News

Expired Landmark Overlook project in Alexandria’s West End gets three-year extension

By James Cullum
Landmark Overlook would transform the corner of South Wilkes Street and Stephenson Avenue into a mixed-use property with hotels or office buildings, two-level stacked condominium units, apartments, and retail. (Image via City of Alexandria)

The Alexandria City Council, this week, approved the three-year extension of an expired plan to build hundreds of residential units in Alexandria’s Landmark area.

The three-year development special use permit for the 8-acre Landmark Overlook project expired in February. Council initially approved the plan in 2022 by West End Development Associates to build 450 residential units in seven townhomes and two multifamily apartment buildings on the eight-acre site at 5901, 5951, and 5999 Stevenson Avenue and 2 South Whiting Street.

After a unanimous recommendation for the extension by the Planning Commission, City Council approved the extension 6-1. City Council Member John Taylor Chapman moved for approval for extension, which Council Member Jacinta Greene seconded. Council Member Canek Aguirre was the lone no-vote.

Aguirre also voted against the project in 2022 and said at the time that it didn’t fit the area.

“We’re talking about 720,000 square feet over at this site,” Aguirre said on Feb. 12, 2022. “I’ve expressed my frustration to staff because we essentially had a blank slate here at this site.”

The project includes:

  • Construction of 450 residential units across seven new stacked townhouse buildings and two multifamily residential buildings (with ground-level retail/commercial space)
  • New streets are proposed that would create a total of five redevelopment blocks
  • 15 on-site rental units affordable to households at 60% of the area median income (AMI) within the multifamily buildings.

The property is near the sprawling mixed-use WestEnd development at the former Landmark Mall site. There, the new Inova Alexandria Hospital expected to open in 2028, with the rest of the mixed use development poised to open between 2026 and 2032.

About the Author

  • Reporter James Cullum has spent nearly 20 years covering Northern Virginia. He began working with ALXnow in 2020, and has covered every story under the sun for the publication, from investigative stories to features and photo galleries. His work includes coverage of national and international situations, as well as from the White House, Capitol, Pentagon, Supreme Court and State Department. He's covered protests and riots throughout the U.S. (including the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol), in addition to earthquake-ridden Haiti, Western Sahara in North Africa and war-torn South Sudan. He has photographed presidents and other world leaders, celebrities and famous musicians, and excels under pressure.