News

The Hotel Heron in Old Town wants to add live DJ entertainment at its rooftop restaurant, according to a plan going before the Planning Commission next week.

The 134-room boutique hotel at 699 Prince Street, near the intersection with S. Washington Street, opened in 2024 and is owned by the Aparium Hotel Group. The hotel’s rooftop restaurant, Good Fortune, opened soon after, and now the hotel owners are asking the city to approve DJ and live music Thursday to Sunday nights.


News

No injuries were reported after a fire at a townhouse on Prince Street in Old Town this afternoon (Thursday).

Alexandria Fire Department crews responded at around 1 p.m. and found a fire on the second floor of a three-and-a-half-story townhouse in the 100 block of Prince Street, near the intersection with S. Union Street. The fire was extinguished around 1:20 p.m., according to radio dispatches. AFD reported on social media at 1:40 p.m. that the fire was out, that no one was injured and asked the public to avoid the area.


News

The owner of a small historic home in Old Town wants to demolish and replace it with a three-level townhouse.

The Board of Architectural Review will consider the proposal at its meeting June 3. The one-story building at 1126 Prince Street is only 22 feet wide by 40 feet deep, and its use has shifted from residential to commercial and back over the years. The building was constructed in 1830 and was assessed at $117,855 earlier this year. The 1,700-square-foot lot was assessed at $385,951, putting the total property value at just over half a million dollars.


Around Town

A three-story Virginia Tech building in Old Town may soon be repurposed into a community center through the work of a Del Ray entrepreneur and creative.

Ashley R. Wood, the founder and author behind the arts-focused workspace Soulo Studios at 2417 Mount Vernon Avenue, is working to bring her next endeavor to life: Lily’s Garden Creative and Cultural Community Center. The prospective center, named after Wood’s 4-year-old daughter, would open at 1021 Prince Street, which is currently part of Virginia Tech’s Washington-Alexandria Architecture Center.


News

Over the last 15 years, yarn shop fibre space (1319 Prince Street) has become a pillar of Old Town’s retail community.

Beyond just its notable exterior mural and unique triangular building, the crafting shop has endured through the rise of online retail, a Metro shutdown, and Covid. This summer, the shop is celebrating its 15th anniversary.


News

Do you take your yoga with coffee or tea?

By this summer, the Harold family of Alexandria want to add a third business in Old Town — Connect & Sip Cafe at 1320 Prince Street. The proposed cafe would be located next door to their PIES Fitness & Yoga Studio at 1322 Prince Street. If all goes well with the permitting process, they’d like to open up by mid-summer.