Officials Approve Plan to Rid Rosslyn of Prime Rib

Map It:  Rosslyn 

IN THE CONCRETE JUNGLE that is Rosslyn, at the corner of Wilson Boulevard and N. Lynn Street, there's a short, squatty white-brick building called Orleans House. If you've walked or driven by, it's likely you've seen tour buses parked out front or cars packed into its tiny parking lot. The place is known for its giant salad bar and for regularly dishing out boatloads of prime rib for dinner ... and it's been doing so for decades.

"The quantity-price ratio is as good as it gets at this Rosslyn mainstay," the washingtonpost.com City Guide says of the place. But its days of au jus and iceberg lettuce are numbered.

Over the weekend, Arlington County officials, in their bid to turn Rosslyn into a so-called "Manhattan on the Potomac," approved a plan to build a high-rise tower on top of Orleans House. Concerns about the impacts on the District's monumental skyline and about low-flying planes heading in and out of Reagan National Airport were dismissed by county officials who see the JBG Cos. development as crucial to making Rosslyn a more attractive, vibrant neighborhood.

The planned twin towers — one 31 stories, the other 30 stories — would be 76 feet taller than Rosslyn's other twin towers, the shiny complex that was once home to USA Today and now home to Allbritton-owned WJLA/ABC7, News Channel 8 and the Politico.

Due to the concerns about National Airport's flight path, the Federal Aviation Administration could still throw a wrench in the construction plans, as The Post's Kirstin Downey reports.

» "Tom Sarris Orleans House Restaurant" [City Guide/WaPo]
» "High-Rises Approved That Would Dwarf D.C." [WaPo]

Image courtesy JBG Cos.