News

A senior living community in Alexandria’s West End is looking to expand by building a two-towered 14- to 16-story apartment building with 257 units.

The View Alexandria by Goodwin Living acquired the seven-acre property at 5000 Fairbanks Avenue and 5101 Fillmore Avenue from Hermitage Northern Virginia three years ago. It currently consists of a five-story medical building, surface parking and a six-story apartment building with 126 units for independent and assisted living care. Now Goodwin Living is asking the city for permission to approve a development special use permit for a 700,000-square-foot building by increasing its allowable height from 150 feet to 175 feet for the south tower, six feet on the North Tower (to 156 feet), a 30% bonus density and a reduction of off-street parking.


News

The developer of a seven-story, 180-unit apartment building across the street from the Braddock Road Metro station is asking the city for an extension of its development special use permit.

West Street Acquisitions says a number of important steps have been made on the one-acre project at 727 N. West Street, which was denied by the City Council in March 2021 and then approved two months later. After some delays, including a legal battle with a neighbor citing city regulations prohibiting the Council from reviewing a denied application for a year, work on the four-year-old project has been slow, and the development special use permit is about to expire.


News

It’s finally Friday in Alexandria!

Here’s a look back at our top stories of the week. Topping off our coverage are the delectable poll results on the top three Mexican restaurants in the city. More than 1,800 foodies cast their votes, and Taqueria el Poblano (2400B Mount Vernon Avenue) in Del Ray took the top spot, followed by Taqueria Picoso (1472 N. Beauregard Street) and Los Tios Grill (2615 Mount Vernon Avenue). Do you agree with the results?


News

After coasting through the Planning Commission, plans to modernize George Mason Elementary School are heading to City Council for this Saturday (May 17).

Alexandria City Public Schools is hoping to cut the ribbon on the new two-story building in the summer of 2027. The project will keep the original 1939 building, although ACPS plans to demolish a majority of the existing school and replace it with a two-story structure for a capacity of 670 students and 80 teachers and staff.


News

The Alexandria City Council is set to make final approvals this week on a plan to transform a former motel property on N. Washington Street into a mixed-use multifamily apartment building and townhouse.

Maryland-based PT Blooms is asking the city to approve plans to redevelop the property at 802 and 808 N. Washington Street into The Whitley—Phase 2, a 48-unit building with one- to three-bedroom condos. That’s the former Old Towne Motel property, which has been closed for years.


News

Welcome to Friday! Here’s a look back at our most-read stories of the week.

Our top story this week is on Episcopal High School being named a training site for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. To accommodate an international soccer team with a home-away-from-home atmosphere, the private school is asking the city for permission to install field lighting with 47 light poles between 40-to-100-feet-tall.


News

The developer behind plans to build a five-story, 142-space automated parking garage and a 16-unit mixed-use apartment building with ground floor retail in Old Town is asking the city for an extension.

Galena Capital Partners says that its plans to build the project were delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a legal dispute that was settled with a neighbor, new staffing in the city and more. The project was approved in 2022, and the development special use permit approvals expire in July.


News

A proposal for a new French bakery in Old Town will be submitted to the Board of Architectural Review on Wednesday (May 7).

Arlington-based Eclairons Pastry and Coffee House wants to open at the old Firehook Bakery at 430 S. Washington Street. The location was Shuman’s Bakery for more than 30 years before Firehook Bakery took over in 2004.


News

Episcopal High School is about to get a lot brighter.

The private high school at 1200 N. Quaker Lane has been approved to serve as a training site for a team participating in the 2026 FIFA World Cup, and now the school wants to install field lighting with 47 light poles between 40-to-100-feet-tall.


News

A 60-year-old apartment complex in the West End is about to get a little bigger.

On Tuesday, the Planning Commission will review a special use permit to add 19 apartments to The Alante Apartments, a 296-unit complex next door to the Seminary Towers Apartments and Francis C. Hammond Middle School, and is bounded by N. Van Dorn Street and Seminary Road.


View More Stories