Didn’t get enough Irish cultural celebration at the St. Patrick’s Day Parade this weekend? A group of musicians are celebrating Irish folk music at a concert in Alexandria this weekend.
The Irish Breakfast Band — a group consisting of around 15 musicians with a variety of fiddles, flutes, hammered dulcimers and more — is playing at the Lyceum (201 S. Washington Street) this Saturday (March 9) from 7-8:30 p.m.
Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door, or $5 for children 17 and under. All proceeds benefit The Office of Historic Alexandria.
According to a release:
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day early with The Irish Breakfast Band. Most Irish Breakfast Band performances feature 15 or more musicians, often several fiddles and flutes, a guitar or two, a drummer, a hammered dulcimer, banjo, pipes, and at least one vocalist. The band performs extensively in the Washington Metropolitan area at festivals and other events including the Washington Folk Festival, Art on the Avenue (in Alexandria) and local concert series. Proceeds from ticket sales, cash bar, and tips benefit the Office of Historic Alexandria. Free Snacks. Beer & wine for sale.
Photo via Art on the Avenue/Facebook
The weather was overcast and cool on Saturday — ideal for the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
Longtime Alexandria business owner “Mango” Mike Anderson was the parade marshal, and there were notable appearances from a number of recognizable figures, including local politicians, Clan Bell (which always dresses as Star Wars characters) and G-Wiz, the mascot for the Washington Wizards.
The Ballyshaners (Old Towner’s in Gaelic) bring the St. Patrick’s Day Parade to Alexandria every year.
The next parade, Alexandria’s annual Scottish Christmas Walk Parade, is nine months away.
A new conversion from an office to a ‘luxury rental development’ has broken ground in Old Town.
American Real Estate Partners (AREP) is converting the 200,000-square-foot office building at 1101 King Street into a 200-unit apartment development called CityHouse Old Town.
The office building was built in 1983, predating new regulations on density in the area established in 1992. While the project involves significant interior changes, the exterior modifications are relatively modest.
According to a release:
Located in the heart of King Street in historic Old Town Alexandria, AREP is converting a former 200,000 SF office building and transforming it into CityHouse Old Town, a community comprised of approximately 200 homes ranging in size from 525 square-foot studios to deluxe three-bedroom apartments with a den to accommodate hybrid work and private wraparound terraces for the majority of homes.
The seven-story property, with its six-story interior atrium, rises above the surrounding buildings, providing panoramic views of Old Town, the riverfront, and DC monuments. Residents will have access to a concierge, private club suite, and state-of-the-art fitness facility, as well as a wide array of food & beverage destinations just a few steps away from their door.
American Real Estate Partners said in the release that pre-leasing at the building is scheduled to start in the summer of 2025 while construction will be completed later that fall.
He’s not remotely Irish, but Alexandria restaurant owner “Mango” Mike Anderson is the grand marshal of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on Saturday.
A local celebrity of sorts, Anderson will lead the parade down King Street and to the reviewing stand on Royal Street in the heart of Old Town.
“I have been devoted to Alexandria for more than 50 years, not only as a homeowner but as a business owner,” Anderson said. “I hear there’s going to be 25,000 people there. It’s just terrific to have this kind of honor. I truly consider Alexandria to be my hometown.”
Turns out that this is the second consecutive parade where Anderson is the grand marshal, since he’s a Living Legend of Alexandria. All of the Living Legends were honorary parade marshals at the George Washington Birthday Parade earlier this month.
“Alexandria is the greatest,” Anderson said. “You’ve got history, proximity to the nation’s capital, and the great variety of people who live in the city. Almost everybody who lives in Alexandria is pretty passionate about it, which you can see at the city council meetings. This stuff creates a great community, and I also happen to be a proud member of this city’s restaurant community.”
Anderson is co-owner of the Homegrown Restaurant Group, which includes Pork Barrel BBQ, Holy Cow Del Ray, Del Ray’s pop-up bar, Whisky & Oyster, Sweet Fire Donna’s and Tequila & Taco. He moved to Alexandria in the early 1970s and opened his first restaurant, Irish-themed Shooter McGee’s in 1979. He later owned and operated the Caribbean-themed Mango Mike’s in the West End for nearly 20 years.
Bill Blackburn is Anderson’s partner, and said that he doesn’t like to do things small, or simply.
“One of Mike’s favorite sayings is, if you’re going to be a bear, be a grizzly,” Blackburn said. “I think he lives by those words. He doesn’t like to do anything small. From 30-foot-tall palm trees at Mango Mike’s to 30-foot tall Christmas trees in Del Ray, he’s always going bigger.”
Anderson, who is married to Donna (of Sweet Fire Donna’s), is known for creating outlandish spectacles, including scouting for the Del Ray Christmas tree by air (he’s a pilot and owns two small planes) and paying for it to get cut down, delivered and erected every year. His itch to open new restaurants is tempered, he says, by the seasonal transformations at the Del Ray pop-up bar. Right now it’s an Aspen-themed ski lodge with a gondola parked out front.
Few city events, however, are as spectacular as a parade, and Anderson said that he was always jealous of Pat Troy, the founder of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade and owner of the now-closed Ireland’s Own bar in Old Town.
“I was always pretty jealous of Pat,” Anderson said. “He was able to put together this terrific parade that’s transcended him and has lasted 41 years. I’m just so pleased to be a part of it this year.”
The Ballyshaners announced Anderson as parade marshal in January.
The City of Alexandria is fighting with residents over a new development in court, but the battle spilled over into a public comment section that ended with a rebuke from the dais.
A lawsuit filed with the Circuit Court of Alexandria calls for a special use permit approved by the City Council in January to be invalidated, alleging the decision is in direct contradiction to the city zoning ordinance.
The lawsuit was filed by seven nearby residents who allege that the new development at 301 N. Fairfax Street will devalue their properties and ’cause wear and tear and damage’ to infrastructure.
The property is currently an office building constructed in 1977 and the lawsuit notes that, prior to the City Council vote on Jan. 20, it was zoned as ‘commercial downtown’ in the Old and Historic District, rezoned in that meeting to commercial residential mixed use/high. The new development will be a residential building with 48 units.
The crux of the lawsuit is that the rezoning makes the property mixed-use — with a Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 2.5 — but plans for the site indicate the use will be entirely residential — which has a maximum permitted FAR of 1.25
Section 5-305(C) provides under “mixed use or residential/SUP” that “if at least 50 percent of the floor space of the proposed development is for residential use and if the commercial use within such a development does not exceeed a floor area ratio of 1.25, then, with a special use permit, the maximum permitted floor area ratio may be increased to an amount not to exceed 2.5.” Zoning Ordinance 5-305(C).
Clearly referenced in this subsection is the mixed use of a proposed development, and the authorization of special use permits for up to 2.5 FAR where there is at least 50 percent residential use and “the commerical use” does not exceed a FAR of 1.25. Absent from that section is the language “a commercial use” or “any commercial use”.
The lawsuit asks the court to declare the special use permit ‘void ab initio’ and “enjoin the City from issuing any permits for the 301 North Fairfax Project or from taking any further action pursuant to the SUP.
Even as the lawsuit is working through courts, Alexandria’s City Council voted on Saturday in favor of an ordinance to amend the Old Town Small Area Plan and to amend the Official Zoning Map to reflect the mixed-use zoning for 301 N. Fairfax Street.
It was a largely administrative follow-up to the earlier rezoning, but it drew some heated back-and-forth during the public comments.
Several nearby residents in opposition to the development spoke and expressed their frustration with the city’s rezoning of the parcel.
“Why have a City Council that continually ignores the concerns of your own constituents,” said nearby resident Anna Bergman. “You’re knowingly turning the Old and Historic District into the architectural banality that is North Old Town.”
“Most of you are on your phones, not even looking up, rolling your eyes,” said resident Nanci Petit. “How can you be so disconnected with what you’ve heard over eight months and others today wanting to stop the arena. The only thing I can come up with is a lack of oxygen because you have your head so far up the developer’s abacus worried about their profit margins that you can’t see straight.”
After attorney Cathy Puskar, representing the developer, spoke, several members of the audience hissed in response, sparking a reprimand from Mayor Justin Wilson and others on the City Council.
“Please, guys, literally come on,” said Wilson. “I spent like an hour with a bunch of preschoolers yesterday and they were better behaved than this.”
City Council member John Chapman was the lone vote against the zoning change in January and voted against the changes at the Saturday meeting, but also expressed frustration at the way members of the public spoke about City Council members and city staff.
“I do not take lightly the kind of personal attacks against the character of any member of this body,” Chapman said. “One of the more recent speakers spoke to why you might not see us looking up. I know the Council member on my right (Sarah Bagley) takes notes on everyone who speaks. She might not look up at you, she has notepad after notepad on each individual’s comments. We listen with our ears, that’s what we’re doing.”
The planning and map amendments were passed in a 6-1 vote.
James Cullum contributed to this story
There’s a concert of flavors happening with the newest treat from Goodies Frozen Custard and Treats (200 Commerce Street) in Old Town.
Owner Brandon Byrd is collaborating with local Girl Scout Troop 60132 at George Washington Middle School throughout Girl Scout Cookie season (until March 18) with their double chocolate frozen custard. The eight-ounce $8 treat has Thin Mints and chocolate syrup.
“Thin Mints and chocolate custard have the most complex flavors,” Byrd told ALXnow. “We developed this great flavor, and I thought we should take it a step further with a popup event.”
Goodies will host the pop-up this Saturday (March 2) with the Girl Scouts from 1-4 p.m.
Alexandria’s annual George Washington Birthday Parade brought the usual pomp and circumstance befitting the country’s first president.
This year’s parade marshals were the recipients of the prestigious Living Legends of Alexandria award. The theme of this year’s parade was “George Washington: Alexandria’s Living Legend.”
A number of political candidates marched (or rode) in the parade, including mayoral candidates Vice Mayor Amy Jackson and Alyia Gaskins, as well as Sheriff Sean Casey and Clerk of Court Greg Parks. City Manager Jim Parajon also marched, as did his counterpart in the school system, Superintendent Melanie Kay-Wyatt. Former Mayor Allison Silberberg also marched in the parade with the “Coalition to Stop the Potomac Yard Arena.”
Alexandria’s next parade is the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Old Town on Saturday, March 2.
The annual George Washington Birthday Parade is returning to Alexandria on President’s Day (Monday, Feb. 19). Here’s what you need to know.
The theme of the 101st annual parade is “George Washington: Alexandria’s Living Legend,” and this year’s parade marshals are the recipients of the prestigious Living Legends of Alexandria award.
According to parade organizers:
The Grand Marshal will be representatives of the Living Legends of Alexandria, individuals who have contributed to the community in an exemplary and lasting way that has significantly impacted the quality of life in Alexandria and serves as an inspiration to others. 2024 is also the 275th Birthday of the founding of the City of Alexandria.
Thousands of freemasons, city-related groups and nonprofits, and politicians march in the parade, which the city says is the oldest and largest of its kind in the world. The free event was first held in 1923 to commemorate the cornerstone laying of the George Washington Masonic National Memorial at King Street and Commonwealth Avenue.
The parade begins at 1 p.m. at the intersection of South Fairfax Street and Gibbon Street. Participants will then march north on South Fairfax Street to City Hall (301 King Street), take a left at Queen Street, and another left at S. Royal Street to the reviewing stand, which will be located at the intersection of N. Royal Street and King Streets. The parade route ends at the intersection of S. Royal Street and Wilkes Street, and the parade is scheduled to end at 3 p.m.
Parade organizers will also select the first, second and third-ranking participants in the following categories:
- Antique vehicles
- Masonic lodge with the best spirit
- Community/fraternal group
- Float
- Historical unit
- Honor and color guards
- Military units and drill team
- Youth groups
- The spirit of George Washington
Additionally, the winning restaurant in this year’s annual Cherry Challenge will be announced.
Alexandria’s next parade is the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Old Town on Saturday, March 2.
It seems like construction cranes have been flocking to Alexandria streets recently. Just after a street closure due to crane activity in the Braddock neighborhood, crane activity is closing a block of King Street this Friday.
From 9 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 15, to 3 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 16, the 1500 block of King Street (between Peyton Street and Harvard Street) will be closed to pedestrian and vehicle traffic.
According to a release:
On Thursday, February 15 from 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. on Friday, February 16 (weather permitting), Extreme Steel Crane & Rigging will be closing the 1500 block of King Street between Peyton Street and Harvard Street for a sidewalk and road closure. This closure is necessary to place a crane and trucks in the roadway to hoist HVAC equipment to the building located at 1555 King Street. Parking will be restricted along this block during the scheduled work hours, and noise levels during early morning hours will be kept to a minimum.
All westbound traffic on King Street at Peyton Street will be directed to Cameron Street, and back to King Street. All eastbound traffic on King Street at Daingerfield Road will be directed to Prince Street, then S. Peyton Street, and finally back to King Street.
Washingtonian recently included three Alexandria restaurants in their food critic’s list of 19 favorite pizzas right now.
Washingtonian’s Executive Food Editor Ann Limpert included in her list “Stracci Bianca” at Stracci Pizza (106 Hume Avenue), the vodka pizza at Emmy Squared (124 King Street) and the white clam Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana (3231 Duke Street).
According to the Washingtonian review of Stracci Pizza:
This Del Ray gem makes its own stracciatella cheese—hand-pulled mozzarella soaked in cream—and it’s best shown off on this Roman-style white pizza, simply accented with olive oil and flakes of Maldon salt.
According to the Washingtonian review of Emmy Squared, which also has two locations in D.C.:
The thick, soft, Detroit-style pizzas from this Brooklyn transfer can be a little…extra. This version is relatively straightforward—just sweet, creamy vodka sauce, basil, and pecorino. The sauce is also good on the Big Ang, which adds ricotta, Italian sausage, and banana peppers to the party.
According to the Washingtonian review of Frank Pepe Pizzeria Napoletana:
I’ve lined up outside this century-old New Haven institution for its coal-fired sheet-pan pizza countless times. And now there is one at Westfield Montgomery Mall! And in Old Town! This particular pie—one of their most famous—is thin, crispy, garlicky as hell, and loaded with fresh clams.
