Audi Arlington: Coming Soon to Columbia Pike

By Jason Spencer and Drew Hansen

Del Ray's loss will be Columbia Pike's gain.

Rosenthal Automotive is preparing to close Audi of Alexandria on Mount Vernon Avenue and to open Audi Arlington at 3200 Columbia Pike in late August or early September.

"We are very excited about that," Takis Karantonis, executive director of the Columbia Pike Revitalization Organization, told Patch. "This is a great brand. It will attract people from the entire region into Columbia Pike."

Construction workers were installing new glass panels at the Arlington site earlier this week. Signs are posted that the new dealership is "coming soon."

Karantonis said he and other Pike advocates see the new dealership as part of the foundation for future revitalization in the business corridor in general and specifically around the Glebe Road and Columbia Pike intersection.

A new six-story building across the street at 3400 Columbia Pike is currently under construction. That building, which sits on a 4.7-acre site that formerly housed a different Rosenthal dealership, will include 245 residential units, 44 town homes, 12 stacked flats and nearly 15,500 square feet of ground-level retail space.

Karantonis called Audi Arlington an anchor development that will impress upon the community and other businesses that Columbia Pike can have a better commercial environment. The nearby shopping plaza that's home to a Boston Market has suffered over the years with rotating tenants and regular vacancies — and that plaza can only benefit from an improved environment, he said.

"It's not your regular retail," Karantonis said. "However, this is an upscale brand. … What we expect is that the commercial environment will experience an upgrade."

He continued: "The No. 1 thing is that such a store brings in buyers and customers from across the region. Many more people will come to Columbia Pike, and when they do, they may look around, and find new and interesting restaurants, or new and interesting shops. And maybe new shops will have a better reason to locate their businesses here."

German automaker Volkswagen's Porsche and Audi brands recently topped the latest JD Power study, according to NBC. Coincidentally, Porsche of Arlington is currently undergoing renovation over in Crystal City.

"It's an expensive brand," Karantonis said. "It requires a top-notch sales experience, and I'm sure they want to deliver that. And the location on Columbia Pike definitely fits the bill."

Audi Arlington ultimately replaces Brown's User Car Super Center, which closed in 2011.