There’s a new reason to go to the Hyatt Centric Old Town.
Indo-Chinese restaurant Indochen is now open at the hotel (1625 King Street) serving breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is the second Indochen in Alexandria, after its location at 4906 Brenman Park Drive in Cameron Station.
After few months after purchasing 515 King Street — the big brutalist building in Old Town with a big clock on the side — Douglas Development is pitching a building overhaul to the city’s Board of Architectural Review (BAR).
The purchase of 515 King Street is just one of many recent acquisitions along King Street by Douglas Development.
Alexandria’s King Street pedestrian zone initiative is getting a boost this weekend as the zone’s size will double for the next few months.
The pilot was approved by the City Council in April and will run from this Friday, May 27, through Monday Sept. 5 — Memorial Day Weekend through Labor Day weekend.
Some changes could be coming to the King Street pedestrian zone to make the block’s change a little more permanent.
The Board of Architectural Review is scheduled to review a certificate of appropriateness for new bollards at either end of 100 block of King Street at the Board’s Thursday (May 5) meeting. The use of bollards was already approved in January, but the type approved in January was not rated for withstanding vehicle crashes, so a new type needs to be approved for locations like the 100 block where they’re designed to block vehicles.
Update 3:50 p.m. — The PR firm representing Douglas Development said the transaction hasn’t been closed yet. While the original closing date was today, the PR firm said it is being delayed until tomorrow (Friday).
Earlier: The distinctive quasi-brutalist building at 515 King Street is the latest acquisition by Douglas Development, which has been snatching up several buildings along King Street in Old Town.
Updated 7:45 p.m. — Christopher Ziemann, division chief for Department of Transportation & Environmental Services, said in an email:
What City Council approved last night was not the pedestrian zone directly. This requires an ordinance change, which requires a public hearing. That Council approved last night was the first reading of the item and to set it for public hearing on April 23. On the 23rd, there will be a public hearing on the topic, which will most likely involve a presentation, discussion, questions and public comments.
The demolition and redevelopment of 628 King Street, formerly Banana Republic, is headed to review at the Board of Architectural Review (BAR) as the developer hopes to make some changes to the upper part of the building.
Currently, the building’s second floor is an almost entirely windowless brick facade. Jemal’s Gap Corner King, LLC, part of Douglas Development, is applying to demolish part of the north and west parts of the building to add windows to the second floor.
The pedestrian zone on the 100 block of King Street has been a hit, so much so that the city is looking to expand the program to the unit block, which prompts the question: what should be the ultimate extent of the pedestrian zone project?
Last year, the City Council voted unanimously to make the closure on the 100 block permanent. The city is also taking a look at ways to make the 100 block’s pedestrian zone “look” more permanent. A new proposal going to the Planning Commission and City Council in April will put a similar pilot project into effect for the end of King Street and The Strand by the waterfront.
A Washington D.C. man was placed under an emergency substantial risk order on March 16 after allegedly threatening to shoot up the Alexandria Courthouse (520 King Street).
Police found the man outside of the courthouse in his red Jeep Cherokee, after his ex-girlfriend called police and said that he was having a mental health crisis, according to a search warrant affidavit. The woman told police that her ex was triggered after being threatened by a woman with a knife the previous day.
New city documents outline plans to close the end of King Street until at least November.
The closure of the unit block of King Street — the very end by the waterfront — to vehicle traffic is docketed for review at a Planning Commission meeting on Thursday, April 7.
Long-awaited plans for the redevelopment of a block of parking on King Street are finally coming forward.
Plans for the redevelopment of 912-920 King Street are scheduled to be presented at the Wednesday, April 6 Board of Architectural Review meeting, the Washington Business Journal first reported.
