George Washington birthday parade returning on Monday — “Celebrate Presidents’ Day and the first president’s 290th birthday at the George Washington Birthday Parade on Monday.” [Alexandria Times]
Study: coastal flooding to increase as seas rise 1 foot by 2050 — “Several areas in and around Alexandria are vulnerable, according to an updated interactive tool.” [Alexandria Living Magazine]
Alexandria could be converting another block of King Street to a pedestrian-only zone this spring.
At a meeting of the Waterfront Commission earlier this week, city staff presented both plans for a pilot to close the waterfront end of King Street and examined the future of the 100 block of King Street, which has been permanently closed and converted into a pedestrian zone.
Alexandria already feels like home. It’s the trails you walk, the restaurants you return to, and the easy reach of D.C. that make it all work. The question is whether your home feels as right as the city around it. For those who love Alexandria but want more space, more privacy, and more choice, Van Metre at Banner Heights offers a new opportunity to have it all, just minutes from I-495, I-95, and Old Town Alexandria.
Every Van Metre homesite at Banner Heights has a backyard that doesn’t face into another homesite, so the space behind your home is entirely yours, and a deck or covered terrace makes it the spot for a quiet morning or a long evening with friends. Four levels offer up to five bedrooms and an optional elevator. From there, 20+ personalization options let you decide the rest: add a bedroom on the lower or fourth levels, a great room fireplace with ceramic detailing, or a wet or dry bar, plus upgraded flooring and packages for electrical, tech, and comfort.
With more than 70 years of building across Northern Virginia, Van Metre designs homes around the way people live. At Banner Heights, that means the T-27 townhome plan with 3-5 bedrooms, 3-4 full and 1-2 half baths, 3,014+ square feet, a 2-car garage, and 20+ personalization options, starting from the $1.25Ms.*
Van Metre at Banner Heights is now open for Early Access, giving interested buyers the chance to purchase before our grand opening, when initial homesites deliver.
*Pricing, offers, and availability are subject to change without notice. Some images and renderings may represent a similar home or may have been created or edited using artificial intelligence (AI), and may depict design elements, furnishings, finishes, landscaping, views, or other features that are not included in the home or may not be available. Please see a Van Metre New Home Advisor for details.
The City of Alexandria may have landed on agreements with two internet service providers to run broadband networks and open up the competition with the current internet monopoly: Comcast.
In January, the city announced that four companies had been shortlisted to operate a broadband internet service on cables the city was laying down alongside the new municipal network. An update scheduled for the Tuesday, Feb. 22, will as the City Council to approve right-of-way franchises to Lumos Telephone, Inc. and Ting, Inc.
At its October general membership meeting, the NAACP Alexandria Branch 7043 Nominating Committee presented its slate for the 2027–2028 term and named John Hopkins-Gillispie as its nominee for Branch President.
Hopkins-Gillispie is a life member of the branch. He has chaired the Freedom Fund Dinner for the past two years, and this year’s dinner raised more than $40,000 for the branch. He serves on the Legal Redress Committee, reviewing discrimination complaints brought to the branch. He has provided input on issues from the Alexandria Police Department’s hate crimes policy to the proposed Edsall Road data center. He also represents the branch as co-chair of the host committee for the 2027 Virginia State Conference convention.
A 30-year-old Alexandria man held without bond in the city jail is wanted across the country for at stealing at least luxury vehicles with fake identifications around the country.
Serge Ahmed Zeba, a native of Burkina Faso, West Africa, was arrested in the parking lot of the Extended Stay Hotel in the Landmark area on Jan. 26, and was charged with possessing a fictitious identification or license, possession of a stolen vehicle, unauthorized use of a stolen vehicle and providing a false identity to law enforcement.
**Sips & Shells: Holiday Oyster Shell Workshop at Hank's Oyster Bar**
Gather your girlfriends for a creative night out in Old Town Alexandria!
Alexandria’s new City Manager James Parajon presented his proposed budget last night to the City Council. While real estate property assessments are still pushing local tax bills up, there’s no tax rate increase proposed in the budget.
The budget is $829.9 million, or a 7% increase from the previous year’s budget. The budget increase is largely funded by the increase in assessments revenue, which comes out to an average $445 increase for the average Alexandria homeowner.
Alexandria Police are investigating a robbery committed by five people at the Home Depot at 400 S. Pickett Street in the West End.
A Home Depot employee followed five people out of the store on Jan. 17, after they walked past the point of sale and out the exit with a shopping cart full of hand tools, gardening tools, and electric and gas-powered tools, according to a search warrant.
Sneak Peek: The Landing, luxe living for seniors, opens soon in Alexandria — “The Landing offers an opulent ambiance for four levels of senior living, opening next month in Alexandria.” [Alexandria Living Magazine]
Alexandria’s unique role in a bizarre Presidential story — “On the afternoon of Feb. 28, 1844, President John Tyler and about 400 guests were steaming down the Potomac River on the new warship USS Princeton, enjoying cocktails and music, when the world’s biggest naval gun, the ‘Peacemaker,’ exploded onboard. It came close to costing the nation its leader.” [Washington Post]
New City Manager James Parajon may be trying to make a good first impression with city residents. His first budget — a continuation of one started under former City Manager Mark Jinks — comes with no new tax rate increase. Even so, with real estate assessments on the upswing, local homeowners can still expect to see taxes go up.
In a meeting today, Parajon joined Budget Director Morgan Routt and other city officials to present the fiscal year 2023 budget to the City Council.
Alexandria’s Florence King, a 2021 City Council candidate who died in December, has been posthumously awarded Volunteer Alexandria’s top award.
Volunteer Alexandria’s 2021 Volunteers are the Heart of Alexandria awards gala has been canceled due to Covid, but top honors were still announced on Monday (Feb. 15).
Revolutionary Fitness, the strength and longevity training studio for people over 50 at 215 N. Payne St., is opening 5 spots in its members-only year-end challenge.
Every year, the stretch between Thanksgiving and New Year’s knocks people off track. Workouts get skipped, schedules fill up, and the plan becomes “I’ll start in January.”
