Marymount Wins County Okay to Replace Arlington's 'Blue Goose'

ARLINGTON, VA-Marymount University's plan to redevelop its Kennedy-era “Blue Goose” facility at 1000 N. Glebe Rd. here won unanimous approval from the Arlington County Board on Saturday. The university and its development partner, Shooshan Co., will proceed with plans to demolish the circa-1963 structure, formerly a federal office facility, and replace it with a mixed-use development containing two buildings designed to achieve LEED Gold certification.

The board's unanimous approval clears the way for Marymount and Shooshan to put up a nine-story office building and a 15-story, 267-unit apartment tower. The latter will contain 11 units of affordable housing along with ground-floor retail space, while Marymount initially will occupy the first six floors of the office building and eventually all nine floors.

“Marymount University is an important institution in Arlington, and it is great to see it expanding its presence in Ballston,” says Jay Fisette, chair of the Arlington County Board. “The new buildings will be attractive and energy efficient, and will come with many benefits for our community, including affordable housing, a public plaza, and a significant contribution to building a western entrance to Ballston Metro.”

Shooshan will contribute $5.7 million to offset additional density that the county is allowing for the office building. Among other things, the funds will help pay for a western entrance to the nearby Ballston-MU Metro Station. Some of the funds will be used to help improve nearby Ballston Pond, and to extend the Custis Trail immediately west of the site. The developer also will build a two-way, 10-foot wide cycle track on the north side of Fairfax Drive, and widen the sidewalk there.

Mindful of the site's Blue Goose heritage, the office building will will incorporate a blue panel design at its base that will be reminiscent of the geometrically arranged, polychromatic blue metal panels that adorn the structure it replaces, and a horizontal blue spandrel glass band at the top of the second story. The Blue Goose was designed by architect John M. Walton and built by locally prominent builders M.T. Broyhill and Sons. Marymount acquired it in the early 1990s.