region, but what’s a little evacuation risk? Specifically, we’re heading to Duck, along with all of our Arlington, VA neighbors it seems. For me, Duck offers a nice combination of the things I like about the above-mentioned Delaware beaches. It’s a quiet town with a really beautiful beach, but with enough activities and restaurants to keep everybody entertained.
Know of any other good spot? Please offer them up. I may not look like your typical beach bum, but I do love the beach. It’s the only time I allow myself to sit down and read a good book. This visit will be Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I seem to be the only person alive who hasn’t read it.
UPDATE: On again. I give up tracking this! Now it’s looking like the tax extension portion will be passed after all…
Passed by the Senate, but not yet in the clear … Recently amended legislation that would extend the tax credit closing deadline (for buyers under contract as of April 30) from June 30 to September 30, has been derailed. The bill (HR 4213), provides for extension of emergency unemployment benefits, as well as the retroactive extension of the National Flood Insurance Program. Although the Senate recently voted to amend the bill to include the tax credit closing extension, there are not enough votes to pass the bill itself. The National Association of Realtors is holding out hope that there will still be an extension in one form or another but, for now, the original June 30 closing deadline stands.
I ran into the Clarendon Apple store the other day hoping to buy an ipad, but no luck, I’m on the wait list. But I had a chance to take this photo of people waiting in line in Clarendon for the new iphone. This photo was taken at around 6 pm the day those new phones came out. Crazy!
Waiting in Clarendon for the hottest newest Apple products
I resisted touching an ipad until the day I wandered into the store in Tysons, and that was all she wrote. Now I’m just waiting for the call.
Everyone’s talking about the recently published list by Parenting Magazine putting Arlington, VA at the #1 spot among the top 50 American cities based on health, safety, education, economy and recreation.
