Penzance Looks To Add 3 Residential Towers To Rosslyn Skyline
A year after acquiring two 1960s-era office buildings near the Rosslyn Metro station, Penzance has filed plans to develop the site into a largely residential development with towers reaching up to 30 stories.
The D.C.-based developer is planning to construct 900K SF across three towers on the site of Rosslyn Gateway. It has filed site plans with Arlington County for the project, branded as One Rosslyn, the company announced in a press release Tuesday.
“This is a very special site,” Penzance partner John Kusturiss told Bisnow, adding that his company has been “keeping an eye on” it since it was entitled for redevelopment more than a decade ago.
Penzance is partnering with Boston-based The Baupost Group on the project, which is being designed by Hickok Cole and Studios Architecture.
The towers are planned to total 862 units and 15K SF of retail, a Penzance spokesperson told Bisnow. There are two rental towers planned, one with 461 units and the other with 319, and one condo building with 82 units.
“There is definitely a shortage of housing in the region, in Arlington and specifically in Rosslyn,” Kusturiss said. “The Rosslyn sector plan calls for more housing, and we think this is just a phenomenal location for more multifamily housing. So we're bringing forward three residential towers that will be a mix of unit sizes and price points and ownership and opportunities, and we think it will do well.”
The towers are designed to reach 26, 27 and 30 stories. Kusturiss said the height should give residents access to “great views of the city,” the Potomac Gorge, cherry blossoms and fireworks.
“We think it's just such a spectacular visual venue that we want to make sure everyone has access to it,” he said.
The design centers the towers around a 30K SF landscaped terrace overlooking the county’s planned Gateway Park, which CoStar is helping finance as part of its Central Place deal with the county.
Penzance purchased the 255K SF Rosslyn Gateway last November from JBG Smith for $52M, the Washington Business Journal reported at the time.
JBG had a site plan with office, retail, residential and a hotel, but that framework didn’t fit into market needs by the time Penzance purchased it, Kusturiss said. He said high office vacancy in the D.C. region made that property type less feasible, and Dittmar Co.'s new 300-plus-key hotel delivering next door removed the need for that use.
Penzance envisioned a multifamily-centric development when it purchased the property, Kusturiss said. After looking at various options, he said the final plan was something the company believed it would be able to finance and its lending partners would be confident about.
One Rosslyn could break ground as early as the end of 2026, according to the release.
Penzance has been an active developer in Arlington. In 2021, it developed a similarly sized residential development in Rosslyn called The Highlands, also in conjunction with The Baupost Group and the same architects on this project.
Last September, it acquired a 240K SF office property in Ballston that it is planning to transform into 328 residential units.
