As it moves through the review process in Arlington, the design for a large residential project at the site of one of the county’s oldest hotel sites is coming into focus. 

Orr Partners is working on an eight-story, 447-unit development that would include the former Iwo Jima Hotel site at 1501 Arlington Boulevard (map), as well as the adjacent Ellis Arms and Williamsburg apartment sites. The development, designed by KGD Architecture, published new renderings as it plans to go before the Arlington Site Plan Review Committee tomorrow. 

The road has been a fairly long one for the redevelopment of this site. Six years ago, a proposal for the Best Western and Ellis Arms sites called for a new 12-13-story hotel building with 250 rooms and a residential building with 64 condominiums. In 2018, plans were revised for a smaller hotel portion with just 160 rooms. And then at the end of 2021, the development team asked for an extension to complete the project through early 2025, due to impacts from the pandemic. Finally, last year, Orr Partners nixed the previous plans in favor of large apartment building currently on the boards.