Parker-Gray | ALXnow

ALXnow’s top stories this week in Alexandria

Published June 25, 2021 at 3:30PM

Alexandria Police lights (staff photo by James Cullum)

What was an intense week in Alexandria. Here is the rundown.

History was made, as the new marquees at Alexandria City High School and Naomi L. Brooks Elementary Schools were unveiled this week, and the name changes to T.C. Williams High School and Matthew Maury Elementary School will go into effect July 1. It’s a victory for civil rights, as the namesakes of both old schools had backgrounds steeped in racism. Maury was a Confederate leader and Williams was an ACPS superintendent who worked intently against racial integration.

News

Parker-Gray tiny lot home moves forward with some unique challenges

By Vernon Miles

Published June 25, 2021 at 9:45AM | Updated June 25, 2021 at 12:15PM

Rendering of 1117 Queen Street home, courtesy Matt Gray

It will be a cozy fit, but a local home builder is hoping to turn a small, empty gravel lot at 1117 Queen Street into a new single-family home.

The home first went to the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) in April where the appeal was approved with the condition that no construction can occur within three feet of a neighboring property. It’s now heading to the Board of Architectural Review on Wednesday, July 7, with questions remaining from the BZA about fire code implementation and setback requirements.

Opinion

Poll: Do you call it the ‘Parker-Gray’ or ‘Braddock’ neighborhood?

By Vernon Miles

Published May 19, 2021 at 1:00PM

A trail near the Braddock Road Metro Station in Alexandria (staff photo by James Cullum)

Within the rather obscure confines of the Board and Architectural Review staff report this week resurfaced a long-simmering discussion: what is the cultural identity of the Parker-Gray neighborhood in 2021.

For years a historically Black neighborhood, Parker-Gray draws its name from the the Parker-Gray School that educated the city’s Black children when the the city’s school system was still divided by segregation.

News

New Parker-Gray development pushed to veer away from Old Town aesthetics

By Vernon Miles

Published May 18, 2021 at 4:45PM | Updated May 20, 2021 at 4:24PM

Proposed 805 N Columbus Street development (image via City of Alexandria)

(Updated 5/20) A stretch of vacant land and parking lots in the Parker-Gray could soon become a five-story, multi-family residential development with a redesign meant to evoke the neighborhood’s unique heritage.

The development is headed to its second Board of Architectural Review (BAR) meeting tomorrow (Wednesday). The building underwent a slight redesign after a February meeting when the board scolded the architect for trying to make an industrial waterfront-style building in lieu of respecting the historically Black neighborhood’s own unique — and distinctly not Old Town — aesthetics and style.

News

Tiny lot in Parker-Gray neighborhood could become a home

By Vernon Miles

Published April 8, 2021 at 10:30AM | Updated April 8, 2021 at 3:55PM

1117 Queen Street (photo via Google Maps)

In what is possibly the ultimate example of making use of the city’s land scarcity, a new application coming up at the Monday (April 12) Board of Zoning Appeals meeting seeks to turn a Parker-Gray alleyway into a new single-family home.

The 2,000 square foot lot at 1117 Queen Street is strip of gravel between two other homes mainly used for street parking.

News

Local Business in Hot Water with City Architects After Unauthorized Paintjob

By Vernon Miles

Published January 21, 2021 at 10:30AM

A Parker-Gray business could have to un-paint their property after an unauthorized paint-job over a building’s historically significant architecture.

A commercial building at 1000 Queen Street may have looked significantly whiter late last year after the applicant, Anchor Property Services, painted over the existing yellow-brick exterior with a white coat of paint.