Arlington's Missing Middle Homes Come at a Discount, and With a Lawsuit Attached

"To potential purchasers, please be advised that a lawsuit is on appeal to the Court of Appeals of Virginia and then perhaps to the Supreme Court of Virginia that may void your zoning rights to this property and may result in your right to live in this property being eliminated."

That sentence came from a judge's order, and Arlington County posts it on its EHO trial and appeal page. In late 2024, Arlington's first Missing Middle builders had to record it in the land records before they could keep building. If you're touring a new duplex or semidetached home on a street that used to allow only single-family houses, that warning is part of the property's history. The other part is the price. The County's own figures show these homes selling at a steep discount to new detached construction in the same ZIP code.

The legal fight that put that warning on the record is also a big reason so few of these homes exist.

The Warning Some Buyers Will Find in the Title Records

Arlington's Expanded Housing Option, or EHO, is the County's name for the 2023 "Missing Middle" zoning change. It allows buildings of up to six units on lots that used to be zoned for single-family homes. On Sept. 27, 2024, Circuit Court Judge David Schell declared those amendments void. According to the County's summary of the case, a partial conditional stay then let the 45 projects already approved move forward. The condition was that each owner record the notice quoted above, and the County had to confirm it was recorded before issuing any more permits for that project.

Developers took it seriously. ARLnow reported in April 2025 that at least 16 of those 45 approved projects had filed to switch to single-family construction. The judge had warned that building during the litigation was a substantial gamble.

The situation has changed since then. The Virginia Court of Appeals reversed the circuit court on Sept. 5, 2025, and Arlington began taking new EHO applications again on Oct. 1, 2025. That County page still shows the original notice language next to those newer updates. The County's current EHO materials don't attach a similar notice to permits issued after the reopening. They also don't say whether notices already recorded on the first group of properties have been released. For a buyer, the land records on each specific property are what count, and your title company and real estate attorney are the right people to read them and explain what they mean for your purchase. This post is general information. It isn't legal, tax or financial advice, so confirm your own situation with those professionals before you write an offer.

What the Discount Looks Like at Closing

The County's EHO annual data report, published in March 2026 with data through Dec. 31, 2025, counted exactly one EHO sale. It was a four-bedroom semidetached home in North Highlands that sold for $1.6 million. The County says that price was 45% below the average for new single detached homes in 22201 and the lowest price for any new construction in that ZIP code since 2020.

Local reporting has the addresses behind that figure, plus one more sale.

ARLnow's May 2025 story identified the developer at 2129 N. Troy as Advantage Properties. It also reported that the project had to record the land-records notice and that the developer had asked the County's Board of Zoning Appeals to confirm its vested development rights. The five-bedroom unit closed about $185,000 below its May 2025 asking price, according to ARLnow's April 2026 update, and the two halves of the building sold within $5,000 of each other.

At about $1.6 million, these homes are "middle" only next to new detached houses. What a buyer gets is new construction with four or five bedrooms in 22201, sharing a wall and a lot with a neighbor, for well under the price of a new house on its own lot. In that ZIP code, that combination was very hard to find before 2025.

Why There Are So Few to Choose From

You can't comparison-shop for something that barely exists. The County's March 2026 report covers two and a half years of activity, including roughly 12 months when the courts had voided the rules and permitting stopped. Here's what it found:

• 47 properties had received EHO zoning permits
• Those permits covered 190 approved units, or 132 net additional homes once the houses they replace are subtracted
• Three EHO developments, six units in total, were finished
• Five developments with 21 units were under construction
• Fifteen permit holders, representing 57 approved units, had decided to build single detached houses instead

The County lists several reasons building-permit activity stayed low. These include litigation risk, the separate EHO zoning-permit step, subdivision plat approvals for some attached building types, and the unfamiliar commercial building code that applies once a project reaches four or more units. Every completed, unsold unit the County assessed for 2026 is semidetached, the two-unit form that stays below that four-unit threshold.

Supply has grown since the reopening, but slowly. ARLnow reported in April 2026 that the County had approved nine more EHO projects with 40 units since the 2025 appeals decisions. The County's permitting dashboard listed 59 EHO projects, but that count includes some that had already switched to single-family plans. The ordinance also caps EHO permits at 58 per calendar year across zoning districts. According to the County, that cap was reached only in the R-5 zone in 2024.

The builder whose appeal reopened the program is staying out for now. J. Alex Wilson of Wilsons Ventures told ARLnow in August 2026 that he hasn't taken on any new EHO projects "because it's still all up in the air." When builders hold back, the pipeline stays thin, and buyers end up choosing among a handful of semidetached homes rather than across a full range of building types.

Where the Case Stands This Week

The litigation shapes the supply, so the timeline is worth knowing:

1. March 2023: The County Board approves the Missing Middle zoning changes.
2. Sept. 27, 2024: The circuit court voids the EHO amendments. The 45 approved projects can continue only by recording the notice.
3. Sept. 5, 2025: The Court of Appeals reverses and sends the case back. It finds that Wilsons Ventures, a developer that had already invested in an EHO project, should have been a party. The ruling is procedural and doesn't decide whether the ordinance is valid.
4. Oct. 1, 2025: Arlington reopens EHO permit applications.
5. May 19, 2026: The Supreme Court of Virginia agrees to hear the plaintiffs' procedural appeal. It does not halt EHO development.
6. Oct. 28, 2026: Oral arguments are scheduled before the Supreme Court.

ARLnow's Oct. 15 preview said the plaintiffs' attorney, Jay O'Keeffe, expected a written ruling about four to six weeks after the hearing, so a decision is unlikely to be out when you read this. Wilsons Ventures did not file a response brief or plan to argue. Whichever way the court rules, the case goes back down. A win for the plaintiffs returns it to the Court of Appeals, and a win for the developer's position returns it to the circuit court. Venable land use attorney Zach Williams told ARLnow, "We're finally going to start arguing about whether the law itself should have been declared void ab initio or not." In the meantime, the County says it will keep applying the 2023 ordinance and that zoning staff have no discretion to deny an EHO permit that meets every requirement.

How These Homes Compare With the Rest of Arlington This Fall

Arlington's overall market has loosened. In the Bright MLS September 2026 report, Arlington County had a median sale price of $655,000, down 4.6% from September 2025, with 175 closed sales and 23 median days on market. Active listings rose 22.5% to 582, and months of supply climbed to 3.02.

That median covers every home type in the county, including condos, so it says little about a $1.6 million semidetached home. The inventory numbers matter more. Move-up buyers have more resale options this fall than they did a year ago, and an EHO unit now competes with those listings as well as with new detached construction. For a Missing Middle home, the County's own benchmark is the useful one. A sale of about $1.6 million came in 45% below the average for new detached homes in 22201, and the buyer's title records and timeline still depend on a Supreme Court appeal that hasn't been decided.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does every Missing Middle home carry the land-records notice? The notice was a condition placed on the 45 projects approved before the September 2024 ruling. The County's current EHO process materials don't describe a similar notice for permits approved after applications reopened in October 2025. Your title search will show what is actually recorded on a given property.

Is the Bluemont townhouse project on N. Burlington Street a Missing Middle development? No. ARLnow reported that the three townhomes on the 800 block of N. Burlington Street were built on a lot already zoned for a duplex, so they don't depend on the EHO rules, even though the same developer is involved in the lawsuit.

Can the County still issue EHO permits while the Supreme Court considers the appeal? Yes, according to the County. Its May 20, 2026 update says the Supreme Court's order did not halt EHO development, so staff continue to review applications under the 2023 ordinance.

If you're weighing an Arlington Missing Middle home against a new detached house or a resale on the same streets, HOMEGROWN The McDonald Etro Group can help you compare the prices, get your title company involved early, and set your timeline around what the courts do next. Selling in 22201 or nearby? Get your instant home valuation to see where your home stands against this new kind of competition.