Old Town North power plant redevelopment and funding plans heading to city review

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Plans to redevelop the shuttered Potomac River Generating Station in Old Town North are heading to the Alexandria Planning Commission and City Council next month.

The Planning Commission will get the first crack at the massive proposal to convert the 18-acre site at 1300 N. Royal Street into a mixed-use development at its meeting on Tuesday, June 2, followed by a City Council public hearing June 13. City Council will also be presented with a $135 million financing deal for the project June 9 (Tuesday), which property owner HRP Group says will catalyze more than $2 billion in private investment into the site. City Council will hold a public hearing for the financing agreement on Saturday, June 13.

City Manager Jim Parajon proposed the 30-year, $135 million tax increment financing agreement last month. The funds would come from projected future tax revenues at the site through at the 19-acre mixed-use site through the creation of a Community Development Agency. Parajon said the $135 million investment would generate more than $770 million in tax revenues over 30 years.

“This would not involve any pledges of existing taxes. This would pledge new taxes, new revenue that the developer creates,” Parajon said.

“We’ll be undertaking the abatement and deconstruction of the plant itself and environmental remediation of the site to enable redevelopment, and that’s going to start as soon as next year,” said Melissa Schrock, HRP’s executive vice president of mixed-use development, at a recent community meeting. “The project is anticipated to generate about $770 million in new tax revenue for the city, and all told that this project represents about a $2 billion private investment into the site.”

Development plans of the six-block project also include converting an old pump house into a community amenity, developing more than 10 acres of public open space and constructing mixed-use apartment and retail buildings.

The power plant closed in 2012 and HRP Group bought it in 2020. The site requires extensive remediation after leaky storage tanks bled pollutants into the soil. The city approved plans to redevelop the site into a mixed-use property starting in 2017, with preliminary plans submitted to the city last summer.

The Planning Commission will consider subdividing 1300 N. Royal Street into three large lots, approving plans for multi-unit residential buildings with commercial uses and reviewing open space plans.

HRP Group plans to convert Block A (65,000 square feet) into a 70-foot-tall arts and cultural center with retail and office uses, with a riverside view of the Potomac River. The plan for Block B (415,000 square feet) calls for two large condo and apartment buildings with rooftop open space, with designs inspired by the Flatiron Building in New York City. Retail and condos in Block C (635,000 square feet) are also capped at 17 stories.

Deconstruction could begin as early as next year and is expected to take up to 20 months.

HRP Group will hold its next community meeting virtually from 6-7 p.m. Tuesday, May 26. Questions and comments can be submitted in advance to HRPInfoMidatlantic@hrpgroup.com.