Alexandria leadership are sticking to their guns on changes planned for the Torpedo Factory Art Center as it looks at building a new governing structure to plan out the art center’s future.
At a City Council meeting last week, the Council and Deputy City Manager Emily Baker discussed evolving plans for the Torpedo Factory and what direction the city should take. The art center is one of the most popular destinations in Alexandria, attracting an estimated 500,000 visitors a year.
A $12.5 million aquatics facility, three school replacements and swing space that will be turned into a new elementary school are all part of the nearly $500 million 10-year Capital Improvement Program budget that the Alexandria School Board approved last Thursday night.
After a series of work sessions and public meetings this fall, the Board approved the $497,804,800 proposal, with $204,685,100 to be used next year, without discussion. In a press release, Board Chair Meagan Alderton said she appreciated the work of Superintendent Gregory Hutchings, Jr. and his team to develop the document, and said that it takes rising enrollment, infrastructure and critical capital planning needs into account.
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.
In the last two weeks, Alexandria went from just over 15,000 reported cases of COVID-19 to surpassing 16,000 cases.
As of today (Monday, Dec. 20) there have been 16,075 reported cases of the coronavirus in Alexandria, and more of 800 of new infections have listed since this time last week by the Virginia Department of Health. There have also been 156 deaths from the virus.
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.”
Earlier this year, the City of Alexandria dedicated some of its American Rescue Plan Act funding to a program that would guarantee a basic income, but now one of the non-profits working on the pilot said it’s hit some delays with no estimate of when the pilot will start.
The pilot program is now called, in a sort of transparent backronym, Alexandria’s Recurring Income for Success and Equity (ARISE). It will focus on 150 families who will receive a $500 monthly cash payment for 24 months, with no strings attached on its use. Eligibility has been set at 50% of the area median income or below.
Event location
Woodson High School
9525 Main Street
Fairfax, Virginia 22031
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.
At Planning Commission and City Council meetings next month, the city is looking to amend the zoning ordinance to allow for more co-living units to be built.
Co-living units are a type of shared living arrangement where individual bedrooms have shared amenities, like communal kitchens or bathrooms. These are usually rental units, for short or long-term stays. It’s the individual bedroom rented out, rather than the unit as a whole, in a co-living arrangement.
Fairfax County police find two possible victims of ‘shopping cart killer,’ suspect in custody — “A plastic container found in the Huntington area near Route 1 on Wednesday (Dec. 15) contained the remains of two people that Fairfax County police believe to be the victims of a serial killer.” [FFXnow]
Harmony Place Mobile Home residents in Alexandria South demand repairs be part of upcoming sale — “Today, residents of Harmony Place… held a press conference at the park to demand significant health and safety improvements be made as a condition of the upcoming sale of the property.” [Zebra]
Well, it hasn’t exactly been a good news-heavy week in Alexandria.
There’s a possible serial killer in the area of Fairfax just south of Alexandria and the much-debated School Resource Officers have been removed from their posts pending an investigation into alleged inappropriate sexual messages to a former student, according to the Washington Post. A local juvenile was also killed in a fatal shooting this past weekend, though police said there’s no threat to public safety and the death is being considered an isolated incident.
Alexandria’s COVID-19 infections jumped after Thanksgiving, and the numbers continue to rise going into the winter holidays.
There were 116 new cases reported in the city today (Friday), which is the most single-day cases reported since January 2021. There have been 301 new cases reported in the City in the last three days alone, and this “exponential” jump in COVID-19 cases, as described by the Health Department Thursday night, has stretched to Alexandria City Public Schools, as it waves farewell to 15,000 students for the two week winter break starting Monday.
A 24-year-old Alexandria man is being held without bond after allegedly strangling his girlfriend.
Antar Christmas was arrested on December 8 and charged with domestic assault and battery and impeding blood circulation or respiration of a family/household member. He is being held without bond in the Alexandria jail.
The NOVA Guide has launched, giving Alexandria residents a new source for local news, upcoming events, business stories, and ideas for their next outing.
The website covers news, businesses, and life across Northern Virginia, with a dedicated Alexandria page for readers who want to explore what is happening nearby. It brings together local stories, upcoming events, business features, and Top Picks lists, making it a useful starting point for both everyday plans and weekend adventures.
