Alexandria leaders agree that the city either needs to expand its aging middle schools or completely build a new one.
There are now 15,700 students within Alexandria City Public Schools, and roughy 2,000 more students are expected by 2024. That puts the city in a tricky position, as 10 ACPS schools are more than 70 years old and need continual maintenance, and a surge in elementary school kids means that Alexandria needs more middle school space.
The Alexandria Planning Commission partially approved plans that will allow for a car dealership to keep operating on Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray.
Alexandria Hyundai has operated on two acres of land between the 1600 and 1800 blocks of Mount Vernon Avenue for more than 20 years. Owner Kevin Reilly says that his dealership needs to conform to industry changes by converting to electric vehicles in order to stay in business, and filed three special use permit (SUP) requests with the city.
The Samuel Madden redevelopment project at the north end of the Braddock neighborhood is heading back to the community review process after a significant redesign.
The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) is planning on tearing down a dozen aging townhomes at the north end of the Braddock Neighborhood, where Patrick and Henry streets reform into Route 1. They will be replaced with a new 500-unit multifamily residential development that would act — as it was called in some of the earlier meetings — as a gateway into Old Town.
Landmark Mall is gone, so what’s next?
A representative from developer Foulger-Pratt spoke at the Eisenhower West Landmark Van Dorn Implementation Advisory Group earlier this week to provide a bird’s eye view of what’s going on at the project.
Inova has major plans for the former Lanadmark Mall site, and will conduct its second virtual community meeting on Monday, October 17.
The timeline for the project is still subject to change, but the proposed 675,000 square foot Inova at Landmark project is proposed to be 16 stories tall, and include a 130,000-square-foot cancer center and 110,000 square-foot specialty outpatient care center. Inova wants to open the hospital in 2028.
The Mansly, a redevelopment of the Walgreens and a bank at 615-621 King Street, got its approval from the City Council — but not without some heavy side-eyeing and one “nay” vote after the Council criticized the underwhelming affordable housing contribution.
Technically, affordable housing didn’t and legally couldn’t have anything to do with the Council vote. The city has a trade set up, securing affordable housing units or contributions in exchange for extra density, but the staff report said the development wasn’t requesting density or height above what’s already recommended in the Old Town Small Area Plan and applicant The Silverman Group hit the bare minimum requirements for affordable housing contribution.
It’s a second shot for the proposed Samuel Madden redevelopment after the plans’ first encounter with the Board of Architectural Review sparked some debate.
The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) project aims to tear down a dozen aging townhouses at 899 and 999 North Henry Street — 66 units in total — and replace them with two new multifamily apartment buildings featuring 500 residential units.
The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) has announced some next steps for plans to redevelop Ladrey High Rise, a public housing building in Old Town North.
The current building is an 11-story, 170-unit high rise building housing seniors and residents with disabilities. The redevelopment plans will see that building and an adjoining property demolished for a new mid-rise construction. The new development is slated to be a one-to-one replacement of the units on the site.
A new development replacing a former Walgreens and a Burke & Herbert Bank is headed to City Council review with a strong endorsement from city staff.
The new development, called The Mansly, will change relatively little of the King Street-facing exterior. The most notable change being the white painted brick restored to Old Town’s iconic redder hue.
Another week down at ALXnow.
The big stories this week was a pair of dangerous situations in public places, with injuries at AMC Hoffman Center after a man walked into a theater and threatened the crowd and a man arrested for pulling out a gun outside a West End club.
Two years after it broke ground, The Waypoint at Fairlington (2451 Menokin Drive) is scheduled to have its grand opening later this month.
In an email, affordable housing developer Wesley Housing said the housing complex is scheduled to open on Wednesday, Sept. 28.
