Visitors at George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate will have to wait until this December to see the founding father’s fully renovated mansion.
Since January 2024, the mansion in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County has undergone a comprehensive renovation, leaving large sections unavailable for the public.
A sweeping redevelopment promises to bring fresh amenities and improved access to Eugene Simpson Stadium Park, but staff at the Alexandria YMCA say that the project will have a severe impact on the nonprofit.
Plans presented at a recent community meeting reveal that 53 city-owned parking spaces in front of the YMCA, located at 420 E. Monroe Avenue, have been designated as a construction area. The actual construction of the project, which was unanimously approved by the City Council in 2023, is scheduled to begin this month and is expected to be completed by September 2026, with a phased reopening of the park starting in August 2026.
Repairs to the overpass bridge linking Duke Street and Ben Brenman Park, near Cameron Station, are scheduled to begin this month, and the city is hosting a community meeting on the project.
The city estimates that the $2.5 million repair project will be completed by November, and it includes periodic lane closures on Breman Park Drive and Duke Street near the bridge during construction hours, according to the city. The project schedule is also contingent on the weather.
So much for sinking local politicians with perfectly thrown baseballs at the bullseye of the dunking tank, because the annual Rosemont 4th of July has been canceled for the second straight year.
The closure isn’t due to the heat. For decades, the festivities have been held in the playground and athletic fields of Naomi L. Brooks Elementary School (600 Russell Road). They were held off last year due to a window replacement project. That work will continue this summer, as will the library renovations.
Shake Shack is cooking up plans to open in a former bank in Old Town.
The burger chain filed permit requests to open at the former Burke and Herbert Bank at 621 King Street last December. Shake Shack now seeks approval for new signage and has included a new rendering of the building exterior (see below) in their application heading to the Board of Architectural Review.
Alexandria City Council deferred a decision to extend the development special use permit (DSUP) for a seven-story, 180-unit mixed-use apartment building across the street from the Braddock Road Metro station.
The Council, last Saturday, unanimously extended the DSUP for the one-acre project at 727 N. West Street until its public hearing on October 18 (Saturday), giving developer West Street Acquisitions a few months to discuss stormwater issues with the city and conduct more community conversations with neighbors.
A developer is asking for an extension after permits expired earlier this year on a plan to build hundreds of residential units to Alexandria’s Landmark area.
City Council, in 2022, approved the plan to build 450 residential units in seven townhomes and two multifamily apartment buildings on the eight-acre site at 5901, 5951, and 5999 Stevenson Avenue and 2 South Whiting Street. The three-year development special use permit for the project expired in February and now applicant West End Development Associates wants three more years to finish the project.
The Alexandria City Council has mixed feelings about serving as a cosigner for the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s plan to keep its senior residents in the city.
Faced with a $40 million budget shortfall, ARHA abandoned plans to replace the aging 11-story, 170-unit Ladrey Senior High-Rise with a six-to-seven-story 270-unit L-shaped building. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development subsequently ended its operating support for building management and maintenance, issuing vouchers for the relocation of Ladrey’s residents by the end of the year.
With a years-long renovation breaking ground this summer, the move-out dates have been set for staff at George Mason Elementary School (2601 Cameron Mills Road).
Staff began packing up in early May, according to ACPS, and the main move, a 3.5-mile relocation to the building at 1703 N. Beauregard Street, is scheduled for June 16-20. The newly renovated George Mason Elementary is planned to reopen for students in August 2027.
Some noticeable exterior changes at Wells Fargo Bank at 330 N. Washington Street are heading to the Alexandria Board of Architectural Review.
The bank is requesting permission from the city to remove its drive-thru window, replace a window with a night deposit box, and make other modifications to the 20,000-square-foot building.
Plans to partially demolish the former Big Wheel Bikes property in Old Town and replace it with a taco restaurant are heading to Alexandria’s Board of Architectural Review.
On June 5 (Thursday), the Board will assess a permit to demolish and a certificate of appropriateness for proposed alterations for the property located a block away from the Potomac River.
