The week was filled with trees blooming across the city during the peak for cherry blossoms.
Aside from picturesque scenes throughout Alexandria, there were some local stories that interested you all — from new pizza places to court updates in crime cases. And at the City Council’s meeting, Dominion Energy said it will invest millions of dollars in Alexandria to prevent future outages like the one at Art on the Avenue last year.
Two Alexandria juveniles were arrested earlier this month for shooting a gun in Arlandria.
The incident occurred at around 11 p.m. in the 3800 block of Executive Avenue. Police were alerted by a witness that two juveniles shot a handgun in an alleyway and fled on foot. The witness saw the 15 and 17-year-old suspects then run into a nearby apartment building and the lights turn on in an apartment, according to a search warrant.
Alexandria non-profit Community Lodging has announced plans to significantly expand affordable housing in Arlandria-Chirilagua with the redevelopment of a 1940s apartment complex.
Elbert Avenue Apartments, a set of three three-story buildings constructed in the 1940s, currently has 28 units affordable for renters making 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI) — the standard applied for evaluating affordable housing. But these buildings are in rough shape after what Community Lodging called years of “Band-Aid fixes”.
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.
An upcoming City Council meeting could see the city helping to fund a significant boost to Arlandria’s affordable housing stock.
City Council is scheduled to review a $10.5 million loan to the Alexandria Housing Development Corporation (AHDC) for the new Mount Vernon-Glebe Affordable Housing Project at a Tuesday, Feb. 22 meeting. The new development would have 482-units, all of them set aside for various levels of affordable housing.
A surface parking lot in Arlandria could be converted into a park and playground for a new affordable housing development in the area.
At a meeting tonight, Alexandria’s City Council is scheduled to vote on an ordinance to sell the property at 3700 Mount Vernon Avenue, a surface parking lot in Arlandria. The property is part of a larger redevelopment project by the Alexandria Housing Development Corporation (AHDC) that will add 475 deeply affordable units and 38,000 square feet of commercial space.
A new acquisition will preserve some affordable housing in Alexandria’s Arlandria/Chirilagua neighborhood for nearly 100 years. Wesley Housing has acquired the six-building Parc Square Apartments buildings.
Wesley Housing will now make immediate safety repairs, with a long-term plan to redevelop the property. The 1940s-era properties were acquired after Wesley Housing got a $2.3 million grant from the Amazon Housing Equity Fund, and conditionally will reman affordable for at least 99 years.
(Updated 3:40 p.m.) Internet service is down for many Alexandrians as Comcast works to get its network up and running again after yesterday’s snowstorm.
According to the Xfinity outage map, there are several thousand Alexandria affected by the ongoing internet outage, most of them in Del Ray and Arlandria.
Walking in snow-covered streets, shoveling out submerged cars and all the other telltale signs of a snowstorm were seen in Alexandria on Monday (Jan. 3).
Nearly one foot of snow fell on Alexandria from the morning throughout the afternoon, prompting the closure of the city government and virtual learning for Alexandria City Public Schools. Many eateries throughout the city are still open, including in Del Ray and Old Town.
Inova discourages ER visits for mild, asymptomatic COVID testing — “With demand for COVID-19 testing high, Inova Health System says emergency room visits should be reserved for emergency and critical needs.” [Patch]
New restaurants coming to Shirlington — “Chinese-Korean eatery opens first Virginia location; beer hall to take over Capital City Brewing spot.” [Alexandria Living Magazine]
A 19-year-old Alexandria man faces multiple charges for allegedly driving a van without a license, providing a false name to police and drug possession.
Police observed the suspect allegedly driving the wrong way down the 3800 block of Old Dominion Boulevard in the city’s Arlandria neighborhood on Sunday, Dec. 5.
