Alexandria is making great strides with investment in new transit corridors and “complete streets” with bike lanes, better sidewalks, and safer crossings. More bike lanes, in particular, will help support the growing number of people who bike to work and around town, including those using Alexandria’s new Capital Bikeshare stations. Redevelopment plans are in place for Braddock Metro, Potomac Yard, the Beauregard Corridor, and parts of the Eisenhower Valley. With the continued attractiveness of the city, Alexandria is also seeking to partner with developers to preserve and expand the supply of affordable housing.
Alexandria Waterfront Redevelopment
We’ve followed the debate, considered the arguments, and reviewed the data. After careful consideration, CSG has announced its support for zoning changes to allow the Alexandria Waterfront Redevelopment plan to move forward. The zoning changes allow the city more control over development with the legal clearance to go forward with or without the plan – and we believe the plan will lead to a better outcome in the long run.
Alexandria’s Beauregard Corridor
Alexandria’s Beauregard Corridor is a neighborhood of garden apartments and traditional office-park buildings that just completed a major public planning review. The corridor represented a significant planning challenge, given the new Department of Defense Mark Center and past zoning decisions that made the redevelopment of the existing garden apartments inevitable. We participated in planning meetings over a two-year period, reviewed the complex issues and determined that the city’s proposed plan was the best way to go.
Working with our volunteer activists and consulting with affordable housing advocates, we urged our supporters and partners to speak up for the Beauregard plan. The city approved the plan in May 2012 and the result will be a mixed-use, walkable neighborhood with transit, shopping and service improvements. Thanks to advocacy efforts and city officials, the plan will include 800 long-term committed affordable apartments to make sure the area remains an inclusive one.
Affordable Housing in Alexandria
Alexandria has lost a large number of market-rate affordable housing units amid the boom in demand to live closer to the core of the region. The city has been studying ways to preserve existing affordable housing and to add new affordable units in conjunction with redevelopment, including using its housing trust fund and partnerships with the private sector. The Beauregard Corridor plan will team the developers and the city to provide 800 units of long-term, committed affordable housing. Separately, the city is redeveloping public housing and under Resolution 830 mandates one-for-one replacement of public housing units in redevelopment projects.
Smart Growth Projects in Alexandria
In recent years, Alexandria has partnered with the community in creating transit-oriented plans for a number of areas in the city. In addition to the recent Beauregard plan, the city has approved new plans for Potomac Yard, Braddock Metro, and Eisenhower East. Meanwhile, the future of Landmark Mall and Eisenhower West are still being evaluated.
The new Potomac Yard plan improves upon an older plan while maintaining the walkable grid of streets, adding the Route 1 transit corridor (either Bus Rapid Transit or Streetcar) and potentially relocating the future Metro station to a site closest to the areas of highest planned density. The Braddock Road Metro neighborhood plan is already resulting in new residential and retail projects transforming an area of warehouses into a revitalized community with public spaces and parks, and pedestrian and bicycle-friendly streets. The Eisenhower East plan is expanding upon the Carlyle redevelopment and bringing new residents and retail life to the area.
