Development plans for the mixed-use development replacing Landmark Mall have been pretty standard so far — commercial tenants on the ground floor, residential and some office above — but a new feature could be a major draw.
The project, confusingly called West End development, is a massive project attached to the construction of a new Inova Hospital campus.
Plans for the site, drawn up by landscape architect Oculus for developer Foulger-Pratt Development, in a Special Use Permit indicate the development could include a seasonal ice skating rink.
Plans show the new rink filling up part of a section of a park, along with a pavilion and public seating — though the application notes that the illustration is “for illustrative purposes only.” The final design and layout of the ice rink is still “to be finalized.”
The project’s website indicated that construction could start on the infrastructure by the end of this year. The developer said last year that vertical construction could start next year and the first buildings could be completed sometime in late 2025.
The Art League is one of several Old Town North tenants being displaced by new development at Montgomery Center (300 Montgomery Street), but a permit filed with the City of Alexandria indicated the arts-focused non-profit could be moving to the former ABC Imaging location at 800 Slaters Lane.
A Special Use Permit has been filed to open new studio spaces in the former printing shop. The Art League also said classes will be held inside the building.
The Art League was founded in 1964 and is a non-profit that promotes arts and art education.
According to the permit:
The Art League provides gallery exhibits and work spaces for artists, offers classroom education and workshops in the fine arts, and provides outreach programs for the local [community]. Students of all ages and skill levels are able to take courses in drawing, painting, watercolor painting, fiber art, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking, photography, jewelry making, clay animation, silk screening, stained glass and more. With an enrollment of almost 7,000 students per year, The Art League intends to establish 11 enclosed and 5 open studio spaces for artists and education opportunities in the existing building located at 800 Slaters Lane.
The project is heading to the Planning Commission on Sept. 5.
Image via Google Maps
After considerable pushback, the city is rethinking its bonus height provision as a way to build affordable housing in Alexandria.
The city’s controversial zoning for housing plan proposes to upend a number of zoning ordinances. One of them is a bonus height amendment that would incentivize developers to add affordable housing to projects in exchange for two additional stories of construction in areas where height limits are 45 feet or more.
“I would just encourage us that, as we’re thinking about how to prioritize, that we’re not just thinking of it in terms of where can we get the most height or not, but we’re also looking at maybe some of the unintended consequences,” said Council Member Alyia Gaskins in a joint meeting with the Planning Commission on Monday.
On Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray, that would mean 70-foot-tall apartment buildings, and residents say the move would ruin the small town feel of the neighborhood. The bonus height provision would also impact properties along Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray, as well as in Arlandria, Alexandria West, the Beauregard area, the Landmark area, Eisenhower West, Old Town North and Carlyle.
“What we are finding in our initial analysis is that in most cases, the opportunity for additional height may not be particularly valuable than setting new constraints like setbacks and limit what’s possible on the site much more than height does,” said Nancy Williams, the assistant director of the Department of Planning and Zoning.
The negative effect would be the displacement of more families than are being added back into affordable housing.
“If we do a redevelopment and we’re only getting 30% of that additional height in affordability and the rest of it’s not affordable, that might be totally negated by tearing down a garden style apartment building,” Planning Commission Vice Chair Melissa McMahon said, adding that the policy would generate a bunch of unintended consequences and development won’t work citywide.
The Planning Commission deferred a vote on the bonus height proposal last summer after protests from Del Ray residents.
“Part of the reason we’re here, quite honestly, is because of some of the pushback the Commission offered to the to the bonus height provision and I think it prompted a conversation around how we look at the entirety of this process,” Mayor Justin Wilson said.
While Del Ray could see negative consequences from adding height in exchange for affordable housing, Williams said there are specific situations where height would be useful and asked whether the bonus height provision should be focused on limited locations.
City Council Member John Taylor Chapman said that the Eisenhower Valley is a prime spot for implementation of the provision.
“I think of places like Eisenhower valley where, whether it’s the eastern part where we started to really grow and frankly message to the community that we don’t mind getting taller there,” Chapman said.
If the proposal is approved as-is, developers would still have to go through an intensive special use permit (SUP) process, which could limit developers wanting to come into Del Ray.
Council Member Kirk McPike said that argument is “not compelling” and that the city shouldn’t inadvertently induce counterproductive redevelopment.
The proposal went through a community engagement phase in the spring, and City staff recommendations will be made in July and August. More community engagement sessions are expected in September and October and then public hearings with the Planning Commission and City Council will be held in November and December.
The proposed zoning for housing initiative is below the jump. Read More
Tropical Smoothie Cafe could soon be coming to Alexandria’s West End.
Owner Oubab Khalil filed a special use permit (SUP) on June 12 to run the restaurant at the space at 424 S. Pickett Street. The final day for public comments is July 6 before it goes to the Planning Commission and then City Council.
The 1,300 square-foot property is located on the ground level of the Cameron Square apartment complex. Submitted plans call for a 20-seat restaurant with smoothie and food prep areas, a kitchen and a single bathroom.
Khalil isn’t new to the business and opened his first Tropical Smoothie Cafe in D.C. in 2016.
If approved, the hours of operation would be 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Friday and from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
There are two other Tropical Smoothie Cafes in Alexandria, at 3610-G King Street in the Bradlee Shopping Center and at 1556 Potomac Greens Drive.
Image via Facebook, map via Google Maps
(Updated 9:55 p.m.) Alexandria’s Planning Commission voted to recommend eliminating outdoor music at Hops N’ Shine (3410 Mount Vernon Avenue) and the restaurant owners faced some withering rebukes from Planning Commissioners.
The bar failed to get a recommendation for the outdoor live entertainment or outdoor cooking conditions, two of the major components of the special use permit (SUP) application.
Arlandria bar Hops N’ Shine has accrued a devoted local following for its live music and trivia events, but the bar has also drawn the ire of some neighbors when the noise of those events go beyond the confines of the bar. The staff report noted that there have been “17 valid complaints related to violations of SUP conditions”
Owners of Hops N’ Shine noted during the public discussion that the complaints are being challenged in court and asked that the bar be considered “innocent until proven guilty”. Some of the complaints, they said, were the result of misunderstandings as the restaurant struggled to adapt to the pandemic and a post-pandemic environment.
“We have tried to be a good corporate citizen, to live by the rules and abide by the rules,” said Abe Hadjiesmaeiloo, one of the bar’s owners. “I know we have lots of complaints tonight with major issues. Some of the issues with complaints were a misinterpretation on our part.”
Abe said many of those complaints stemmed from one particular neighbor who told him from the outset they aimed to have the restaurant shut down and regularly harassed both customers and staff at the restaurant. Paymon Hadjiesmaeiloo, Abe’s son, said he was concerned about the precedent that could be created if a group of individuals were able to use the complaint system to shut down a local business.
Some on the Planning Commission weren’t buying it.
“There were several violations that were reported here that you were told that outdoor live trivia shows were problematic for the neighborhood and not repeated, yet they continued even after [that],” said Planning Commission Chair Nathan Macek. “We have a record from staff that shows there have been repeated reports of outdoor trivia noise from business after repeated notices of violation and requests to cease the activity. Why did it continue?”
Another owner, C.J. Cross, explained that there was confusion from the city on what was or wasn’t allowed.
“Initially, when we had a complaint about trivia being outside, spoke with the inspector… and he told us we were within what we were able to do with having amplification of trivia outside,” Cross said. “So we were under the belief that we were good to go…Â Since then, after having conversation with city staff and them saying ‘you know what, that might have been told in the past, but that’s not what we now deem as allowed.’ Since that conversation in fall of last year, we have stopped amplification of trivia outside.”
Matt Rofougaran, another owner of the bar, said the outdoor activities have been generally innocuous.
“We sell custom made grilled cheese sandwiches and beer,” Rofougaran said. “We have toys for kids and a whole coloring book page. We do fundraisers for the community. We’re not a nightclub, we’re not ‘throw massive party’ types. We want acoustic music, someone singing ‘Friends in Low Places’…Â When we got a violation for outdoor cooking, you know what we had? Little smore kits for kids to make s’mores.”
But neighbors said granting the requests from Hops N’ Shine would reward bad behavior from the restaurant.
“It has been fairly problematic with respect to the amount of noise that travels over their area,” said Steve Harris from the Mount Vernon Court Community Associations. “One question we would have is: while we appreciate the staff recommendations, they did still reward them by expanding their hours from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m.”
Other neighbors said Hops N’ Shine has been disruptive for neighbors. One nearby homeowner said they could smell the cigar smoke from Monday cigar nights, hear the trivia hosts on Wednesday nights, and that their children struggle to sleep with the sounds of bar patrons just 15 feet from their bedroom.
Ultimately, the Planning Commission voted to mostly stick with the staff recommendation — approval on paper, but with much of the requested improvements gutted.
Under staff’s recommendation, all windows and doors must remained closed during indoor live entertainment, and outdoor cooking and outdoor live entertainment permissions as denied — though permits can still be obtained for individual events.
Addressing the restaurant owner’s claims that what constituted live outdoor entertainment was unclear, the staff report lists “live music, game/trivia nights, movie nights, classes/workshops/meetings fundraising events and any such similar events.”
“I think, if there has been misinterpretation of the standards and expectations of the city, tonight they stop,” said Planning Commissioner Mindy Lyle. “It should be very clear what our expectations are for a business. Mr. Macek and I have been two of the most supportive for expanding restaurant hours and expanding restaurant opportunities. I remember voting in favor of your expansion last time. I want to say: I think that might have been an incorrect decision.”
Lyle said, despite Hops N’ Shine owners protesting that the complaints were miscommunications or neighbors with a vendetta, the number of violations are still concerning for Planning Commission members.
“[There are] 17 violations, whether they’re proven in court or not,” Lyle said. “Don’t tell me that staff is 100% wrong in issuing them. Staff is very careful in issuing violations and many times they err on caution and don’t jump the gun, because they know there are consequence to those actions.”
Macek said the approval still offers some flexibility to the business, but didn’t mince words regarding the Planning Commission’s frustrations.
“I think there has been egregious behavior by this applicant with respect to the operation of their business,” Macek said. “This is highly unusual that we’d have a business with 17 violations documented… Â The egregious performance here justifies revoking their right to have outdoor amplified sound.”
While owners of the restaurant said many supporters in the community signed their endorsement of the bar’s plans, Planning Commissioner Melissa McMahon said those voices don’t necessarily weigh as heavily in this matter as neighbors’ do.
“Your best friend doesn’t make your best roommate,” McMahon said. “What I’m hearing tonight is that living compatibility, this restaurant’s living room backs up to a bunch of other people’s living rooms… The hundreds, potentially thousands of people who would write in support of you as a business, as a member of the wider community: legit perspective, but those are the people that love you because they don’t have to live with you… The people you do have to live with, you have to find a way to live side by side.”
The application heads to the City Council for review on Saturday, June 17.
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.
The staff report noted that The Rutherford is the first application within the Beauregard Small Area Plan to use the increase in density in exchange for housing approved back in 2020. The practice was a longstanding one for developments in Alexandria, but The Rutherford is the first in the Beauregard area to use the new official guidelines.
“The applicant noted that the proposed project is the first application within the BSAP to involve an increase in density following the adoption of the 2020 Housing Policy Update and underscored its efforts to maximize the total affordable housing contribution,” the report said. “Pursuant to the BSAP, developer contributions are charged on net new development and are intended to offset plan-wide and neighborhood-specific impacts to infrastructure, public facilities, affordable housing, and other city priorities by new development.”
The project is also set to have 405 parking spaces in two levels of underground parking. A presentation on the project notes that city staff are currently recommending approval of the project.
The project’s development special use permit, coordinated sign permit and transportation management plan are scheduled for review on Tuesday, June 6.
(Updated at 4:10 p.m.) Alexandria is one step closer to the demolition of the NRG Potomac River Generating Station site in Old Town North.
On Saturday, City Council unanimously endorsed the plant owner’s Coordinated Sustainability Strategy, which outlines a plan to electrify the future mixed-use development slated to be built there.
Next month, City Council will conduct a public hearing on Hilco Redevelopment Partners’ (HRP) infrastructure development site plan, which details its proposal to build a mixed-use district. HRP plans on analyzing special use permits for the property between now and 2026.
Mayor Justin Wilson said that the project will be instructive for future projects.
“When’s the thing going to get knocked down?” Wilson joked to Hilco. “Today? Tomorrow?”
“If you could advance all of the approvals necessary, we’ll get started even faster,” replied Hilco’s attorney Mary Catherine Gibbs.
The plan to convert the property from district energy and combined heat and power systems to electric district energy and microgrid systems will mean all-electric building systems.
“Electrification of primary building systems ensures that there is a future pathway to carbon neutral operations while simultaneously delivering a high level of building performance and comfort,” HRP said.
HRP reported it will have to overcome a pandemic-induced severe supply chain backlog for critical equipment such as transformers, however.
HRP anticipates demolition could start next year. The former power plant first opened in 1949, shut down in 2012, and was acquired by HRP in 2020.
The site needs extensive remediation after leaky storage tanks bled pollutants into the soil.
The coal-fired power plant also severely polluted the air, according to HRP:
The facility emitted 3.15 million metric tons of CO2e annually, among other contaminants, or nearly 200 million metric tons of CO2e over the course of its operation. Concerned citizens hired scientists to study the power plant’s pollution, which triggered local and state investigations into the site. Air quality studies found that the plant violated national ambient air quality standards for sulfur dioxide, particulates, and nitrogen oxide.
The eventual redevelopment will occur in three phases, each consisting of two blocks, beginning with blocks “A” and “B” at the southernmost portion of the property. HRP proposes 80% of the buildings in blocks A, B and C to be residential development with 20% dedicated to commercial spaces
The project includes 14.2 acres of new or improved open space and people can share their vision for the open spaces in a survey that is active until May 31.
“At its core, the project is the removal and remediation of a power plant,” Dustin Smith, the city’s green building manager, told Council. “Following a decade’s long community process to achieve this, the redevelopment will bring with it stormwater and transportation infrastructure improvements and additional areas of open space to the Old Town North neighborhood.”
In its sustainability strategy documents, HRP said that the development will be transformed into a “vibrant, urban, mixed-use community that will include office, residential, arts, hotel, entertainment, retail, and restaurant use.”
“The property will be reconnected to the surrounding Old Town North neighborhood through the extension of the existing street network and the seamless integration of new publicly accessible parks with existing and future public open space,” the developer wrote.
“The site will be accessible through public transportation, the pedestrian and bicycle network, and will engage the adjoining uses and buildings, offering Alexandria the ability to showcase forward thinking urban and sustainable planning and development,” it continued.
Images via City of Alexandria
A new zoning request for an Arlandria ghost kitchen provided an update on an approved use that’s been haunting the northern edge of the city since 2021.
Applicant 1033 W Glebe Road ALX is requesting a permit to allow a sign to be built along W Glebe Road that will direct visitors to the kitchen tucked behind the back of a strip mall at 1033 W Glebe Road.
The new 32-square-foot sign is a fairly inoffensive change — unlikely to stir up the kind of controversy nearby music venue The Birchmere went through with its sign change — and staff expressed support in a report on the new sign.
The main item of note in the report is that, while the site has not opened, the plans for the ghost kitchen aren’t dead:
On July 1, 2021, Special Use Permit (SUP) #2021-00049 was approved for an administrative new use to allow the applicant to operate a restaurant, which consists of 24 separate commercial kitchens operated by restaurateurs, who prepare food for carry-out and delivery to individual customers. As of the writing of this report, the space for the applicant is still under construction, and improvement to the driveway and parking lot has not been finalized. When completed, the restaurant and American Co-packers will each occupy approximately half the building.
The building will have a lobby space to accommodate food pick-up for customers, but there will be no indoor dining. The kitchen will operate from 7 a.m. to midnight — and sometimes until 4 a.m. — seven days a week.
“The multiple commercial kitchen concept serves as a restaurant incubator for individual chefs, entering the restaurant market,” the report said.
The permit for the sign is scheduled for review at the Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday, May 2.
A massive plan to demolish the Montgomery Center in Old Town North unanimously passed through the Alexandria Planning Commission on Thursday night.
The two-acre project would demolish the 1970s-era shopping center and replace it with an eight-story 350,000-square-foot apartment building with 327 residential units, more than 25,000 square feet of retail and a 13,300-square-foot performance venue for up to 600 patrons.
Carr Companies bought Montgomery Center for $35 million from MRW Properties Inc. in 2021. There are about 25 tenants on the property, including The Art League, A La Lucia and Crossfit Old Town. The property is bordered by Montgomery, Madison, N. Royal and N. Fairfax Streets.
Ken Wire, the attorney for Carr Companies, said that tenants are being allowed to stay at the Montgomery Center until the end of 2023.
“We certainly understand and appreciate that change is hard,” Wire told the Planning Commission. “We are understanding that the loss of this building, with the small tenants, is difficult. There are 25 tenants in this space. We negotiated with every single one of them to keep them on the property as long as possible.”
The project includes:
- More than 13,500 square feet of publicly accessible open space in three locations, including a covered paseo connecting visitors from the north to south and connecting the open spaces
- Two levels of underground parking with 406 spaces
- A contribution of more than $900,000 to the Old Town North Streetscape and Implementation Fund
- An affordable housing contribution of $878,000 and 22 committed affordable units
- A $50,000 contribution to Capital Bikeshare
- $39,000 for parking meters
- A contribution of approximately $16,294 to the city’s Urban Forestry Fund
City Council will conduct a hearing on the project on April 15.
Chris Issak, John Waters and Judy Collins are just a few of the dozens of famous artists who petitioned the Alexandria Planning Commission and City Council to approve The Birchmere‘s Special Use Permit request to keep up its flashy new 5-foot-by-2.5-foot digital sign along Mount Vernon Avenue in Arlandria.
The Planning Commission approved the request 7-0 on Tuesday, and it now goes to City Council. Planning Commission Chair Nathan Macek said that the letters with all of the supporting signatures would be “an excellent auction item.”
“Performing artists are now expecting the venues to keep up with the times,” wrote Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Judy Collins. “It is a necessary tool to promote the artists as well as the venue.”
Some requests were simple, like filmmaker John Waters, who wrote, “I am writing to support the Birchmere’s request to be allowed to keep their new LED sign.”
Chris Isaak wrote: “I wholeheartedly support the Birchmere Music Hall in their effort to retain their beautiful new sign. Please help them out… thank you!”
Gary Oelze, the owner of the music hall, erected the large electric sign last summer without city approval, prompting a request from the city manager’s office to go through an official process. Oelze, who was recently named a Living Legend of Alexandria, died last month.
“I think you know we do have a process in place for digital signs,” Macek said. “This is probably a case where they should have come in advance of putting the sign in.”
The Commission also approved a request to keep the sign lit until midnight, as well as the installation of a smaller sign at the entrance of the venue.
The following artists wrote letters in support of the new sign:
- Bela Dona Band
- Karla Bonoff
- Chris Botti
- Norman Brown
- Carbon Leaf
- Judy Collins
- Daryl Davis
- Raheem DeVaughn
- Will Downing
- Charles Esten
- Samantha Fish
- Cathy Fink and Marcy Marxer
- Chris Isaak
- Glenn Jones
- Samara Joy
- Kenny Lattimore
- Maysa
- Musiq Souchild
- The Seldom Scene
- Ricky Skaggs
- Rick Springfield
- Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes
- Storm Large
- Livingston Taylor
- William “Smooth” Wadlaw
- John Waters
- Alyson Williams
- Dar Williams
- Jason D. Williams
