Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial dedicated — “On July 24, at 8am, a ceremony was held at 1001 S. Washington Street, officially dedicating the Contrabands and Freedmen Cemetery Memorial as the newest site listed by the National Park Service in the African American Civil Rights Network.” [Zebra]
National Landing to be first U.S. 5G Smart City at scale — “5G, with local area compute edges, could make National Landing a prototype for smart cities of the future and create a unified consumer experience across asset types. The area could also enhance offerings in mobility and self-driving vehicles, immersive retail and entertainment, and building automation and environmental sustainability… A combination of mmWave and sub6 5G spectrum will be enabled by an interconnected series of building side-mounts, street furniture, and underground network infrastructure.” [Alexandria Living]
Driver killed In 3-vehicle Beltway crash — “The crash happened around 5:35 p.m. Monday on Interstate 495 west of Telegraph Road. Witnesses told state police a Honda driver swerved onto the right shoulder to pass traffic. The vehicle struck another vehicle in the right lane and crashed into a flatbed wrecker stopped on the shoulder. The driver was taken to Inova Fairfax Hospital, where he died of his injuries. He has not been publicly identified by police.” [Patch]
Today’s weather — “Sunny, along with a few afternoon clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 93F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph… A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible early (in the evening). A few clouds from time to time. Low 72F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph.” [Weather.com]
New job: Beer brand ambassador — “ExperTaste Marketing is a full-service marketing company specializing in consumer product sampling and promotions. We are seeking a professional and reliable beer enthusiast for a Beer Brand Ambassador position to execute beer sampling events.” [Indeed]
JBG Smith, the master master developer for Virginia Tech’s $1 billion Innovation Campus, just signed a deal to design, construct, manage and own 2 million square feet of mix-used property at Potomac Yard.
“Institutional investors advised by (project financial manager) J.P. Morgan Global Alternatives contributed a land site that is entitled for approximately 1.3 million square feet of development it controls at Potomac Yard Landbay F (North Potomac Yard), while JBG SMITH contributed adjacent land with more than 700,000 square feet of development capacity at Potomac Yard, Landbay G (the Town Center),” JBG Smith said in a release.
JBG Smith has a 50% ownership stake in the joint venture, and will act as leasing agent for future residential and commercial properties at the site. The move increases the company’s ownership development rights by more than 285,000 square feet.
“The plans call for two multifamily buildings totaling approximately 419,000 square feet that have been placed in JBG SMITH’s Near-Term Development Pipeline and could start construction within the next 12 months,” JBG Smith said. “The remaining 1.6 million square feet of mixed-use development across Landbays F and G is expected to be developed over time and, consequently, are included in the Future Development Pipeline.”
“We are thrilled that this joint venture will further the community’s collective long-term vision of National Landing as a thriving, transit-oriented, mixed-use destination and world-class innovation district,” said Ed Chaglassian, executive vice president and head of acquisitions at JBG SMITH. “This transaction will help ensure that the surrounding neighborhoods can grow in lockstep with Virginia Tech in ways that will complement and enhance its Innovation Campus.”
Virginia Tech plans on opening its four-acre Innovation Campus by fall 2024. Additionally, the Potomac Yard Metro station is expected to open by spring 2022. It is also located a mile south of National Landing, the future home of Amazon’s HQ2 project at National Landing, which is slated for a 2028 completion.
ACPS Virtual Helpline Extended to Next Year — “When the Virtual PLUS+ Helpline began in August 2020 to help our families transition into an unconventional school year, it was expected to be a short term endeavour, over in a matter of weeks.” [ACPS]
Volunteers Clear Mount Vernon Trail Bridge — “Friends of Mount Vernon Trail volunteers are the greatest people on earth. Today volunteers removed kudzu from the power plant bridge to improve sight lines and prevent bridge damage.” [Twitter]
Washingtonian Profiles Reception to “National Landing” Name — “Amazon, Arlington, and Alexandria delivered a sharp shock to the world on November 13, 2018, when they announced that not only would Amazon’s much-desired “HQ2” land in Northern Virginia, but that Crystal City and parts of Alexandria would make up a largely theoretical new neighborhood called National Landing.” [Washingtonian]
ACPS Seeking Media Library Specialist — “The Library Media Specialist facilitates the efficient operation of the school’s library services. This position reports to the Principal.” [Glassdoor]
(Updated at 4:55 p.m.) Virginia Tech has to hit 750 master’s degree graduates per year by the end of the decade in a school that hasn’t even been built yet if it wants to hold onto state funding for the project.
During a panel discussion at Agenda Alexandria last night, some of the local leaders working on Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus in Potomac Yard opened up about the slew of opportunities and challenges the school will face over the next few years.
David Baker, assistant director of government and community relations for Virginia Tech, said the 750 master’s degrees target was a condition of the funding Virginia Tech got from the state to support the school’s development.
The first challenge will be getting the project built by 2024, which the panelists said is their deadline to give Virginia Tech enough time to get the school up and running to hit its deadlines. The project is currently in the design review process, which started in November and is expected to run through fall 2020.
“We’re focused on the area east of Potomac Avenue in phase one to hit the 2024 timeline,” said Bailey Edelson, development senior vice president for JBG Smith. “In terms of planning and construction, that’s lightning-fast. We’re working quickly to make sure they can meet their obligations.”
Once the project finishes construction in 2024, Baker said the school plans to start hosting classes that fall. It will offer master’s and PhD programs with a focus on computer science and engineering, Baker said, with no undergraduate program planned.
(A temporary campus utilizing vacant retail space at the Potomac Yard shopping center will host about 400 students before the opening of the permanent campus.)
While housing is set to be constructed as part of the larger redevelopment of Potomac Yard, no residential areas are set aside as student housing.
“But when we bring multifamily units online, those often serve as housing for graduate students and anyone else who wants to live here,” Bailey said.
She said JBG Smith was committed to co-locating affordable housing at the site. City regulation requires developers seeking bonus density — density beyond what is allowed by local zoning — to supply affordable housing, but some developers instead offer a financial contribution to Alexandria’s Housing Trust Fund and the housing is built elsewhere. Bailey said bringing a supply of housing affordable at all levels to “National Landing” was crucial for the project.
The panel also featured Ryan Touhill, chief of staff for the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership and Amol Vaidya from the Potomac Yards Civic Association. As they look at the new development coming online, many residents have already been vocal about their disappointment with the process.
Vaidya said it’s important for local residents to take an active part in the discussion about development.
“We want development to be something that happens with us and not to us,” Vaidya said. “We’re a pro-development community, like to see opportunities, jobs and whatnot, but throughout this dynamic process the partnership is key.”
The next Potomac Yard meeting is an advisory committee meeting on Sunday, Feb. 5, at City Hall.
Wilson Skeptical of ‘National Landing’ Name — “For Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson, the term National Landing was always meant to help streamline the Amazon bid. He joked that he was a resister to the name, adding he still used Potomac Yard because that’s how his constituents know the area. ‘If we talk 10 years from now, will people be calling it National Landing? I don’t know. I doubt it,’ Wilson said.” [Washington Business Journal]
VT Grad Students Helping Plan Alexandria Campus — “Fresh off of four years in Blacksburg earning a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering at Virginia Tech, Logan Eisenbeiser moved to Northern Virginia last year to pursue his master of computer engineering at the university’s Falls Church campus. Little did he know that he would be helping to set the stage for future Hokies who also will study in Northern Virginia at Virginia Tech’s future Innovation Campus.” [Virginia Tech]
Unique House for Sale in Old Town — “The house’s attachment to a condominium complex is not its only unusual aspect. It once was the registration building for the Old Colony Motor Lodge. The motel, built in 1960, was designed by Charles A. Pearson to imitate buildings in Colonial Williamsburg and at the University of Virginia… The registration building was modeled after the 1782 Benjamin Waller House in Williamsburg.” [Washington Post]
ACPS Touts Dual-Language Program — “Our school division offers K-5 Spanish-English dual language programs at John Adams and Mount Vernon Community School… Look around these classrooms and you see the diversity that makes ACPS so special, and a program at work that teaches languages while also bridging gaps by the sharing of cultures.” [ACPS]
