A new art installation near the Potomac River in Old Town North was quietly installed over the weekend.
Sculptor Christian Benefiel, on Saturday, installed and put the finishing touches on Beacon 3, a commissioned piece at the TideLock office-to-residential development (1033 N. Fairfax Street) in Old Town North. The piece was constructed over the last year from welded steel and resembles a nautical beacon and satellite with jet engine parts.
Plans to redevelop the shuttered Potomac River Generating Station in Old Town North are heading to the Alexandria Planning Commission and City Council next month.
The Planning Commission will get the first crack at the massive proposal to convert the 18-acre site at 1300 N. Royal Street into a mixed-use development at its meeting on Tuesday, June 2, followed by a City Council public hearing June 13. City Council will also be presented with a $135 million financing deal for the project June 9 (Tuesday), which property owner HRP Group says will catalyze more than $2 billion in private investment into the site. City Council will hold a public hearing for the financing agreement on Saturday, June 13.
HRP Group wants to keep the pump house at the former coal-fired Potomac River Generating Station property in Old Town North, representatives said during meeting last night (Monday).
The developer rolled out the plan for Blocks B and C of the sprawling project in an hour-and-a-half-long Zoom meeting. The development is spread across six blocks, and entails the full deconstruction of the former power plant, replacing it with more than 10 acres of public open space, as well as mixed-use apartment and retail buildings.
On Tuesday, City Manager Jim Parajon unveiled a plan to catalyze a two-phase development of the former Potomac River Generating Station in Old Town North with a $135 million city investment.
The $135 million, 30-year tax increment financing agreement would be funded by projected future tax revenues at the 19-acre mixed-use site through the creation of a Community Development Agency. Under the proposal outlined to City Council, Parajon said the $135 million investment would spark more than $2 billion in private sector investment and generate more than $770 million in tax revenues.
Residents expressed concerns about flooding and road impacts around the Braddock Road Metro station at a public hearing Monday on the proposed reconfiguration of the kiss-and-ride lot to accommodate future development.
The Braddock Road Metro station, which opened in December 1983, has a bus bay loop and kiss-and-ride area with bicycle parking on Metro-owned property. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority is proposing to move the kiss-and-ride area to the street and reconfigure the bus loop, making room for future mixed-use development.
On Saturday (April 18), Alexandria City Council approved an office-to-residential conversion that will bring 32 four-story townhomes to Old Town.
Without discussion, City Council unanimously approved the Planning Commission’s recommendation to tear down the Essex Building — an office building at 333 N. Fairfax Street built in the 1970s — and replace it with townhomes. A parking garage and lot will also be demolished. Plans for the 1.4-acre site from EYA and Simpson Development reveal four-story homes with two-car garages and roof decks just a few blocks from King Street and the Potomac River waterfront.
Alexandria City Council has a full docket at its upcoming meeting Saturday as final budgetary decisions approach.
City Council will conduct a number of public hearings, including setting the real estate and personal property tax rates for the next fiscal year, additions and deletions to City Manager Jim Parajon’s proposed $977 million Fiscal Year 2027 budget, an increase to the stormwater utility fee, new parking fees and the addition of paid metered parking on Sundays.
The proposed redesign of the kiss-and-ride area at the Braddock Road Metro to accommodate future redevelopment is heading to a public hearing Monday, April 20.
The 21-space kiss-and-ride area at the 3.6-acre Metro-owned site would be replaced with 14 to 18 pickup and drop-off spaces on E. Braddock Road and N. West Street. The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority proposes to reconfigure the five-bay bus loop at the existing location, eliminating a recirculation lane and adding a future signal where the bus bay meets E. Braddock Road. The 65 bicycle racks, six double-sided bicycle lockers and an on-site Capital Bikeshare station would remain.
The owner of the dilapidated former Potomac River Generating Station in Old Town is hosting a community meeting next month on mixed-use redevelopment plans for part of the site.
HRP Group‘s virtual community meeting will be held via Zoom on Monday, May 4 from 6-7 p.m. Under discussion will be the special use permits for Block B and Block C (both submitted in July 2025), as well as open space along the waterfront and Norfolk Southern rail corridor.
Alexandria is seeking more than $36 million to fund two transportation projects as part of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority‘s six-year program.
The total funding amount in NVTA’s proposed Fiscal Year 2026-2031 Six Year Program is $1.265 billion. Alexandria’s share includes $15 million for bus rapid transit improvements in the second phase of the Duke Street Transitway, and $21.86 million for pedestrian and bicycle improvements at Eisenhower Avenue and S. Van Dorn Street. NVTA adopts its six-year program every two years, allocating regional tax revenues to multimodal transportation projects.
Big changes are being proposed for the Braddock Road Metro station that could pave the way for mixed-use development.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority announced today (Monday) that it will hold a public hearing next month on a proposal to demolish the kiss-and-ride area in front of the Braddock Road Metro station, replace it with a new plaza and redirect the bus loop. The kiss-and-ride lot would be replaced with short-term pick-up and drop-off parking spaces on Braddock Road adjacent to the station.
