New Art Deco Influenced Townhouses Planned for Braddock Neighborhood

A brick home built around 1940 in the Braddock neighborhood could be torn down and replaced with a pair of new townhouses.

The pair of townhouses at 603 N. Alfred Street are scheduled for review at the Board of Architectural (BAR) tonight (Wednesday) at 7 p.m.

Currently, the lot is occupied by a one-and-a-half story building most records date to 1940. The report notes that there is a possibility the land was used as a campsite during the Civil War, and the developer will be required to call Alexandria Archaeology if any buries structures or artifacts are found.

But while the building is old, the city staff say it’s not necessarily historically or architecturally significant.

“The circa 1940 detached single-family dwelling is not of an unusual or uncommon design and could easily be reproduced due to its extremely simple design and use of mass-produced, mid-20th-century materials,” staff said in a report on the project. “While it is unusual to find this style dwelling in the Parker-Gray district, they were common in the rest of Alexandria in this period and ubiquitous the throughout the United States following the Second World War.”

Staff also noted that retention of the home would not maintain the scale and character of the neighborhood, where numerous other new homes are under construction. While many of the other properties in the Braddock neighborhood are smaller, single-family homes, the area has also seen extensive redevelopment and gentrification in recent years.

The new homes incorporate a modern interpretation of early 20th-century art deco styles, according to the staff report. The building would be three stories tall with rooftop access on the third floor and a fenced back yard.

Concept rendering via City of Alexandria. Street photo via Google Maps