Following hefty city pushback, the Board of Architectural Review unanimously advanced plans to renovate City Hall and Market Square with a new certificate of appropriateness at last night’s public hearing (Wednesday).
Board member Andrew Scott introduced a motion to approve a final design stipulating the inclusion of decorative chimneys, lifted archways and other 19th-century flourishes at the site of the 1871 building, garnering some dissent from Director of General Services Jeremy McPike.
A plan to construct 32 four-story townhomes at the site of two Old Town office buildings is still struggling for the blessing of the Board of Architectural Review.
Members of the review board are requesting more exterior variety and colonial influence in the proposed townhomes, after reviewing new renderings of the project at 333 N. Fairfax Street. The board did not vote on the item during last night’s public hearing (Wednesday).
The Alexandria Beautification Commission announced its 2022 Alexandria Architecture Award winners Monday.
The commission asked for nominations and also toured the city looking for candidates that “speak to the character and future of the City, inspire others to enhance the beauty and architecture of their properties and help make Alexandria a creative, dynamic community.”
A towering project that will bookend Eisenhower Avenue is going through some design changes as it heads through the city’s approval process, but the changes are facing objections from City staff.
The changes are scheduled for review at the Carlyle Design Review Board on Thursday, Jan. 20. Developer Carlyle Plaza LLC has proposed several architectural changes for the project, two connected towers at 765 John Carlyle Street and 1900 Eisenhower Avenue, but staff said virtually all of these changes are a downgrade from what was approved in November.
The embattled Heritage project came within a hair’s breadth of being denied at the Board of Architectural Review‘s design review last week, and survived only on a last-minute deferral.
Many of the recurring public criticisms of the project, a series of three new apartment buildings along S. Patrick and Washington Streets in Old Town, resurfaced during the public comment period and from members of the BAR during discussions. BAR members have described the project as putting “lipstick on a pig” when the project first came forward for permitting last fall.
A Parker-Gray business could have to un-paint their property after an unauthorized paint-job over a building’s historically significant architecture.
A commercial building at 1000 Queen Street may have looked significantly whiter late last year after the applicant, Anchor Property Services, painted over the existing yellow-brick exterior with a white coat of paint.
You may not be familiar with the city’s Historic Preservation Manager William “Al” Cox, but if you walked around Old Town you’re familiar with his work.
After 28 years of shaping the city’s policy on architecture and historic preservation and 10 years as the historic preservation manager, Cox is retiring.
Gusty Winds Expected Today — “The Flood Watch has been cancelled, but now the wind is the next possible hazard… The National Weather Service has issued a Wind Advisory from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday. Gusts of up to 50 mph are expected.” [ARLnow]
Architects Chosen for Potomac Yard Redevelopment — “Five architectural firms have been selected to design the nine buildings that are planned for the first phase of the North Potomac Yard overhaul, including the Virginia Tech campus. The use of multiple firms, similar to the choice made by the developers of The Wharf on D.C.’s Southwest waterfront, is meant to avoid having a neighborhood of buildings that look too alike.” [Washington Business Journal]
