construction | ALXnow

ARHA wants community input on Ladrey Senior High-Rise project in Old Town North

Published September 8, 2023 at 11:00AM

A rendering of the Ladrey High-Rise on Fairfax Street (via ARHA)

Residents and neighbors of the Ladrey Senior High-Rise in Old Town North will get a chance later this month to chime in its proposed redevelopment.

The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) wants to demolish the existing 11-story, 170-unit affordable public housing apartment building at 300 Wythe Street and the former ARHA headquarters at 600 N. Fairfax Street and replace them with an L-shaped 270-unit, six-story affordable building at Fairfax and Wythe Streets. It is also proposed to be further reduced to five stories at Fairfax and Pendleton Streets and have an underground parking garage with 120 spaces.

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Pavilions, open space and more retail proposed for old Landmark Mall site

By James Cullum

Published September 5, 2023 at 2:30PM | Updated September 6, 2023 at 12:33PM

A rendering for Pavilion 2 on block N of the WestEnd Alexandria development (via City of Alexandria)

(Updated 12:30 p.m.) The massive WestEnd Alexandria project is taking shape, as the Planning Commission tonight will weigh in on a number of proposals by site development partner Foulger-Pratt.

Nearly half the 52-acre West End Alexandria development is devoted to the Inova at Landmark (the eventual home of Alexandria Hospital), and the rest of the property has been divvied into a multi-block town center. The redevelopment will include new apartment buildings, pavilions, restaurants, rooftop open space and more.

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Hotel AKA Alexandria wants a ‘more attractive and aesthetically pleasing appearance’

By James Cullum

Published August 31, 2023 at 3:30PM

Hotel Aka with its black color scheme, photo via EAGH Alexandria

More beautification efforts are underway at Hotel AKA Alexandria in Old Town North.

The 180-room boutique hotel at 625 First Street and 510 Second Street opened earlier this year and has since returned to the city to get more outdoor seating for an outdoor cafe.

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Four-story apartment building proposed in Old Town Historic District

By James Cullum

Published August 30, 2023 at 2:30PM | Updated August 31, 2023 at 9:18AM

A rendering for 301 N. Fairfax Street in Old Town (via City of Alexandria)

(Updated at 7:30 p.m.) An Old Town property owner wants to tear down an office building in Old Town Historic District and replace it with a four-story multifamily apartment building.

The new development will include underground parking and a rooftop terrace.

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Alexandria cuts ribbon on new Douglas MacArthur Elementary School

By James Cullum

Published August 18, 2023 at 2:30PM

The ribbon cutting for Douglas MacArthur Elementary School at 1101 Janneys Lane (staff photo by James Cullum)

After years in development, Alexandria leaders and students cut a blue ribbon and toured the rebuilt Douglas MacArthur Elementary School today.

“It feels like I’m floating through the school and marveling at each and every new feature that has been brought from design to full construction,” Principal Penny Hairston said at the ribbon cutting. “The only thing that’s missing are all of our students, and they will be here soon to enjoy this modern and welcoming school building.”

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Changes proposed for Chart House on Alexandria’s waterfront

By James Cullum

Published August 11, 2023 at 9:30AM

A motorized retractable pergola is being proposed for the Chart House on the Alexandria waterfront (via City of Alexandria)

Changes are coming to Chart House, the popular restaurant with panoramic views of the Alexandria Waterfront.

The restaurant at 1 Cameron Street filed a special use permit request to modestly increase the footprint of the outdoor dining terrace and install a motorized retractable pergola.

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Douglas MacArthur Elementary School ribbon cutting is next Friday

By James Cullum

Published August 10, 2023 at 3:30PM | Updated August 11, 2023 at 2:44PM

A rendering of the completed Douglas MacArthur Elementary School at 4633 Taney Avenue (via Facebook)

(Updated 8/11) After years in development, City and Alexandria City Public Schools leaders will cut the ribbon of the refurbished Douglas MacArthur Elementary School next Friday (August 18).

The project took three years of planning and two years of construction, and the 154,000-square-foot school at 1101 Janneys Lane will open for the first day of classes on August 21.

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ALXnow’s top stories this week in Alexandria

By James Cullum

Published July 28, 2023 at 3:30PM

The scene of a shooting on the 800 block of W. Glebe Road (staff photo by James Cullum)

It’s been a scorching week in Alexandria, punctuated by two major crime events.

Someone was shot multiple times in an alley several blocks east of the Braddock Metro station last Saturday, followed on Monday afternoon by the city’s fifth homicide this year — the fatal shooting of a 29-year-old man on W. Glebe Road in Arlandria.

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Final site plans for massive Samuel Madden Project deferred over vinyl windows

By James Cullum

Published July 28, 2023 at 1:51PM

A rendering of the Samuel Madden Project's North Building (via City of Alexandria)

The developer for the massive Samuel Madden redevelopment in Old Town deferred submission of a final site plan this week, after the Board of Architectural Review warned failure over design guidelines.

For one thing, the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority project needs to be designed without vinyl windows, unlike the current design.

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Duke Street affordable apartment complex ‘Witter Place’ could be ready by late 2025, developer says

By James Cullum

Published July 26, 2023 at 10:45AM | Updated July 26, 2023 at 11:22AM

Witter Place (Community Housing Partners (CHP)

Plans to convert a West End auto dealership into an affordable apartment complex are expected to be finished by late 2025, nonprofit Community Housing Partners tells ALXnow.

It’s been more than a year since plans were first released for Witter Place, the current location of Lindsay Cadillac at 2712 Duke Street. Once built, the four-to-five story building will be home to 94 units affordable for households earning 40% to 60% area median income.

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Contentious new sidewalk under construction on Polk Avenue

By Vernon Miles

Published July 24, 2023 at 2:30PM

Construction work on Polk Avenue sidewalk (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

Ten months after Alexandria’s City Council struck down an appeal from neighbors to prevent a sidewalk from being built on Polk Avenue, construction on the sidewalk is now underway.

The project would add a sidewalk to the north side of the street — with the goal of helping students in the neighborhood walk to the nearby Polk Elementary and Hammond Middle School.