A new 99-unit apartment building that narrowly passed a Planning and Zoning Commission vote will pop up in downtown Arlington after the City Council approved the plan.
The Balfour Lofts will be on a 1.605-acre tract on the site of the old Johnny Balfour Electronics store.
District 5 council member Rebecca Boxall said the new development requires demolition of the store that has stood as a notable downtown location since the 1950s. It closed in 1995.
Community members and Boxall, who voted for the project, were recently allowed inside the store by the Balfour family. Boxall said it was a time capsule filled with electronics items from a bygone era. The actual construction timeline is awaiting building permits.
“The first hurdle that they need to get over is getting the permissions from the council, the zoning changed, and then they will have to go in for a building permit, which could take some time,” Boxall said ahead of the council vote. “I’m not sure what their timeline is for demolition and construction.”
Boxall said she’s lived in Arlington for 18 years, so the store was closed well before she arrived. Longtime Arlington residents recall the store fondly, she said.
“I don’t remember the store because I wasn’t here, but a lot of people remember going to the store with their parents as a kid,” Boxall said. “A lot of baby boomers, of course, and people older that can remember shopping at the store and buying their first TV there. So, there was a lot of nostalgia, of people remembering and telling stories about that time, when TVs were sort of new, right?”
A Facebook page dedicated to the store has comments about its history and impact on the community.
“My grandparents bought me the first color t.v. in our home from them … Mom and Dad had the black and white one in the living room lol … I had the color in mine!” Tonya Cabal wrote on the page.
The path to a City Council vote was a long one for the Balfour project, which was previously approved last year as a 62-unit structure.
Linda Finley, Thomas Ware and Ronald Maddox, planning and zoning commissioners, voted against the project on Sept. 3, with concerns expressed about parking and security at the proposed apartment community.
On May 15, 2024, the commissioners had approved the Balfour on a smaller, roughly 1.146 acres of land by a vote of 6-1-0.
On June 25, 2024, Arlington City Council approved the final reading to change the proposed 62-unit Balfour Lofts from neighborhood overlay-community commercial and downtown neighborhood overlay-residential medium family to downtown neighborhood overlay-planned development for residential multifamily 22 by a vote of 7-0-0.
On Aug. 6, 2025, the Planning and Zoning Commission continued the development’s zoning case to the Sept. 3 hearing by a vote of 8-0-0 to work on several items, including acquiring the entire site to allow for a larger complex. The requested zoning change is to planned development for downtown neighborhood overlay-residential multifamily 22 uses, with a development plan.
In a 6-3 vote Oct. 14, the council approved the plan.
Boxall said she supported the project because she believed it could help revitalize a piece of downtown Arlington.
“The east end of downtown is pretty low density like it’s never been really developed,” Boxall said.
She said the biggest new development there was the county courthouse that is south of the proposed complex.
“The other thing that’s sort of remarkable about this project is it’s a full block redevelopment, which is fairly rare to see a full block,” Boxall said.
Lance Murray is a freelance contributor covering business for the Arlington Report.
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