Monday, March 18, 2013
County will establish a neighborhood advisory council and designate a homeless service center liaison in an effort to minimize its impact on the surrounding community.
A year-round homeless service center on two floors of the seven-story office building at 2020 14th St. N. in the Courthouse community has received final approval from the Arlington County Board. For advocates of ending homelessness, it was a victory a long time in the making. It advances Arlington's goal of providing the services needed to move more of the area's homeless into permanent housing. And it concentrates those services in a single place that's open all year as opposed to the current emergency winter shelter, about a block away, that's open only during the winter. For some residents of Woodbury Heights, the condominium building next door to the planned center, it was the latest move by Arlington County to balance the good of the …
Friday, March 8, 2013
The Arlington County Board will vote on whether to allow a year-round homeless service center in Courthouse later this month.
Residents of the Woodbury Heights condominiums in the Courthouse community began mobilizing in November 2011 to oppose Arlington County's plan to acquire a seven-story office building and convert two floors to a year-round homeless service center. They showed up at meeting after meeting, voicing concerns over security and, in some cases, the potential effect on their property values. Elected officials assured them that all they were doing at that point was voting on whether to pursue the acquisition of the Thomas Building at 2020 14th St. N. They would have time to voice their concerns about the homeless center during a permitting process later on. They recall the county saying it looked forward to public discussion — after all, that's …
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Elected officials will vote Saturday on whether to buy a seven-story building in the Courthouse community. Plans call for spending $42.6 million over five years on acquisition, renovation.
Following nearly a year of negotiations, Arlington County is poised to acquire the seven-story Thomas Building and turn two floors of it into a comprehensive year-round homeless service center. The Arlington County Board on Saturday will consider a recommendation to buy the building at 2020 14th St. N. in the Courthouse community for about $27 million and begin renovations. Over the next five years, the project is expected to cost $42.6 million, which includes financial assistance to some of the building's business tenants, who will be forced to relocate. Much of the building eventually will be used for county office space, but it’s the homeless center proposition that has drawn outrage from neighbors concerned about its proximity to …
DC
8:26 pm on Thursday, January 3, 2013
Ken I'm sure your well intentioned but the truth of the matter is most of the arrest of homeless persons are for being homeless, public nuisance crimes. Each chronically homeless person you see has the potential to cost the city (you the taxpayer) $40,000 a year due to ER care, incarcerations, and emergency psych. hospitalization. By allowing the shelter to operate and if suitable housing is … more ›