The Franklin P. Backus Courthouse in Alexandria (staff photo by Jay Westcott)
A Maryland man facing 15 years to life in prison for an armed carjacking in Alexandria’s West End was identified by fingerprints found on a discarded White Claw can inside the stolen vehicle.
Around 10:30 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 12, 2025, the victim was reportedly sitting in his white 2021 Lexus NX300 in a parking lot in the 100 block of S. Reynolds Street when a man opened his driver’s side door and told him he would be killed unless he got out, according to a recently unsealed search warrant affidavit.
Topping out at 1201 E. Abingdon Drive in Alexandria (courtesy of KTGY)
In the latest of Alexandria’s office-to-residential conversions, a project in Old Town North is making progress.
A vacant 1980s building at 1201 E. Abingdon Drive is being developed into a 143-unit multifamily residential building. The conversion of the 95,000-square-foot building will provide seven junior one-bedroom, 100 one-bedroom and 29 two-bedroom apartments. The project, approved by City Council in February 2024, will yield seven affordable housing units and 160 parking spaces.
Among the movers serving Alexandria, VA, 495 Movers stands out for a simple reason: its local hourly rate includes packing materials, furniture disassembly and reassembly, and protection for floors, walls, and elevators. The company has been in business since 2009 and has completed more than 20,000 moves, a number that keeps climbing.
Anyone who has hired movers in the DC area knows the familiar pattern. A low hourly rate wins the call. Then the invoice arrives with a charge for boxes, a charge for taking the bed apart, a fee for the stairs, and another for the elevator. By the end, the number on the bill has little to do with the number in the ad. 495 Movers was built to avoid that.
495 Movers at a glance
In business since: 2009 (17 years)
Moves completed: more than 20,000, local and long-distance
Licensed in: Virginia
Serves: Alexandria and the rest of the DMV
Local hourly rate includes: packing materials, furniture disassembly and reassembly, and home protection on every move
No separate fees for: stairs or elevators
Also offers: junk removal, custom crating, and self-storage
Reputation: 4.7 stars across nearly 1,000 Google reviews
Who is 495 Movers?
495 Movers is a full-service moving company serving Alexandria and the rest of the DMV, founded in 2009 by people who had worked as movers for several other companies first. They wanted to do it differently.
“We wanted to take a different approach, offering a simple, honest, and transparent approach for the customer,” said Moti Kachlon, co-owner at 495 Movers. For local moves, that meant building the most common extras into the hourly rate. Seventeen years and more than 20,000 moves later, the company is still growing.
What makes moving in Alexandria different?
Alexandria is a hard place to move. A truck on an Old Town block gets watched by neighbors, property managers, and a family wondering whether the sofa will make the turn on a staircase built long before sofas got this big.
Old Town’s rowhouses have narrow staircases and tight turns, which is why large furniture often has to come apart to get out. Del Ray’s bungalows and rowhouses have basements that hold more than anyone remembers. And condo and apartment buildings in Carlyle, Potomac Yard, and the West End often require movers to carry a certificate of insurance and book the elevator, with building managers who care a great deal about scuffed hallways. The street adds its own complications, from cobblestones to limited curb space.
That’s the context for how 495 Movers prices its work.
What does 495 Movers include in its hourly rate?
For local moves, the rate covers four things that many movers bill separately:
Packing materials. Boxes, tape, paper, and wrap are provided at no additional cost, whether a move needs a few or a few hundred.
Furniture disassembly and reassembly. Beds, tables, desks, sectionals, and wardrobes are taken apart, moved, and put back together at the new home. In an Old Town rowhouse, that’s often the only way a dresser gets down the stairs.
Mural at Witter Place Apartments (via Alexandria Beautification Commission)
Five homes, two community and commercial properties and one public art project at an apartment community earned 2026 Beautification Awards from the Alexandria Beautification Commission.
The commission annually recognizes Alexandria properties “for thoughtful design, sustainability, and contributions to the beauty of the community.” Award winners were selected from more than 40 nominations.
As seen at the annual Art on the Avenue festival in Del Ray, Oct. 3, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)
Despite spots of rain, thousands of people attended the 31st annual Art on the Avenue festival in Del Ray on Saturday (Oct. 6).
Hundreds of juried artists sold their work, live music was performed on four stages and the event welcomed a number of new businesses to the neighborhood. The event also shut down Mount Vernon Avenue from Hume to Bellefonte Avenues.
If you are interested in learning more about Continuing Care Retirement Communities (also known as "Life Plan Communities"), whether for yourself or for a loved one, please join our free workshop on Wednesday, November 4 from 5:00-7:00 at the Arlington office of Long & Foster. We are hosting this workshop in conjunction with Lisa Bates of the Williamsburg Landing community, which is a particularly excellent model of the way these communities work, and one you may wish to consider!
– How do Continuing Care Retirement Communities work? – What do they offer? – How much do they cost, and what are the financial models offered? – How do you how to evaluate them, and choose the one that's right for you? – How do you make a plan for a move like this? – How do you handle a lifetime's worth of possessions?
Alexandria’s apartment rental market is moving into the cooler stage of the year, and rental rates are down slightly from a year ago.
The city saw a median apartment rental rate of $2,193 — $2,008 for one-bedroom units and $2,467 for two bedrooms — in September, according to data reported Sept. 29 by Apartment List.
A Halloween display on Hume Avenue in Del Ray (staff photo by James Cullum)
On This Day in Alexandria History — “On October 5, 1860, President James Buchanan, accompanied by none other than the Prince of Wales, passed through Alexandria on their way to pay the heir-apparent’s respects at the tomb of our nation’s first president, George Washington, at Mount Vernon. Earlier that year, Her Majesty Queen Victoria had sent her eighteen-year-old son, Albert Edward, also known as ‘Bertie,’ on his first Royal visit, a good will tour of Canada and the United States. Although the young Prince (later he became King Edward VII) had not yet developed his unusual sense of fashion and roguish behavior, he was indeed received as a ‘Royal Spectacle’ in the locations he visited, and Alexandria was no exception.” [Historic Alexandria]
What Streets Are on the Maintenance Schedule This Week — Roads scheduled for repaving and maintenance this week are North Beauregard Street (from Lincolnia Road to Sanger Avenue), North Overlook Drive (from Halcyon Drive to end) and North Chambliss Street (from Fillmore Avenue to end). [Alexandria T&ES]
An Alexandria police cruiser (staff photo by James Cullum)
Two men are in custody after a Sunday morning (Oct. 4) shooting in Alexandria, according to police.
The shooting happened in the 100 block of Ellsworth Street, which is in the Taylor Run neighborhood next to the Alexandria Commons shopping center. According to the scanner traffic around 8:39 a.m., multiple 911 callers reported they heard multiple gunshots and screaming.
Showers are possible this afternoon, mainly between 1 PM and 3 PM, with mostly cloudy skies and a high near 69°F. There will be a north wind at 5 to 8 mph, and the chance of precipitation is 30%. Saturday night may see more showers after 2 AM, with increasing clouds and a low around 59°F. Winds will be light from the east, with a 30% chance of precipitation. See more from Weather.gov.
💡 Quote of the Day
“Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you.” – Walt Whitman
Checking out work by Scrap Art Crone, at Art on the Avenue in Del Ray, Oct. 4, 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)
It’s a busy start to October as many visitors will arrive to the city for a returning arts festival.
Art on the Avenue will draw tens of thousands to Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray. But if you’re looking for something smaller, check out Civil War Shelter Day at Fort Ward, Immanuel Church-on-the-Hill’s Pumpkin Patch, Douglass Cemetery tour or Rosemont Citizens Association’s Oktoberfest.
