WASHINGTON — Plans to create a town square in the Nauck neighborhood of Shirlington are finally moving ahead after more than a decade of planning.
The Arlington County Board has approved the purchase of the final property needed to build Nauck Town Square, agreeing to a purchase price of $803,000 for 2400 Shirlington Road, currently a plumbing business.
“We have been working for years to make this purchase,” said Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey. “It was the last piece of the puzzle that needed to be pulled together by county staff and the community to make the dream of a Nauck Town Square a reality.”
The county had previously purchased other privately owned properties needed for the town square.
Construction on the project will begin later this year.
The square, just off Interstate 395 at South Glebe Road, will cover an entire block, bounded by 24th Road South and South Shirlington Road and serve as the anchor for the Nauck Village Center, part of Arlington County’s much larger, Four Mile Run Valley planning initiative.
The Nauck Town Square project is expected to cost $5 million, with funding from a Community Conservation Bond.
Arlington’s Nauck neighborhood was founded by freed African-Americans in 1844. The square will include public art highlighting the neighborhood’s cultural heritage.
