With construction back on track for the Potomac Yard Metro station, the city has scheduled a groundbreaking ceremony early next month.
The groundbreaking is set for Tuesday, Dec. 19 from 2-3 p.m at the future northwest entrance, near the Regal Potomac Yard movie theater, which is nearing the end of its run. The theater is not included in the new Potomac Yard plans.
(Updated at 1:40 p.m.) With the acquisition of a Clean Waters Act permit, the Potomac Yard Metro station has been cleared to start construction.
On Friday, Nov. 15, the Army Corps of Engineers issued the final permit required for construction on the Metro station to start in the wetlands, staff said at a Nov. 19 meeting. The announcement was followed by a small round of applause from the Potomac Yard Metrorail Implementation Work Group (PYMIG), a group that’s been meeting since 2011 to consider issues related to opening a Metro station in Potomac Yard.
Just a few days after submitting plans for the Virginia Tech site near the North Potomac Yard Metro station, JBG Smith has submitted early concept designs for the development that will replace Target and the other Potomac Yard stores.
While the area is known today as a big-box shopping center and surface parking lot, the majority of the new development will be office and residential spaces in a large grid, the Washington Business Journal first reported. Ten of the buildings will be required to have retail, with optional retail at the southern end of the site.
After a series of community meetings, a public hearing is scheduled next week for a plan that could radically reshape how the city’s DASH bus network operates.
The big selling point of the new plan is that it would increase the frequency of buses in the city’s current and planned high-density corridors, like Potomac Yard and the Landmark/Van Dorn Corridor. In many of these locations, buses would be running at least every 15 minutes all day, every day.
Alexandria is taking another look at the future of Arlandria and Del Ray and how those communities can weather the planned urbanization of the “National Landing” area.
This fall, the city is launching its community engagement for plans to update the 2005 Mount Vernon Avenue Business Plan and the 2003 Long-Term Vision and Action Plan for the Arlandria Neighborhood. The city cites the nearby arrival of Amazon, the Virginia Tech Innovation Campus, and the North Potomac Yard Metro station as looming developments that could start to change the character of the residential and commercial communities to the west.
(Updated at 10:50 a.m.) Plans are starting to take shape for North Potomac Yard.
Virginia Tech has submitted its first concept plan, showing what its Innovation Campus will look like just as the design of the Potomac Yard Metro station nears its final design phase.
A building has been evacuated in Potomac Yard after construction crews struck a large gas line.
The National Industries for the Blind building was evacuated and E. Glebe Road closed between Main Line Blvd and Potomac Avenue due to concerns about the escaping natural gas. Alexandria police and firefighters are on the scene, awaiting crews from Washington Gas to shut off the line.
Suit Filed Over Chicken Slaughterhouse — “The drama over the halal poultry butcher shop coming to Alexandria did not end when city council approved the business’ special use permit on March 26… About a month after the SUP approval, 10 businesses and residents filed a lawsuit against the City of Alexandria and the Alexandria City Council over the decision.” [Alexandria Times]
FBI Releases 2018 Crime Stats — “In Alexandria, violent crime fell from 262 to 260. That includes four murders and nonnegligent manslaughters, down from six in the previous year. Alexandria had 2,482 property crimes total in 2018, the same number reported in 2017.” [Patch]
With a new special use permit in hand, the first iteration of Virginia Tech’s planned campus in Potomac Yard is one step closer to reality.
The plans were approved as part of the consent calendar at the Sept. 14 Alexandria City Council meeting.
In a rare joint meeting of top Alexandria and Arlington officials, the two communities laid the foundation for a closer collaboration on affordable housing.
Alexandria Mayor Justin Wilson and the City Council met with the Arlington County Board last night (Tuesday) at Arlington’s Gunston Community Center after Wilson’s proposal to meet on a flotilla of lashed-together kayaks in Four Mile Run was shot down. There was very little set in stone at the meeting, but the gathering allowed both organizations to set priorities for policy goals as they prepare for Amazon’s HQ2, the new Virginia Tech Innovation Campus, and a new George Mason University School of Computing.
