Ballston Macy's site to be transformed into apartment building with grocery store

Ballston Macy's site to be transformed into 553 residences

A major redevelopment project is coming to the current site of the Ballston Macy's. The Arlington County Board has cleared the way for more housing and shopping. FOX 5's Josh Rosenthal reports from Arlington.

ARLINGTON, Va. - Big changes are coming to the current site of the Ballston Macy’s after the Arlington County Board cleared the way for more housing and shopping.

The newly approved project features a 16-story mixed-use building with 553 residential units above ground floor retail, which is set to include a grocery store. It’ll replace the Macy’s, as well as the vacant office space above it.

"It means new homes, which we know are really needed, and it’s very exciting because it’s putting housing exactly where it should be, which is dense housing close to Metro," Board Chair Katie Cristol told FOX 5 Monday.

The plan also tackles another issue that stretches well beyond Arlington County.

ARLINGTON, VA - APRIL 03: Children ride bicycles past a closed Macy's store amid the coronavirus outbreak on April 3, 2020 in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by Chen Mengtong/China News Service via Getty Images)

"This is Arlington’s biggest economic challenge," Cristol said. "I know it’s the case facing cities and suburbs all around the U.S., which is when everybody went home or started working from home or hybrid — what happens to all of that office space? This is a model that I actually hope we’ll see a lot more of in Arlington."

The Arlington County Board also approved a residential density transfer Saturday, which will preserve 118 affordable housing units along Columbia Pike.

County officials said a timeline for construction is still being worked out. For more information about the project, you can click here.