Alexandria City Council

After NPS pump station denial, City Council advances alternate waterfront flood mitigation system

Published June 15, 2026 at 3:45PM

Sandbags outside a business on lower King Street (staff photo by James Cullum)

With minimal discussion on Saturday (June 13), Alexandria City Council voted to move forward with an “enhanced gravity storm sewer system” to combat flooding along the waterfront in Old Town.

The City Council action was taken four months after the National Park Service denied the city’s plan to build a pump station at Waterfront Park (1 Prince Street). The city’s previously approved proposal would have closed Waterfront Park and Point Lumley Park from the fall of 2026 until the fall of 2028 to rebuild segments of the sea wall and to install the pump station to recirculate water in flood-prone areas back to the Potomac River. The denial by NPS forced the city to make “significant modifications” to the plan, project manager Matt Landis told Council.

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City Council greenlights financing, first phase of Old Town North power plant redevelopment

By James Cullum

Published June 15, 2026 at 2:45PM

Proposed open space for the former PRGS site in Old Town North as seen from the Potomac River (via HRP Group)

The Alexandria City Council on Saturday unanimously greenlit construction and financing plans to redevelop the shuttered Potomac River Generating Station in Old Town North.

City Council approved property owner HRP Group’s plan to develop the first phase (Blocks B and C) of the six-block, 19-acre project with mixed-use apartment and retail buildings, create more than 10 acres of public open space and convert an old pump house into a community amenity. City Council also approved a $135 million financing deal for the project, which HRP Group says will catalyze more than $2 billion in private investment into the site. Deconstruction of the former power plant could begin as early as next year and is expected to take up to 20 months.

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Arlington backs city’s $27M funding request for road upgrades near Bradlee Shopping Center

By Scott McCaffrey

Published June 15, 2026 at 9:15AM

Plans to overhaul King Street access road near the Bradlee Shopping Center (image via City of Alexandria)

Alexandria’s request for up to $27 million in state funds to support transportation improvements to a King Street access road in the Bradlee Shopping Center area has won support from the city’s neighbor to the north.

Arlington County Board members on Saturday (June 13) approved a resolution supporting the city’s SMART SCALE application for the project as part of the 2026 application round.

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Croatia National Football Team welcomed to Alexandria as FIFA World Cup kicks off

By James Cullum

Published June 11, 2026 at 12:40PM | Updated June 11, 2026 at 5:13PM

(Left to right) Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins, Kristijan Jakić, Igor Matanović and the team’s head of communications Tomislav Pacak speak at a press conference at Episcopal High School, June 10, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria welcomed the Croatia National Football Team on Wednesday as the FIFA World Cup begins.

The team is staying at Hotel AKA in Old Town North for the duration of the World Cup and will train at Episcopal High School. At Episcopal, Mayor Alyia Gaskins welcomed the team to town and City Council presented them with a commemorative ceramic bowl and a coin with the seal of the city. In turn, the team’s technical director gave the city a commemorative jersey, and then a crowd of hundreds watched as the players took to the field to practice.

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APD to focus on Alexandria’s crime hotspots in new safety plan

By James Cullum

Published June 10, 2026 at 3:45PM

Alexandria Police Department officers at the unveiling of the Holland Lane Restoration Project, May 28, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

On Tuesday night, Police Chief Tarrick McGuire unveiled blueprints for the creation of the Alexandria Police Department’s new public safety plan.

McGuire told City Council the plan will be developed over the next year, and it includes the deployment of officers to crime hotspots identified by the city’s crime data. He said the plan is organized around five pillars — geographical policing and accountability, building relationships in the community, evidence-based strategies and enforcement, assessing crime data and using technology to reduce and enforce crime.

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Alexandria City Council to vote on relocating polling place after 63 years

By James Cullum

Published June 9, 2026 at 3:45PM

Voting in Alexandria (staff photo by Jay Westcott)

Alexandria’s City Council will soon decide on moving a polling place that’s been active since Aug. 27, 1963.

That’s just one day before the historic civil rights March on Washington. For 63 years, the Blessed Sacrament Precinct at Blessed Sacrament Church (1427 W. Braddock Road) has been the polling place for parts of central Alexandria on primary and election days. City staff will ask City Council at its meeting tonight (June 9) to send the matter to its public hearing docket set for June 13.

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Alexandria seeks $35M in VDOT grants for King Street, Mount Vernon Avenue projects

By James Cullum

Published June 9, 2026 at 12:30PM

Plans to overhaul King Street access road near the Bradlee Shopping Center (image via City of Alexandria)

Alexandria City Manager Jim Parajon is asking for City Council’s permission to apply for $35 million in state funding for two transportation projects approved in 2024.

City Council will consider Parajon’s proposal to apply for the Virginia Department of Transportation SMART SCALE funding at its meeting tonight (June 9). The funding requests include $27 million in mobility enhancements along King Street between Quaker Lane and Menokin Drive, and up to $8 million for pedestrian improvements on Mount Vernon Avenue at the intersections with Executive Avenue and Russell Road in the city’s Arlandria neighborhood. The city has a deadline of Aug. 1 to submit projects to VDOT for consideration.

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City Council to consider $135M funding plan for former power plant redevelopment this week

By Emily Leayman

Published June 8, 2026 at 1:45PM

Former Potomac River Generating Station (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

A funding plan to facilitate the redevelopment of the former Potomac River Generating Station site in Old Town North will be on Alexandria City Council’s agenda this week.

City Council will receive a briefing on the funding plan Tuesday (June 9), then hold a public hearing and consider approval of the agreement on Saturday (June 13).

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Increased building heights, more housing areas considered in Duke Street Land Use Plan

By James Cullum

Published May 27, 2026 at 3:45PM

Traffic on Duke Street in Alexandria (staff photo by James Cullum)

Increased building height allowances and new areas for housing and open space along Duke Street are among the changes Alexandria staff plan to propose in the updated Duke Street Land Use Plan.

Alexandria City Council received an update Tuesday (May 26) on the plan, which will guide city officials in the development of the Duke Street corridor from the former Landmark Mall to Alexandria Union Station. The proposal includes areas deemed “opportunity sites” in industrial areas that city staff wants to redevelop, adding more housing supply and open space, with building heights of up to 150 feet.

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City Council considers special committee to discuss School Board election reform, more ACPS funds

By Emily Leayman

Published May 27, 2026 at 12:30PM

Alexandria City Council on May 12, 2026 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Alexandria City Council took a step Tuesday (May 26) to consider changes to the School Board’s terms and the size of the nine-member board. The council is also considering using potential contingent funds that will be available in the new fiscal year to fund Community in Schools of Northern Virginia at Alexandria City Public Schools.

Mayor Alyia Gaskins received support from a majority of City Council members on the proposal to form an ad hoc committee on election reform. City Council’s request will direct City Manager Jim Parajon to prepare a resolution to create the committee that two City Council members would be in. Gaskins said the committee’s scope would allow it to look at staggered terms and other election reform items such as board size, timing of terms or representation. The two City Council members would work with two School Board members to bring forward election reform recommendations.

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School Board asks City Council to redirect reserve funds to program for high-needs students

By James Cullum and Emily Leayman

Published May 21, 2026 at 3:45PM

Alexandria School Board meeting in 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)

The Alexandria School Board is asking City Council to use emergency funds to help preserve a $350,000 program that supports high-needs students.

In a joint letter to City Council, Chair Michelle Rief said the School Board is navigating difficult choices between staff and programming cuts. The request comes after City Council approved its Fiscal Year 2027 Budget, leaving a $5.6 million gap for the school system’s proposed $12.7 million collective bargaining agreement. Proposed budget cuts to fill the gap include reducing the partnership with Communities In Schools of Northern Virginia (CIS NOVA), which provides 10 bilingual staffers at Alexandria City High School, Francis Hammond Middle School, Jefferson-Houston PreK-8 School and Samuel Tucker, John Adams and William Ramsay Elementary Schools.