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Amazon Fresh in the Potomac Yard Shopping Center is still happening

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It’s not as exciting as the Washington Wizards and Capitals, but Amazon Fresh in the Potomac Yard Shopping Center is still moving forward.

The Washington Business Journal first reported that Amazon is gearing up to open at 3801 Richmond Highway.

A peek through a window at the former Shoppers Food Warehouse reveals a large grocery store with empty shelves and counters. A Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control license application is also posted on the front door showing that the retail giant applied in February to sell gourmet wine and beer.

The Washington Business Journal also found recent permit applications for the installation of refrigeration cases.

Property owner JBG Smith lists the property as a “Future Grocer.” As a policy, Amazon does not comment on its “future store roadmap.”

Amazon Fresh closed earlier this month in Crystal City, ARLnow reported. The store was open for less than two years. The company also abandoned plans to open locations in Columbia Pike and Bailey’s Crossroads after a fourth quarter earnings call in February put a halt to expansion plans.

The Shoppers in Potomac Yard closed at the end of 2019 and Amazon Fresh was announced to go into the space in 2021. It’s located in the northern section of Potomac Yard near the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus and less than two miles from Amazon’s HQ2 development in Crystal City.

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Notes: Amazon kills off grocery store plans, one will be replaced with a golfing range

Good Tuesday morning, Alexandria!

⛅️ Today’s weather: There’s a 30% chance of showers after 3pm, with mostly sunny skies and a high near 86. Winds will be calm, turning southwest at 5 mph in the afternoon. On Tuesday night, expect a 60% chance of showers and a possible thunderstorm after 9pm, with mostly cloudy skies, a low of 68, and winds from the south at 6 mph becoming west after midnight. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and a quarter of an inch are expected, with higher amounts possible during thunderstorms.

🚨 You need to know

The plans for new Amazon Fresh grocery stores around Alexandria may have expired.

After months of uncertainty, Alexandria Living Magazine reported that the plans for Amazon Fresh locations in Potomac Yard and Bailey’s Crossroads are no more.

Amazon Fresh was announced in 2021 as a replacement to the Potomac Yard Shoppers at 3801 Richmond Highway. The Potomac Yard location was almost fully complete when the company started rolling back the budding grocery store chain.

While it’s not known yet what will happen to the Potomac Yard location, Alexandria Living Magazine said the Bailey’s Crossroads one at 5821 Crossroads will be converted into a Golf Galaxy, meaning Alexandrians won’t have to drive far to get their golfing gear.

Golf Galaxy is a golfing chain with clubs and other equipment, along with indoor driving ranges, lessons and more.

Image via Google Maps

📈 Monday’s most read

The following are the most-read ALXnow articles for Sep 11, 2023.

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  2. Alexandria and Arlington celebrating joint bridge building effort at Arlandria Pizza Hut
  3. Old Town art gallery hosted live events since 2021, now wants city permission

📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on today in Alexandria, from our event calendar.

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Alexandria food delivery driver busted after allegedly stealing Amazon package

Police car lights (file photo)

A 47-year-old Alexandria man was arrested last month for allegedly stealing an Amazon package after delivering food to an Arlington apartment complex.

On Saturday, March 18, the victim reported to APD that a pink Amazon package containing a silver Apple keyboard was stolen from the mailbox area of an apartment in the 2900 block of S. Columbus Street in Arlington.

Police reviewed security footage “that clearly shows a delivery driver entering the complex at approximately 0100 hours and exiting with the package in question,” police said in a recently released search warrant affidavit.

The suspect was identified “after viewing a mugshot from a previous arrest that matched with the suspect in the video,” police said in the search warrant affidavit.

Police then met the suspect on March 19, and he wore an outfit that matched what he allegedly wore the previous night. The suspect was arrested on March 24, charged with petit larceny and released on $1,000 unsecured bond.

The suspect goes to court for the misdemeanor on April 28.

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Notes: Potomac Yard’s Amazon Fresh fate uncertain with future locations ‘paused’

Good Tuesday morning, Alexandria!

🌥 Today’s weather: Overcast throughout the day. High of 54 and low of 44.
⛅ Tomorrow: Mostly cloudy throughout the day. High of 59 and low of 44. Sunrise at 7:09 am and sunset at 5:38 pm.

🚨 You need to know

Amazon has been shutting down some of the Amazon Fresh grocery stores, raising questions about the future of the planned Potomac Yard and Baily’s Crossroads store, Alexandria Living Magazine first reported.

Amazon said in a fourth-quarter earnings call last week that some Fresh supermarkets will be closed and that future expansion plans are on pause.

The Amazon Fresh store in Potomac Yard was first announced in 2021 to replace the Shoppers supermarket and would be located adjacent to the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus — about a mile and a half away from the new HQ2 development in Arlington.

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The following are the most-read ALXnow articles for Feb 6, 2023.

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  4. Toppers Pizza closes ‘flagship’ location in Alexandria | ALXnow (1006 views)

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📅 Upcoming events

Here is what’s going on today in Alexandria, from our event calendar.

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AHDC gets help from Amazon to secure Arlandria apartment building for affordable housing

A 14-story Arlandria apartment complex has been acquired by the Alexandria Housing Development Corporation, the latest move in an effort to preserve affordable housing in an area facing significant development pressure.

AHDC recently announced that it bought the Park Vue of Alexandria apartments from Florida-based ZRS Management with support of $51.4 million from the $2 billion Amazon Housing Equity Fund, and conditionally will reman affordable for at least 99 years.

The announcement of the sale comes as developments progress on Amazon’s HQ2, Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus and the Potomac Yard Metro station — all projects that have raised concerns of gentrification.

“AHDC’s goal is to ensure that those who are currently living in this community have the chance to stay, and that households of all incomes will be able to enjoy the benefits of this vibrant neighborhood well into the future,” AHDC CEO Jon Frederick said in a statement. “As a non-profit that is dedicated to community development in Alexandria, the acquisition of Park Vue of Alexandria helps us achieve our mission of creating and preserving housing affordability here in our own backyard and allows us to create meaningful connections in the Arlandria-Chirilagua neighborhood.”

Earlier this month, City Council also approved a $10.5 million loan to the nonprofit to begin development on more than 500 affordable housing units in Arlandria at the intersection of Glebe Road and Mount Vernon Avenue.

“The culture and diversity of neighborhoods like Arlandria-Chirilagua are what makes Northern Virginia such a wonderful place to live, work, and thrive,” said Catherine Buell, director of the Amazon Housing
Equity Fund. “But unique communities like this, with all its valuable contributions, could be otherwise lost to commercial development that does not factor in the affordability needs of the community. By teaming up with organizations such as Alexandria Housing Development Corporation, we are able to help preserve and grow the housing stock for moderate- to low-income households to help build more diverse and inclusive communities.”

No residents at the Park Vue building will be displaced by the sale, and the conversion to affordable units will take place over the next several years, according to AHDC. The purchase maintains “accessible” rents for households making up to 60% of the area median income.

“As a partner with the Amazon Housing Equity Fund, Park Vue of Alexandria will maintain a 99-year affordability covenant,” AHDC said in the release. “AHDC will work with Amazon and other lending partners to refinance the property in the coming months to help support the long-term affordability of Park Vue of Alexandria.”

Alexandria lost 90% of its affordable housing stock between 2000 and 2017, and the city has pledged to produce or develop thousands of units to meet 2030 regional housing goal set by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. 

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Middle School teacher’s Amazon wish list disappears, but ACPS says it still wants donations

Students return to George Washington Middle School (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

(Updated on April 29) Headsets with microphones, recycling bins and Play Doh were among the items that a George Washington Middle School teacher recently put on her school-wide Amazon wish list.

The teacher went around and asked her colleagues what they needed and put their requests on the list, which was taken down after ALXnow sent questions about it to Alexandria City Public Schools.

Turns out that the George Washington Middle School PTA asked the teacher to remove the links, “because we were able to fund her requests,” Joy Pochatila, GWMS PTA president, told ALXnow.

In a note shared on social media, the teacher says she is worried about retiring colleagues, and took a proactive step of asking them what they needed, if anything. The list also ended up including batteries, 3 printers and microscopes.

“As a teacher that is smack in the middle of my career, I’m worried,” the teacher wrote. “I’m worried about the new teachers that are drowning and looking for (and finding) other jobs. I’m worried about my most experienced colleagues retiring early because they just can’t anymore. I’m worried about administrators that aren’t able to do their actual jobs because all they do is contact trace and try to keep up with the constantly moving goalposts that are COVID protocols and policies. I want them to stay in education and I’m worried they won’t.”

ACPS saw 42 staff members retire at the end of last school year, but data on their replacement was not available. There are 27 staffers expected to retire at the end of this school year.

Terri Mozingo, the ACPS chief of teaching, learning and leadership, said that every school in the system receives funding for materials and supplies, which are designated to meet the needs of the school and are overseen by the school’s leaders.

“Teachers work with their department heads to ensure they have the supplies they need for their classrooms,” Mozingo said. “All staff members are encouraged to reach out to their principals for any supplies they need to deliver instruction.”

Donations to ACPS are still welcomed, including from individuals, PTAs, boosters, organizations, corporations, and community groups in alignment with all ACPS policies and regulations, Mozingo said.

“The GWMS PTA, for example, provides mini-grants of up to $500 to support instruction and provide GWMS teachers with funds for specific projects and experiential learning.ACPS has a strong partnership with Donor’s Choose, which provides staff at all of our schools with the opportunity to secure additional funding for specific needs or new projects,” she said.

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City talks strategy on making Chirilagua/Arlandria neighborhood Amazon-proof

Residents of the Chirilagua/Arlandria neighborhood been besieged over the last year.

As a largely Latino community disproportionately impacted by job loss during the pandemic, local residents have pushed back against rent payments. But even as Alexandria starts to pull out of the pandemic with an eye toward job recovery, the city is working through efforts to build a plan to save Chirilagua — less than a mile from Potomac Yard and Crystal City — from the gentrifying effects of Amazon.

“Many Arlandria residents have been candid in expressing fears about displacement and gentrification, anxiety over losing their community and the culture of their neighborhood over time,” said City housing planner Tamara Jovovic in a public forum earlier this week. “Addressing this will require an all-hands-on-deck approach.”

Jovovic said Chirilagua already faces a misalignment in housing needs and rent availability, with local families spending too much on rent and utilities. She said the city’s goal is to create housing affordable to individuals and families at roughly 40% of area median income (AMI). For individuals or small households, that ranges from $36,000 to $60,000 per year.

The city has started working on facilitating public-private partnerships to push for affordable housing development in the area, with Jovovic saying the city is looking at how to turn city-owned areas like a parking lot on Mount Vernon avenue into use for affordable housing.

“The deeper the level of affordability of units, the greater number of tools needed,” Jovovic said.

One of the questions raised by residents in the forum was whether the city would expand height and density restrictions. City staff said the plan is not to increase those restrictions, and that developers wanting expanded height or density will consequently be required to offer a maximum number of affordable housing units.

“We’re moving forward with the same heights,” said Jose Ayala, a city planner. “[W]e want to make sure anything proposed in neighborhood related to an increase in heights is related to affordable housing.”

Late last year, the city codified a long-standing trade in Alexandria development: You can get more height and density than is typically allowed in an area, but only if you add affordable housing proportional to that expansion.

“Development applications could request through [Development Special Use Permit], that’s an optional zoning tool,” Jovovic said. “[They can request] up to 25 feet of additional height in exchange for one-third of density associated as affordable housing

Jack Browand, division chief of Parks and Cultural Activities, said other feedback the city has received so far highlights the need for the city to make better use of parks as meeting spaces.

“Community feedback emphasized the need for social areas and to increase park facilities,” Browand said. “Including having picnic areas and established grilling locations. We don’t have a lot of public restrooms throughout, so [that means] being able to extend outdoor experience by having public restrooms for the public.”

Jovovic emphasized the importance of getting a plan into place before the area starts to feel the effects of Amazon.

“While affordable home ownership may not seem like a pressing need now, the plan will be recommending we expand home ownership training and counseling to make it geographically to make it more accessible and linguistically,” Jovovic said.

The plan is scheduled to go to the Planning Commission and City Council late this fall or in early winter.

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Amazon Fresh supermarket planned for former Shopper’s Food Warehouse in Potomac Yard

Amazon is planning to install one of its Amazon Fresh grocery stores at the former Shoppers supermarket at Potomac Yard, according to documents obtained by the Washington Business Journal.

The 50,000-square foot space is the sixth potential location for Amazon Fresh throughout the region, and Total Wine has also reportedly made moves to open next door at the former Pier 1 Imports, which closed more than a year ago.

The Amazon Fresh pick-up and delivery service will be located next to the $1 billion Virginia Tech Innovation Campus and about a mile-and-a-half away from Amazon’s HQ2 development in Crystal City.

Potomac Yard is managed by JBG Smith Properties and JPMorgan Chase & Co., which are both overseeing a massive mixed-use development of the area.

Amazon itself did not file the documents with the city, according to WBJ. Instead, Canadian architect NORR made the filing for “Mendel,” which is reportedly an Amazon code word.

Photo via Google Maps

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Alexandria races to put Arlandria affordable housing plan in place before Amazon’s arrival

The Arlandria-Chirilagua area of Alexandria is one of the last bastions of market rate affordable housing in Alexandria. With the arrival of Amazon on the horizon threatening that, the City of Alexandria is working on a plan to try to keep the area’s gentrification at bay.

A pair of Zoom meetings are scheduled for Tuesday, March 30, to present a drafted series of affordable housing recommendations. The first, at 6 p.m., will be held in Spanish with English interpretation. The second, at 7:30 p.m., will be in English with Spanish interpretation.

The majority of the area falls below the area median income (AMI). Around 95% of households surveyed in 2019 by Tenant and Workers United earned less than 40% AMI, less than the $35,280-$58,480 per year income range for households of one to six people. Many of them, around 28.5%, live in households with five or more residents.

Arlandria is one of the few areas in Alexandria — along with portions of the West End — with an adequately affordable housing supply. The study found that the majority of rental housing in the area is affordable at 60-80% AMI, most of which are one-bedroom units.

A document outlining themes in the upcoming plan said that while housing in the area is generally affordable, increasing rents are still a challenge. Protestors in Arlandria last year pushed for a rent freeze after many in the area were left unemployed by the pandemic.

“Residents struggle with the high cost of housing as rent impacts every family decision, including the need to share housing with unrelated adults and being able to pay for food, medical care, and childcare,” the plan noted. “More deeply affordable housing will help residents remain in their community and meet basic needs.”

The concern is that the arrival of Amazon in nearby Crystal City could sent housing prices in the area skyrocketing, as it has in Seattle.

“Residents are concerned about the impact of Amazon HQ2 and fear displacement from gentrification,” city staff said in a presentation. “Many feel that their undocumented status and limited English language skills prevent them from resolving landlord issues. Building community capacity to raise concerns without fear of retribution will help residents access services they need, including tenant relocation and displacement protections.”

The city launched a community feedback campaign in 2019, though the process was somewhat waylaid by the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the draft recommendations generated from the outreach efforts will be presented at the upcoming meetings.

“During the live virtual meetings, City staff will present the draft recommendations,” the city said in a press release, “followed by a question and answer portion at the end.”

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Amazon Donates $1 Million to Help ACPS Kids Buy Essential Items

Amazon is giving an additional $1 million to Alexandria and other local families impacted by COVID-19 to help pay for urgently needed items, including food, school supplies and clothing.

The money is in Amazon’s Right Now Needs Fund, which is available for all 18 Alexandria City Public Schools, as well as all 41 Arlington Public Schools.

Back in March, Amazon donated $200,000 to ACT for Alexandria’s COVID-19 response fund as part of a separate $1 million donation across the region.

“The start of this school year has been difficult for many families across our new home of Northern Virginia, and we are determined to provide support to the students who need it most,” said Jay Carney, Amazon Senior Vice President, Global Corporate Affairs in a statement. “At Amazon, we are always looking for innovative solutions to tough challenges, and we are confident that the flexibility and speed built into our new Right Now Needs Fund will help ensure that more students from underserved communities can focus on their studies, and not fall behind as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.”

Amazon says that social workers and site coordinators will identify students needs, and that Education Assistance Product Vouchers will be given out as a prepaid payment to help with food, school supplies and clothing.

“By using the prepaid vouchers, students and families can redeem much-needed items in a dignified and convenient way,” Amazon said in a release.

This school year alone, Amazon also gave Northern Virginia students Mi-Fi devices, and donated $1 million for local emergency response efforts.

Photo via ACPS/Facebook

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