Business & Tech

Arlandria Redevelopment Project Remains On Hold

Developer has yet to submit final site plan for mixed-use project at Mount Vernon Village Center site.

The redevelopment plan for the Mount Vernon Village Center in Arlandria remains stalled more than 18 months after it was approved by Alexandria City Council.

The project—which drew some controversy at the time of its approval in December 2011—calls for demolishing the existing shopping center along Mount Vernon Avenue and replacing it with two, six-story mixed-use buildings that will include 53,000 square feet of street-level retail space and approximately 478 multi-family housing units. Parking for the development—a total of 940 spaces—will be available underground. 

Maya Contreras, an urban planner with the City of Alexandria, said Tuesday at a meeting of the Arlandria-Chirilagua Business Association that the developer has yet to submit a final site plan. The approved permits are valid until 2014, but substantial progress in construction must be shown, otherwise the permits must be renewed. 

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Contreras said a sewer-connection cost increase for new developments in Alexandria is scheduled to take effect in September. She told Patch that could be incentive for the developer to get the project in gear.     

Construction is expected to be phased in two parts. The south end of the current shopping center (where CVS vacated in June 2012) would be razed to construct the first building. MOM’s Organic Market, one of the few remaining tenants in the shopping center, would then move into the new building. 

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The north half of the center (where MOM’s currently resides) would then be bulldozed to make way for the second building. 

The buildings would back up to Four Mile Run Park and to the Birchmere, eliminating the large lot that currently exists to the east of the shopping center.

The development will include 28 affordable housing units available for 30 years. Construction will not displace any residents.

The development is seen as a potential stimulus to spur other redevelopment in Arlandria, including the old Safeway site located at 221 West Glebe Rd.


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