Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz announced on Jan. 23, 2024, that Arlington County will draft and potentially adopt office conversion regulations in the first half of 2024.

Specifically, the county will develop regulations for office conversion projects that involve retaining an existing office building and converting it into a different use. The county describes these types of projects as “adaptive reuse” projects. Under current policy, adaptive reuse projects must go through the county’s full site plan review process.

Schwartz also announced on Jan. 23 that the county will develop regulations to expand the use of shared parking and off-site parking.

This announcement is part of Arlington County’s Commercial Market Resiliency Initiative 2.0 (CMRI 2.0). The purpose of CMRI 2.0 is to remove regulatory barriers that hinder the redevelopment of underperforming office properties. The county will announce additional CMRI 2.0 initiatives throughout 2024.

For additional information about CMRI 2.0, read McGuireWoods’ Oct. 12, 2023, client alert, “Arlington County, Virginia, Floats Potential Policy Changes for Office-Residential Projects.”