After public outcry over a rushed plan, the Alexandria Planning Commission deferred a city staff proposal to allow developers to build affordable housing into new apartment buildings up to 70 feet in height in areas where height limits are 45 feet or more.
There were more than 30 speakers at the meeting on Thursday, June 23, mostly residents of Del Ray.
Bonaventure has released its second concept design for its mixed use shopping center proposal for 2525 Mount Vernon Avenue in the middle of Del Ray.
Bonaventure made a few big changes, including reducing the size of the proposed mixed use building from 88,500 square feet to 72,000 square feet. The number of esidential units has also been lowered from 79 to 73, and the building setbacks have been increased along Mount Vernon, Stewart and E. Mount Ida Avenues.
A project scheduled to begin this summer will tunnel under the Four Mile Run near the Route 1 bridge to move overhead power lines underground.
As part of the project, Dominion Energy will rebuild its Glebe Substation next year, modernizing the facility that was built in the 1970s and is reaching the end of its service life. The substation serves parts of Arlington and Alexandria.
The time for farewells is almost up, as the demolition of Landmark Mall starts early next month.
It will take about a week for contractors to relocate the Landmark Mall Transit Center to the northeastern portion of the massive property, followed by site fencing the final week in April and demolition at the beginning of the month — although no exact date has been released on exactly what day walls will start coming down.
A movement decrying Bonaventure’s proposed mixed-use development in the heart of Del Ray launched online this month, and its organizer says the plan will ruin the neighborhood’s peaceful vibe.
Nate Hurto and a few dozen of his neighbors aren’t happy about the proposal to convert the old 88,500-square-foot former home of the Alexandria Department of Community and Human Services building at 2525 Mount Vernon Avenue into a four-story, 43-foot-tall building with 12,530 square feet of retail and 79 rental units.
With construction slated for later this year, the planned John Carlyle Center for Health and Wellness is looking for tenants.
The developer behind the 126,000-square-foot medical facility is starting to push out the word ahead of construction that space is available to lease. Cushman & Wakefield is handling the leasing of the medical offices and retail spaces.
Drivers headed east on Duke Street in the West End tomorrow (Wednesday) be warned: lane closures could slow traffic on the major arterial road.
The right lane of eastbound Duke Street will be closed, followed by the left lane, to install temporary striping for a planned traffic shift to accommodate the Duke Street bridge rehabilitation project. The closures will run from Oasis Drive in Lincolnia to South Walker Street outside of the development-formerly-known-as-Landmark.
Construction on the Potomac Yard Metro station is 70% complete, and Mayor Justin Wilson said he’s knocking on wood in hope that it will open this fall.
On Tuesday, City Council received an update on the massive project.
Local developer Bonaventure hopes their new shopping center in the middle of Del Ray could be constructed as early as summer 2025. That’s if all goes according to their plan.
Right now the plan for 2525 Mount Vernon Avenue is still in its conceptual phase, but includes a four-story, 43-foot-tall building with 12,530 square feet of retail and 79 rental units on the one acre lot. Bonaventure is not planning on including any affordable housing units in the project, and will instead contribute to the city’s Housing Trust Fund.
Starting tomorrow (Friday) and continuing through next week, a section of Mill Road in the Carlyle neighborhood will be closed off for nearby construction.
In a news release, the City of Alexandria said the section of roadway will be closed until the end of next week. The construction is likely part of the sprawling redevelopment around the Hoffman Town Center.
A local working group has been making its way through plans to update and improve Fort Ward Park, and last week the project got a timeline for when the public could see some of those changes.
Following the Civil War, the fort was home to a sizable Black community that was later pushed out by the City of Alexandria in the name of obtaining park space and historical preservation of the Civil War-era fort.
