The parking lot of 330 N. Washington Street in Old Town (staff photo by James Cullum)
Old Town neighbors say a pending townhouse development application exemplifies why the city needs to better align the Board of Architectural Review process with development special use permit reviews.
The BAR continues to consider a concept review of Merion Row at 330 N. Washington Street, where the property owner seeks to build six three-story townhomes with rear-loading parking garages and rooftop terraces. The homes would take the place of two of the three drive-thru banking aisles at the Wells Fargo bank.
Elizabeth Tedesco (as Sub-Zero from Mortal Kombat) gets married to Bruce Brolle (a combination of Hercules and Hercule Poirot) by Alexandria Clerk of the Circuit Court Greg Parks in a "Hallowedding" at Gadsby's Tavern, Oct. 31, 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)
After selling out last year, Halloweddings are returning to Alexandria.
On Halloween (Saturday, Oct. 31), Greg Parks, Alexandria’s Clerk of the Circuit Court, and his staff will don 18th century costumes to officiate the 20-minute ceremonies. Couples will need to make reservations using the QR code below and pay $75. They can show up in a costume of their choosing — Ken and Barbie, Batman and Catwoman, you name it.
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.
Employees in office (image via Vitaly Gariev/Unsplash)
Alexandria’s jobless rate was stable year over year in new data but remains elevated compared to levels recorded before the Trump administration’s federal government downsizing began.
A total of 96,600 city residents were counted as employed in the civilian workforce in July, with 3,150 seeking jobs, according to figures reported Sept. 2 by the Virginia Department of Workforce Development and Advancement.
Alexandria Police lights (staff photo by James Cullum)
A pedestrian on Interstate 395 was killed in a crash Monday night (Sept. 7) in Alexandria, according to Virginia State Police.
Around 8:29 p.m., a pedestrian was struck on southbound I-395 north of Duke Street. Police say the striking vehicle stopped a short distance from the crash and contacted 911.
Northern Virginia Fairfax Families for Safe Streets (NoVA FSS) cordially invites you to attend and support our upcoming World Day of Remembrance (WDoR) for Road Traffic Victims.
World Day of Remembrance is an annual event where we honor those whose lives were prematurely ended after being struck by a person driving. This year is particularly painful and sad as we think about the recent death of a 13-year-old Frost middle school student who was struck and killed by a person driving a truck on Pickett Road. We will also honor the nearly 30 other people (as of today’s date) who have been killed on Northern Virginia streets while, walking, biking, or rolling since last year’s day of remembrance.
Dominion Energy’s outage map shows over 4,300 outages remaining in Alexandria on Sept. 8, 2026 (courtesy of Dominion Energy)
Thousands of additional Dominion Energy customers are experiencing power outages Tuesday morning (Sept. 8) after an earlier outage tied to a transformer.
As of 11 a.m., more than 4,300 customers are without power in North Ridge, Fairlington/Bradlee, Seminary Hill, Taylor Run, Rosemont and Del Ray. Dominion Energy attributed the outage to a circuit being out and estimated that restoration would happen between 2-5 p.m.
A DASH bus driver takes five at the Braddock Road Metro station (staff photo by James Cullum)
City Council Is Back for Tuesday Meeting — After recess, City Council will return for a meeting at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 8. Featured agenda items include updates on Flock cameras, the city and ACPS budget category process, City Hall construction impacts on businesses and state of the economy, as well as introduction of an ordinance on tax extensions for federal workers during government shutdowns. [City of Alexandria]
ACPS to Dedicate Media Center to Teacher Tuesday — “Alexandria City Public Schools (ACPS) will host a special naming ceremony to officially dedicate the media center at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School as the ‘Jean B. Reid Media Center’ in honor of former ACPS educator Jean B. Reid, who dedicated 30 years of service to ACPS as a reading specialist from 1971 until her retirement in 2001.” [Alexandria City Public Schools]
Expect a 30% chance of showers today before 2pm and again after 4pm, with partly sunny skies and a high near 84°F. Winds will be from the north at about 6 mph. On Saturday night, there is a 40% chance of showers mainly before 9pm, with mostly cloudy conditions and a low around 66°F. Winds will remain light from the north. See more from Weather.gov.
💡 Quote of the Day
“Quality is not an act, it is a habit.” – Aristotle
The Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic and the Alexandria Choral Society perform their holiday concert at the George Washington Masonic National Memorial, Dec. 8, 2024 (staff photo by James Cullum)
The Alexandria Choral Society is returning for its 57th season next month, and offering a “pay-what-you-can” pricing model for its performances in the city.
ACS will return on Oct. 15 in a show partnering with the American Classical Contemporary Orchestra under conductor Jeffrey Dokken. The show, Dreamweaver, focuses on Ola Gjeilo’s choral work inspired by the medieval folk poem “Draumkvedet,” which tells the story of Olav Asteson, who tells the story of being asleep for 13 days. The show will be held at the Miracle Theatre (535 8th Street SE) in DC and ticket prices range from $15 to $47.
