(Updated 10:10 a.m.) Like Bob Dylan, The Birchmere has switched to electric — at least for its signage. Also like Dylan, it’s a change that’s causing some trouble for the music venue.
It started last summer when famed music venue The Birchmere Music Hall (3701 Mount Vernon Avenue) was finding it difficult to hire someone to change out the letters on the venue’s old sign.
Alexandria has kicked off the new year with a glimpse at some of this year’s biggest priorities.
A memo from Director of Planning Karl Moritz, published ahead of Planning Commission meeting this Thursday, lays out some of the work priorities for the city over the upcoming year.
A planned redevelopment of an affordable housing building in Arlandria could triple the number of units on the site.
Community Lodgings Inc. is headed to the Planning Commission on Feb. 7 to pitch redevelopment plans for 3908 Elbert Avenue, currently the 29-unit Carpenters Lodgings building.
A plan to overhaul the way Alexandria handles transportation funding from developers was sent back for further review by the Planning Commission.
Members of the Planning Commission said earlier this week that there are too many lingering questions about the impacts on local residents of the proposed changes, though the changes are headed in the right direction.
Alexandria’s Planning Commission’s recommendation of approval for the long-awaited “West End” development was offset slightly by concerns that the city isn’t doing enough to pressure developers into adopting more environmentally conscious design.
The Planning Commission voted 5-1 in support of development plans for a large chunk of what was once Landmark Mall. The recommendation heading to the City Council supports four sprawling blocks of development with a mixture of multifamily residential, ground-floor commercial, and medical office spaces.
If Alexandria wants to hold onto its most skilled staff members, the Alexandria Planning Commission chair said the city government will need to pony up and pay more competitive wages.
A letter (item 10) drafted by Planning Commission Chair Nathan Macek offered some guidance for the upcoming budget and some nudges toward more transportation funding and employee compensation.
An upcoming zoning change could both cut through some development red tape and make funding for transportation projects more accessible after years of noncompliance from developers.
The city is looking at reshaping Transportation Management Plans (TMP), one of the core pieces of any new development that’s remained basically unchanged since 1987. The goal of a TMP is to ensure new development promotes public transportation, walking, biking or rideshares rather than driving to work alone.
In what’s become a trend in Alexandria, the owners of an office and retail building in Old Town are hoping to have the upstairs space converted to residential units.
The buildings in question are 1225 and 1229 King Street, the buildings containing American in Paris Boutique and the T-Mobile store on the street level in the middle of Old Town.
Updated 5:45 p.m. — Field lighting supporters told ALXnow the interests of neighbors and soccer players aren’t necessarily competing and share some overlapping concerns management of the fields.
Earlier: A plan to bring new lights to athletic fields around Alexandria saw a clash of supporters — who say the lights are necessary for extending play hours — against homeowners concerned about the ramifications of new late-night activity next door.
It’s been a busy week in Alexandria, starting off with Halloween on Monday and continuing through to major changes for Potomac Yard and the former Landmark Mall site.
The city had not one, but two big Halloween celebrations: a parade in Del Ray on Sunday and trick-or-treating along Lee Street in Old Town on Monday.
The “West End” project is a lumbering titan, one of the most enormous of the development projects in progress. While projects of that scale can move slowly — this one first reared its head in late 2020 — the Landmark Mall redevelopment is building momentum as it moves toward Planning Commission review next month.
Four blocks of the sprawling development, Blocks E, G, I and K, are scheduled for review at the Planning Commission on Tuesday, Dec. 6. The blocks consist of a mix of multifamily residential, ground floor commercial space, and medical offices.
