Breaking Ground in Alexandria – Alexandria Living Magazine

Our annual update on development in the city.
by Alexandria Living Magazine Staff
Sep. 19, 2023
7:19 a.m.
From hundreds of feet underground to hundreds of feet in the air, Alexandria is the site of construction and development projects totaling more than $1 billion. While many of the sites will welcome new residents — including a few significant affordable housing projects — there are also projects in healthcare, education, water and transportation.
“THE BIG THREE”
Duke Street In Motion
Those who travel along Duke Street will see some big changes in the coming years. Construction should start in 2025 on changes to Duke Street from the former Landmark Mall to the King Street Metro station. Construction will include the addition of Bus Rapid Transit dedicated lanes along some parts of the corridor and other changes meant to make the 4.2-mile stretch safer for drivers, bus riders, bikers and pedestrians. Learn more at alexandriava.gov/dukeinmotion.
Embark Richmond Highway
Embark Richmond Highway in the planning phases in Fairfax County. The Richmond Highway project, from the Huntington Metro station to Fort Belvoir, will have dedicated bus lanes and much-improved, safer pedestrian facilities from sidewalks to road crossings. Fairfax County is using eminent domain to make room for the project, which is forcing some businesses to close or move. This is a multi-year project that could be completed as soon as 2030. Learn more at fairfaxcounty.gov.
RiverRenew
Ironically, the biggest and most expensive project in Alexandria is the least visible to residents. The water company Alexandria Renew Enterprises is continuing work on RiverRenew, the project that will separate rainwater from the sewage system to prevent untreated water from entering the Potomac River during big rainstorms. A tunnel boring machine named Hazel is working 100-feet underground to dig new tunnels from the water company’s facility in Eisenhower East to Old Town North. The only visible signs are several small construction sites around the city and the recent installation of seismic meters in historic parts of Alexandria. Learn more at riverrenew.com.
Created by Julianne Woehrle
Development Map 2023
Numbers below correspond to the points on the map above. 
ALEXANDRIA’S WEST END
Foulger-Pratt
Landmark (now known as WestEnd).
1. Landmark – Former Landmark Mall. The former Landmark Mall is gone (except for the parking garage) and construction crews are working on re-grading the 51-acres at Van Dorn and Duke streets to prepare for utilities. Inova will build a new hospital and trauma center on the site, which will start welcoming patients in 2028. The rest of the site will be filled with a variety of retail, residential and civic uses built in phases. The current hospital at Seminary Road and Jordan Street will be demolished after the new hospital opens and will likely be replaced with housing.
2. Across from Landmark – SE corner of Duke and South Walker Street. Directly across from the site of the former Landmark Mall, construction fencing is up around several buildings, including Big Lots, a medical office building and two restaurants. Called Overlook at West End, developer Hekemian has plans to build more than 350 multifamily residential units, 36 townhomes and possibly a hotel on the 8-acre site.
3. Benchmark Senior Living – Intersection of Larchmont and Beauregard streets. Near the intersection of King and Beauregard streets, Benchmark Senior Living will be opening in early 2024. The new assisted living and memory care community will feature hospitality-rich amenities, a penthouse café, wine tasting suite and more. Learn more at benchmarkseniorliving.com.
4. Three Collective – 5203 Leesburg Pike. Mostly built and now seeking ground-floor retailers, the Three Collective includes three buildings in the Skyline neighborhood just south of Target. More than 675 apartments will be available starting in September with amenities including an indoor dog agility park, a bowling alley, demonstration kitchen, recording studio, maker space and more. The 16-story office buildings (now apartment buildings) were built in 1979. Learn more at threecollective.com.
5. Upland Park – Surrounding 5100 Echols Ave. After a delay to accommodate resi-dents, construction has started on the Upland Park development just north-west of the intersection of Beauregard Street and Seminary Road. The neighborhood of small, single-family homes will be demolished to make way for 92 new townhomes. The first of the new townhomes may be available for residents to move into in late 2025 from NV Homes.
6. Residential May Replace Medical Building – 1900 N. Beauregard St. Monday Properties has proposed tearing down a medical office building at 1900 N. Beauregard St. and replac-ing it with a multifamily residential community. The building is one of four similar buildings along the west side of North Beauregard Street all owned by the company, but only one is part of the new redevelopment proposal. Future plans for the other three buildings have not been disclosed. A group of residents is actively opposing elements of the project.
7. Seminary Road Affordable Homeownership Development – 4500 Seminary Rd. Current plans for the 2.8-acre site just east of Fire Station 206 on Seminary Road include 31 townhomes and 5 condominium flats, which will be avail-able for ownership for residents at 80 percent Average Median Income (AMI) or below. An additional 3 flats would be owned and occupied by Sheltered Homes of Alexandria to allow them to continue to serve up to 12 residents. More information is available at housingalexandria.org/seminary.
8. Eisenhower Pointe – Just east of the Victory Center. Tri Pointe Homes is developing about 130 townhomes on Eisenhower Avenue just east of the still-empty Victory Center office building. Affiliates of Stonebridge own the remainder of the property, including the Victory Center itself, and the parking lots to the west of the building. Stonebridge has floated the idea of tearing down the office building in favor of a multi-family residential building, but there’s no timeline for when — or IF — that would ever happen. The Victory Center was designed specifically with a federal government client in mind, but it has been mostly empty for years.
9. Virginia Paving and Vulcan Materials – 701 S. Van Dorn St. At some point in the future, it’s possible that both the 18-acre Vulcan Materials Site at 701 S. Van Dorn St. and the Virginia Paving Co. across the street will turn into park space along Backlick Run and residential developments. The ideas were included in the Eisenhower West Small Area Plan, but any possible development of the properties is still years away.
10. South Van Dorn Plaza Shopping Center – 500 Block of S. Van Dorn St. Any possible redevelopment of the Van Dorn Station Shopping Center, which is home to a variety of multicultural, thriving businesses including La Mart, is also still years away. Like the Virginia Paving and Vulcan Materials sites, ideas for this property and several others in the area were included in the Eisenhower West Small Area Plan, but there do not appear to be specific development projects in the pipeline yet.
11. ParcView II – 5380 Holmes Run Pkwy. In Condo Canyon in Alexandria’s West End, plans are underway to construct a multifamily apartment building with an underground parking garage next to the existing ParcView apartment building at 5380 Holmes Run Pkwy. The existing ParcView will be renovated and connected to the new building. A construction timeline is not yet available.
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CENTRAL ALEXANDRIA
12. MacArthur Elementary School 1101 Janneys Lane. There are several educational projects in development in Alexandria. A brand new school welcomed new students on Janneys Lane this August. Students from Douglas MacArthur Elementary School were using the old Patrick Henry School on Taney Avenue while the new elementary school was built. The Alexandria City Public Schools board has also authorized several other school construction projects in the coming decade. More information on the various Modernization Projects is available through acps.k12.va.us.
13. Minnie Howard School – 3801 W. Braddock Rd. The former sports field at the Minnie Howard campus of Alexandria City High School is a where a multi-story new high school building is under construction now. The old building will be demolished when the new, state-of-the-art building opens for the 2024-25 school year.
14. Lindsey Volvo and Cadillac Dealerships – Intersection of Quaker and Fern Streets. The Lindsay Company has been busy redeveloping its car empire in Alexandria. The car dealership has torn down one of its old buildings and is currently building a new Volvo dealership in its place at 1605 Fern St. (at Quaker Lane). 
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DEL RAY, ARLANDRIA AND POTOMAC YARD
15. Sansé and Naja – 3500 Mt. Vernon Ave. In Arlandria, Sansé and Naja, the two planned affordable housing buildings at the intersection of West Glebe Road and Mount Vernon Avenue, will break ground this year. The project will in-clude 474 units of affordable housing in addition to 36,000 SF of retail and an underground garage. More than 100 of the units will be “deeply afford-able” — attainable for those making 40% of the area median income (AMI). Learn more at housingalexandria.org.
16. Elbert Avenue Project – 3912 Elbert Ave. Less than a mile from Sansé and Naja, Alexandria officials also gave the green light to a redevelopment of the three low-rise apartment building on Elbert Avenue. Community Lodgings has proposed a project would include 96 affordable housing units, with 19 of those dedicated to households at or below 50% of the area median income. 
17. Virginia Tech – Potomac Yard. The biggest educational development project in Alexandria is the long-term development of a $1 billion Virginia Tech Innovation Campus near Potomac Yard. Announced at the same time as the location of Amazon’s HQ2 near Crystal City, the Virginia Tech campus will focus on graduate-level work on technology-based solutions to the world’s pressing problems. Construction is underway on the first academic building, which will open sometime in 2024.
18. Oakville Triangle – Corner of Oakville and Fannon streets west of Potomac yard. A new Inova Healthplex is rising at Oakville Triangle. Nearby, developers are constructing new townhomes, multifamily housing and retail, including a new venue for the restaurant Founding Farmers. The healthplex will open in 2024. 
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OLD TOWN NORTH AND NORTHWEST
19. The Grayson – 1200 N. Henry St. Just south of Oakville Triangle, a new apartment building called The Grayson is under construction at 1215 N. Fayette St. There will be 119 apartments available in the new building. Learn more at graysonapts.com. 
20. Alate Senior Living – 1112 First St. A new senior living community is opening at 1112 First St. Alate Senior Living, designed for active seniors, will open in early 2024. According to the company behind the project, Senior Lifestyle, “Alate Old Town will offer more than 130 beautiful, private apartments bathed in natural light, cozy amenity spaces and a restaurant-style dining room.” 
21. Wythe at Braddock Metro – 715 North West St. The small, single-family homes across North West Street from the Braddock Metro Station have been torn down to make way for a 180-unit multi-family residential building with retail on the lower floow. The project will include 14 affordable units. The project was controversial, as residents brought up concerns about flooding and sewer capacity in the neighborhood.
PT Blooms
805 N. Columbus
22. PT Blooms Development – 805 N. Columbus St. PT Blooms is building a five-story, multi-family residential building of 78 units in the 800 block of North Columbus Street. The project may be completed in late 2024. 
23. The Montgomery Center – 800 of N. Royal St.  Starting in 2024, the one-story brick building known as The Montgomery Center will be demolished to make room for a much larger development. Several small, local businesses will be closing or moving due to the construc-tion. The Art League, which takes up a significant portion of the building, is looking for a new home. The new building may have a live entertainment venue in addition to retail, and apartments above. 
24. Ladrey Senior High Rise – 300 Wythe St. The Ladrey building and a second plot of land at 600 Royal St., both owned by the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA), could be demolished and replaced starting in 2025. “The redevelopment plan calls for demolishing the existing building and constructing a new mid-rise building that will replace all 170 existing units and add a significant number of units that are affordable for people who live and work in Alexandria. The new building will have about 270 units,” according to AHRA.
25. Holiday Inn Express – 808 N. Washington St. The project to tear down the old Towne Motel and construct a new hotel (incorporating a unique, historic home on the property) started back in 2019. The project has been plagued with problems, starting with pandemic delays and continuing through this summer with dozens of quality control inspections of the building’s garage and foundation. Most of those recent inspections have received only a “partial pass,” indicating there are still serious issues to be resolved. The property and its development plans are rumored to be up for sale. It is not clear when or if the hotel will ever open. 
26. Waterman Place – 901 N. Pitt St.  Waterman Place, an office building at the intersection of Montgomery and North Pitt streets, will be torn down and replaced with a residential building with retail and arts on the ground floor. There will be a parking garage below the building. The Carr Companies owns the property. 
27. Samuel Madden Housing – 999 North Henry St. Alexandria officials have approved the redevelopment of Samuel Madden Housing. Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority, Fairstead, Mill Creek Residential and The Communities Group will work together to build more than 530 units of affordable, workforce-rate and market-rate housing, plus retail, community amenities including an ALIVE! food hub, childcare and more.  Information about the project is available at samuelmaddenhomes.com.
28. GenON Plant (the Potomac River Generating Station) 1400 N Royal St.  Hilco Redevelopment Partners will be tearing down the massive Potomac River Generating Station (known to long-time residents as the GenOn Plant) in Old Town North. Once home to a 482-megawatt coal-fired plant, the buildings will be demolished and new residential buildings will take their place along with office space, retail and a significant amount of park space and paths. More information is available at hilcoredev.com/projects/hrp-alexandria.
29. TideLock (Formerly TransPotomac Plaza) – 1055 N. Fairfax St. The American Physical Therapy Association sold its three-building property in 2020 and moved into a new headquarters in the Potomac Yard neighborhood in 2021. Now, Community Three and Whitaker Investment are working to convert the 1980’s office buildings, formerly called the TransPotomac Plaza, at 1033, 1055 and 1111 N. Fairfax Street, into multifamily buildings with an arts and cultural anchor on the ground floor. Learn more at build-tidelock.com.
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OLD TOWN
30.  The Aidan Old Town – Corner of Rt. 1 S and Wythe St. New luxury condos will be for sale soon at The Aidan. The 94-unit build-ing will include junior one-bedroom, one- and two-bedroom units, and amenities such as office space for residents, a dog washing station, a yoga lawn and more. Learn more at aidanoldtown.com.
31.  1101 King St. – 1101 King St. Construction has not yet started but plans are being formulat-ed to convert the office building at 1101 King St. to residences. American Real Estate Partners acquired the building in September 2022 and plans to start construction this year. The building will have about 200 apartments and retail and office space on the first floor. 
32. The Heritage – Southwest Alexandria near Rt. 1 N and  Columbus St. In Southwest Old Town, construction has started on The Heritage. After a controversial series of meetings with the Board of Architectural Review, Alexandria officials gave the green light to redeveloping the garden-style apartment buildings into new, larger buildings. The first phase of construction will include 598 new apartments in two new buildings. About 140 of the apartments will be set aside for Housing Assistance Program-eligible families, with first rights to those who previously lived at The Heritage at Old Town. The project should be completed in 2026. Learn more at heritageredevelopmentinfo.com.
33. Witter Place – Northeast of Witter Fields. On Duke Street, the Witter Place development is in the planning stages. The project, near the Witter recreation fields at 2712 Duke St., will include 94 apartments, all with two or three bedrooms. The apartments would be affordable to households at 40 to 60% of the area median income. There is no construction timeline available from Community Housing Partners yet.
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EISENHOWER EAST AND CARLYLE
34. Meridian 2250 – 2250 Dock Lane in Eisenhower East The Paradigm Companies is developing the second of two buildings at Mill Road and Dock Street in the fast-growing Eisenhower East neighborhood. The 26-story building will have one- and two-bedroom apartments.
35.  765 John Carlyle Dr. – South of Eisenhower Ave. at John Carlyle St.  After multiple rounds of changed plans, TransWestern with Trammel Crow and JM Zell are planning to build a medical facility alongside senior-living residences. The John Carlyle Center for Health & Wellness is a planned 126,000 SF Class-A medical facility connected to 215 residences for seniors. The project has not yet started construction. Learn more at 765JohnCarlyle.com.
36. 2121 and 2111 Eisenhower Ave. – 2100 block of Eisenhower Ave. The office buildings at 2121 and 2111 Eisenhower Ave. may be torn down and rebuilt as residential buildings. In 2022, Alexandria City Council approved the plans for MidAtlantic Realty Partners to build a two-building, 800-unit residential complex on the site, but there has been no visible movement on the project since that approval.
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FAIRFAX COUNTY
37.  The Huntington Club – Indian Drive. The plans to redevelop the massive Huntington Club condos neighborhood have been put on hold. Years in the making, the condo association and developer IDI Group Companies announced this spring they are waiting until market conditions, including interest rates, improve before proceeding with redevelopment. The community features more than 360 garden-style and townhouse-style condos on 19 acres. The redevelopment plans called for creating a community with about 1,500 total units.
Aventon – Huntington Station
38. Aventon at Huntington Station – 5919 N. Kings Hwy. A new apartment building is rising above the Huntington Metro Station. Starting this fall, residents can move into the Aventon at Huntington Station. The large apartment complex, by Lincoln Property Company, includes a sports café, a saltwa-ter resort-style pool, remote working center and more. Learn about it at aventonhuntingtonstation.com. 
39. Lennar Homes at Huntington Crossing – 6239 Shields Ave. Lennar Corp. is working on building a few dozen three- and four-story town-homes on 7.6 acres between Shields Avenue and Quander Road. The property was the site of much-loved Evolution Home, which moved to Alexandria’s West End in 2022. Homes are being sold now.
40. North Hill – 7250 Nightingale Hill Lane. The North Hill development, completed earlier this summer, includes 279 units — a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. The community is geared toward seniors and those looking for affordable options. There’s a 12-acre park on the property.
41. 8850 Richmond Hwy. – 8850 Richmond Hwy. In late 2022, a developer proposed building three multi-unit buildings at 8850 Richmond Hwy. through the Fairfax County Site-Specific Plan Amendment process. The property was zoned for office, retail or hotel/conference center uses, so the residential proposal was unexpected. The site currently is home to the IMP building, an office building that was built in 1987. The proposal is working its way through the slow deliberation process with Fairfax County officials, so any redevelopment is still some years away.
42. Penn Daw Fire Station/Emergency and Supportive Housing – 2801 Beacon Hill Road Fairfax County has chosen the former Hybla Valley Nursery site, at 2801 Beacon Hill Rd., for a new fire station and emergency/supportive housing facility. County Staff recently began the process for selection of architectural and engineering consultants for the design of the overall project. 
43. Franconia Governmental Center – 7091 Beulah St. Fairfax County broke ground on a new Franconia Governmental Center and Kingstowne Regional Library in March of this year. The new facility will open in 2025 and it will include space for the Franconia Police Station, the Franconia District Supervisor’s Office, the Franconia Museum, an Active Adult Center and a new childcare center. The old Franconia Governmental Center, at 6121 Franconia Rd., could be redeveloped into affordable housing.
44. 6801 Telegraph Rd. – 6800 block of Telegraph Road. The federal government is auctioning off the property at 6801 Telegraph Rd., a 10-acre site that includes a 110,000-square foot office building. The property, once home to the Defense Threat Reduction Agency, is next to the U.S. Army Reserve facility. 
45. Rose Hill Shopping Center – 6100 Block of Rose Hill Dr. Combined Properties, the owners of the Rose Hill Shopping Center, are interested in redeveloping the one-story shopping plaza into a mixed-use community with residences and offices above retail on the ground floor. The residents of Rose Hill seem to be largely opposed to this proposal, as evidenced by the many “Save Our Shopping Center” signs on homes nearby. Leases for businesses in the shopping center expire in 2027, so no development would happen until after that year. 
by Alexandria Living Magazine Staff
Sep. 19, 2023
7:19 a.m.
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