Downtown Arlington's Urban Union Live‑Work‑Play District Is Expanding

Downtown Arlington’s Urban Union Live‑Work‑Play District Is Expanding

Dodson Commercial Real Estate is building five new mixed-use buildings along Front Street to house restaurants, retail, and apartments. The expansion will result in a five-city-block attraction for downtown Arlington. The city's largest public accounting firm, Sutton Frost Cary LLP, will be relocating to a 21,000-SF office building that's part of the project.

Arlington’s walkable, mixed-use Urban Union district is about to get even more walkable and mixed.

Dodson Commercial Real Estate will break ground Wednesday on a 50,000-square-foot expansion of the downtown Arlington district. Five new mixed-use buildings along Front Street will house restaurants, retail, and apartments.

The addition will expand the district to the west along Front Street, connecting it to the Vandergriff Town Center, resulting in a five-city-block attraction for downtown Arlington. The project will be the first newly built office building of this scale in the city’s core in decades.

Arlington Mayor Pro Tem Dr. Victoria Farrar-Myers is scheduled to speak at a groundbreaking ceremony at the site Wednesday at 2 p.m.

Five new mixed-use buildings will house restaurants, retail, and apartments in downtown Arlington’s Urban Union district. [Rendering: VLK Architects]

A ‘live, work, play district’ for downtown Arlington

“Downtown Arlington is truly becoming a live, work, play district,” Dodson CRE Managing Partner Ryan Dodson said in a statement. “We’re happy to play a role in its renaissance.”

“The 50,000-square-foot addition is the next step in our vision for the Urban Union district,” he added. “It will continue the theme of a walkable downtown Arlington full of vibrant, locally owned business.”

Accounting firm Sutton Frost Cary LLP will be relocating to a new, 21,000-SF office building in the Urban Union district addition. [Rendering: Dodson CRE]

Sutton Frost Cary LLP will relocate to the expanded district

Arlington’s largest public accounting firm, Sutton Frost Cary LLP, plans to relocate to the new Urban Front project as the most notable office user announced to date, according to Dodson CRE. Dodson will construct a 21,000-plus-square foot, two-story office building at the southeast corner of Front and Mesquite Streets for the firm. Its headquarters will occupy the 11,000-square-foot second story. The remaining footprint will be offered for rent for other professional offices or restaurant concepts.

“Our company has experienced significant growth over recent years resulting in a team of 50 individuals,” Sutton Frost Cary Partner Paul Cary said in the statement. “We need a space built for our current operations and space for our continued growth. Sutton Frost Cary LLP is excited to be joining the efforts of Dodson CRE and the other businesses and individuals investing in the revitalization of downtown Arlington and, more specifically, the Urban Union and Urban Front community.”

Spiral Diner, Doughboy Donuts, and Cow Tipping Creamery among retail tenants

Spiral Diner, Doughboy Donuts, and Cow Tipping Creamery are among the retail tenants slated to join the Urban Union expansion. Another planned tenant will be Coop’s Fowl Ball—a new sports bar concept featuring a family-friendly menu.

In addition to street-level retail, shops, restaurants, and offices, 24 loft apartments will be built on the second and third floors of the expansion.

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