After over two decades of sitting empty at 5001 Eisenhower Avenue, the Victory Center could be converted into housing.
The proposal comes as Alexandria has been seeing an increasing number of office buildings converted to residential use.
Developer Stonebridge had previously submitted plans to demolish the building, though the memo from City Manager Jim Parajon indicates that’s no longer the case.
The memo also detailed the long, troubled history of the 9.73 acre site. It was constructed in 1973 for the U.S. Army Material Command, but that agency moved to Fort Belvoir in 2003 and no other tenant has occupied the space, despite decades of false starts.
The memo said the City of Alexandria and the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership evaluated the viability of the Victory Center remaining an office building and both agreed the cuilding is obsolete for office use — and is responsible for 3% of the City’s 15.5% office vacancy rate.
The memo said the City of Alexandria’s financial participation, in the form of partial tax abatements on improvements to the building, could pave the way for the developer to make a significant number of the new units committed affordable and workforce units. The exact amount of housing being considered isn’t included.
Beyond just opening up the way for more housing, the proposal would also improve some of the numbers for the city’s office vacancy rate and make new office construction more appealing. According to the memo:
The removal of obsolete office from inventory benefits the City in multiple ways:
- New investment in old buildings raises property values and assessments;
- Conversions have created new housing units, school space and hotel rooms;
- Removal of office space from inventory reduces the City’s office vacancy rate, positively impacting supply/demand to allow for new office construction; and
- The project potentially catalyzes other nearby mixed-use development.
The City’s office vacancy rate is approximately 15% (including sublet space) for the 20.9 million sq. ft. of office inventory citywide. Removing 5001 Eisenhower (through successful conversion) would result in a vacancy rate of 12.5% with an inventory of 20.2M sq ft.
