The Alexandria City Council upheld the certificate of appropriateness for a contentious development in Old Town after an appeal was filed by residents claiming that it will be an eyesore that destroys the historic nature of the area.
Council voted 6-1 upholding the certificate of appropriateness approved by the Board of Architectural Review in May, with small conditions.
Nine new townhomes and four semi-detached dwellings are being proposed for a half-acre property used for an office building and warehouse in the Old Town Historic District.
The Alexandria Planning Commission will be presented with the proposal to build on the two parcels at 107 and 125 N. West Street. The location is about a half-block from King Street, and is near Jefferson Houston Elementary School and the King St. Metro station.
Bad news for Alexandrians pining to dunk local politicians in the frigid depths of the dunking tank at the annual July 4 celebration in the city’s Rosemont neighborhood. Due to a construction project that will replace all exterior windows at Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School, the event has been canceled.
The celebration is traditionally held in the playground and athletic field area of the school.
The owner of a nine-acre property says that their mixed-use development on Eisenhower Avenue was held up by the pandemic, and is asking the city for a three-year extension.
The development special use permit (DSUP) on the property at 2927 Eisenhower Avenue expires later this month.
After extensive modernizations the last seven years, Bishop Ireton High School (201 Cambridge Road) now wants to add a new bell tower and new roof to its chapel renovation project.
There’s no word in the proposal as to whether the bell tower (on top of which would sit a three-foot-tall crucifix) will include a bell, if it will ring, how loudly and when.
Alexandria leaders will cut the ribbon on the Alexandria City High School’s five-story, $190 million Minnie Howard Campus next week.
The new 343,000-square foot facility at 3801 W. Braddock Road doubles the capacity of its 1950’s-era predecessor, and can hold 1,600 students. Construction started two years ago, and the new facility will open for students on the first day of the next school year, August 19, according to Alexandria City Public Schools.
It was quite a week in Alexandria.
Hungry? Our top story this week is about Del Ray’s Matt and Tony’s All Day Kitchen + Bar (1501 Mt. Vernon Avenue) making Yelp’s Top 100 Brunch Spots 2024.
After months of contention, an effort to fight approval of a four-story apartment building in Alexandria’s Old and Historic District was dismissed in court on Friday.
The developer, 301 N. Fairfax Project Owner LLC, wants to demolish the existing three-story office building on the property that was built in 1977 and replace it with a 50-foot-tall building with 48 one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments, a 67-space below-grade parking lot and a rooftop terrace.
(Updated at 4 p.m.) Alexandria succeeded in its bid today to dismiss a case filed by residents furious with a citywide zoning overhaul that allows developers to build homes with up to four units on any property, but residents will get a chance to try again in a month.
The Coalition for a Livable Alexandria and residents Phylius Burks, Joyce Pastore, William Corin, David and Meghan Rainey, Joshua and Maria Carias Porto, Jimm Roberts and John E. Craig have so far spent about $30,000 in legal fees in their efforts to get the circuit court to reverse City Council’s Dec. 2023 decision on the Zoning for Housing/Housing for All package.
A major redevelopment of deteriorating townhomes on upper King Street in Old Town is heading to the Planning Commission.
Dechantal Associates LLC wants to convert the five dilapidated townhouse properties they own at 1604-1614 King Street into 10 residential row houses and an eight-story, 44-unit apartment building with two levels of underground parking. An exterior courtyard would separate the renovated row houses and the new building.
After missing an important mayoral debate this week due to a “freak accident” while canvassing that led to his hospitalization, Steven Peterson says that he’s done sitting on the sidelines.
Peterson said that got 10 stitches in his nose and suffered a concussion after his 105-pound Golden Retriever chased a squirrel and he face-planted on a gravel path at the West End Farmer’s Market on Sunday. He said that the leash was wrapped around his legs and that he flipped over after the dog bolted.
