Mark Center | ALXnow

Alexandria hosting youth mental health first-aid training on Oct. 15

Published October 2, 2025 at 4:30PM

DCHS is conducting youth-focused mental health first-aid training on Oct. 15, 2025, at 4850 mark Center Drive (via City of Alexandria)

Alexandria is conducting an eight-hour mental health training session for adults on identifying warning signs and symptoms of mental health and substance abuse disorders, the effects of illness, and treatment options.

The free session, hosted by the city’s Department of Community and Human Services, will take place on Wednesday, October 15, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 4850 Mark Center Drive. Registration is required. The session is open to “parents, family members, caregivers, teachers, school staff, peers, neighbors, health and human services workers and other caring residents,” according to DCHS.

News

New report spells out next step for planned Alexandria-Tysons bus rapid transit

By Vernon Miles

Published November 7, 2024 at 11:40AM

Proposed BRT route in Alexandria's West End (image via NVTC)

A planning effort kicking off next year could determine the future of a major transit project in the West End.

Envision Route 7 is an ongoing plan to build a bus rapid transit (BRT) system connecting the Mark Center in Alexandria, through Bailey’s Crossroads and Falls Church, out to Tysons. An update headed to the Northern Virginia Transportation Commission tonight spells out some of what’s ahead for that plan in 2025.

News

Two ‘multi-unit’ Mark Center developments to be unveiled next month

By James Cullum

Published August 28, 2024 at 9:45AM

The proposed apartment building at 1900 N. Beauregard Street (via City of Alexandria)

Two developments that could further transform Alexandria’s Mark Center area will be unveiled next month.

The Beauregard Design Advisory Committee will get a first glimpse on Sept. 9 of the multi-use developments at 1900 N. Beauregard Street and 4880 Mark Center Drive. The meeting will be held from 7 to 8 p.m. at Patrick Henry Recreation Center (4653 Taney Avenue).

News

City celebrates new dawn for a hidden gem of the West End

By Vernon Miles

Published November 29, 2023 at 1:50PM

Sunset at the Winkler Botanical Preserve (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

If you’ve never heard of or been to Winkler Botanical Preserve, you’re not alone.

In a 2021 poll, over 55% of ALXnow readers had never heard of the Winkler Botanical Preserve and nearly 20% had heard of it but never gone there. A little over 5% said they go to the park frequently.

News

Affordable housing taking center stage in West End planning discussions

By James Cullum

Published October 24, 2023 at 2:30PM

The Stratford apartment complex at Southern Towers (staff photo by James Cullum)

The future of Alexandria’s West End is being reevaluated with a series of open houses in the coming days.

City staff are working to update Alexandria’s long-term vision for the  1992 Alexandria West Small Area Plan and integrate it with the 2012 Beauregard Small Area Plan.

News

Police: One victim injured in Mark Center-area robbery

By Vernon Miles

Published September 28, 2023 at 1:50PM | Updated September 28, 2023 at 2:15PM

Robbery on the 2000 block of North Beauregard Street (image via Alexandria Police Department/Twitter)

The Alexandria Police Department (APD) said one man was injured in a robbery near the Mark Center.

APD said the victim sustained minor injuries.

News

New Mark Center development is first in the area to use new density-for-housing trade

By Vernon Miles

Published June 5, 2023 at 3:50PM

The Rutherford at Mark Center (image via DCS Design/City of Alexandria)

The 367-unit residential development The Rutherford is headed to Planning Commission review tomorrow and makes use of a relatively recent new policy that codified an older trade.

The project is a multifamily building set on a 4.5 acre site at 5000 Seminary Road, next to the Hilton Mark Center. Of those 367 units, 25 will be committed affordable units. The developer is also contributing $811,547 to the Housing Trust Fund.

News

City Health Department’s 10-year lease for ‘West End City Hall’ at Mark Center to go into effect in March

By James Cullum

Published January 24, 2023 at 2:30PM | Updated January 24, 2023 at 6:37PM

4850 Mark Center Drive. (Courtesy photo)

The Alexandria City Council could be signing a lease tonight for the new ‘West End City Hall‘.

The council is scheduled to review a 10-year lease agreement for the future home of the city’s Department of Community and Human Services at 4850 Mark Center Drive tonight (Tuesday). If approved, the City’s Health Department’s lease for the Redella S. “Del” Pepper Community Resource Center would go into effect on March 1.

News

Alexandria hosting Virginia Black History Month Gala in February

By James Cullum

Published December 28, 2022 at 11:10AM | Updated December 28, 2022 at 12:51PM

Actor Leon Preston Robinson is the keynote speaker at the 23rd Annual Virginia Black History Month Gala on Feb 25 at the Mark Center Hilton. (via Facebook)

Black resistance is the theme of the upcoming Virginia Black History Month Gala in Alexandria.

Actor, singer and producer “Leon” Robinson will be the keynote speaker for the annual event, which will be held at the Hilton Mark Center (5000 Seminary Road) on Friday, February 24, and Saturday, February 25. Robinson performed roles in “The Temptations,” “The Five Heartbeats,” “Cool Runnings,” “Above the Rim,” and as Little Richard in the 2000 film “Little Richard.”

News

NVTC meeting tomorrow tackles Falls Church connection for new West End bus rapid transit

By Vernon Miles

Published October 10, 2022 at 2:15PM

Envision Route 7 BRT concept, photo via NVTC

A new bus rapid transit (BRT) system could connect Alexandria’s Mark Center with Tysons along the second-busiest corridor in Northern Virginia.

BRT systems are a way of potentially redesigning a roadway to favor fast and accessible bus travel, sometimes separating the bus into its own lane as in the Potomac Yard Transitway. The Northern Virginia Transportation Commission (NVTC) has scheduled a community discussion tomorrow to look at the planned Route 7 BRT system.

News

Seminary Road partially closed after three-car crash

By Vernon Miles

Published May 11, 2022 at 10:45AM

Mark Center Avenue and Seminary Road, image via Google Maps

A three-car crash has temporarily shut down part of Seminary Road near the intersection with N. Beauregard Street.

Alexandria Police said in a release that the crash has shut down westbound traffic on Seminary Road after Mark Center Avenue, between N. Beauregard Street and I-395.