City and public housing leaders joined developers today (Wednesday) to break ground on the Samuel Madden Homes affordable housing apartment complex in Old Town.
The project will replace the former 66-unit public housing apartment complex with 532 new affordable homes across two phases. The first phase, costing $120 million, will redevelop the site into 207 units of affordable and mixed-income housing, with an estimated completion date of fall 2027.
Citing strenuous financial conditions, a nursing home in Rosemont is asking the city for a three-year extension to break ground on its stalled expansion plans.
Woodbine Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center has yet to begin construction on its plans for a 31,909-square-foot addition, which received city approval in 2022. In a new extension request, the facility attributed delays to market conditions that “have substantially declined” since the plan was first greenlit.
A massive plan to buildout the remaining areas of Potomac Yard with 640 residential units, 13,000 square feet of retail space and public open space is heading to the Alexandria Planning Commission next month.
Developers MTV Holdco, LLC, Wesley Housing Development Corporation and Toll Mid-Atlantic LP Company, Inc, have partnered for the buildout of the four remaining vacant parcels in Potomac Yard. The full package heads to the Planning Commission on Dec. 2.
The Alfred Street Baptist Church is asking for the city’s permission to construct a four-story, 145-unit affordable apartment complex at an existing Old Town apartment.
The church is proposing to demolish a 1.2-acre portion of the Olde Towne West apartment complex and redevelop it to “expand the number of affordable housing units” in the neighborhood, according to a proposal. The plan is slated for review by the Planning Commission at its Dec. 2 meeting.
An annual walking tour with Old Town North’s Urban Design Advisory Committee this month will highlight several new developments in the area.
During the walk on Wednesday, Nov. 12, city staff will provide participants with information on the mixed-use development project at Robinson Terminal North, redevelopment of the Montgomery Center and the Ladrey Apartments, among other developments.
Alexandria is hosting a pre-construction open house for the upcoming N. Columbus Street sanitary sewer project in Old Town West.
Construction on the $1 million project is expected to begin in December at the 600 block of N. Columbus Street and last until November 2026. City plans entail disconnecting the area’s sewer line from the combined sewer and connecting to a separated sewer line.
The Alexandria Board of Architectural Review (BAR) is conducting a work session tonight (Oct. 22) to discuss the certificate of appropriateness for the City Hall, Market Square, and parking garage renovation project.
The BAR approved demolition plans for the project last week, although it deferred the design approvals. The work session was scheduled after last week’s meeting, and city planners are operating on a tight schedule, hoping to break ground in the second quarter of 2026 with a completion goal of 2028, according to the city.
Alexandria will provide an update later this month on stormwater solutions for the historic, and flood-prone, Douglass Memorial Cemetery (1421 Wilkes Street).
The city says that the cemetery, named after abolitionist Frederick Douglass, faces flooding and drainage problems, and that grave markers have been damaged. After two years of developing a plan to mitigate flooding and repair grave markers, the city will present an update on the project on Oct. 29 (Wednesday) from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Lloyd House (220 N. Washington Street).
A proposal to build 32 four-story townhouses in Old Town will head back to the Board of Architectural Review next month.
Alexandria land-use attorney Ken Wire is asking the city for approval to demolish the Essex Building, an office building at 333 N. Fairfax Street built in the 1970s, and replace it with townhomes. Renderings show rows of four-story townhouses with garages and second-floor balconies encompassing an entire square block, bordered by N. Lee Street, Queen Street, and Princess Street. The BAR will review the proposal on Wednesday, Nov. 5. It will be the second concept review for the project, and city staff are advising some minor modifications.
Alexandria’s DASH bus system will break ground later this month on its expansion project to build a new electric bus charging station at a city impound lot next to the transit company’s headquarters at 3000 Business Center Drive. The groundbreaking will be held on Thursday, October 30, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. With a completion goal of early 2027, the project will “support our growing fleet and the City of Alexandria’s transition to 100% zero-emission buses,” DASH said in an email.
“This expansion project is about looking ahead, and as we see more people choose transit, this will help ensure DASH is ready to support cleaner, more efficient service,” said DASH General Manager & CEO Josh Baker. “The new facility will give us the space to grow, the infrastructure to charge electric buses, and the flexibility to improve how we operate.”
A proposal to build three four-story townhouses on a vacant lot in Old Town is scheduled to be reviewed by the city’s Board of Architectural Review later this month.
Land use attorney Ken Wire is requesting a concept review from the BAR to develop the townhomes at 806 N. Columbus Street, located near the intersection with Madison Street and two blocks east of N. Patrick Street (Route 1). The proposal is scheduled to head to the BAR on Thursday, October 16.
