Work Begins on Potomac Yard Giant Grocery Store

Construction began last week on a six-story, mixed-use development in Potomac Yard that will include 253 residential units and a 69,000-square foot Giant grocery store.

The development is being built just off Route 1 and north of Alexandria Fire Station 209 on Main Line Boulevard between E. Glebe Road and Seaton Avenue. The mixed-use project will be located near the town center of Potomac Yard and have two-and-a-half levels of underground parking for residents and grocery store customers.

Twelve of the residential units will be reserved at an affordable rate.

The Giant will consume most of the ground floor of the development and is expected to include a Starbucks, bakery, pharmacy and an outdoor cafe at the corner of E. Glebe Road and Main Line Boulevard.

The construction of the Giant in Potomac Yard, which won’t open for about another two years, will put three Giant stores within a small area in the northeastern section of the city, including one on E. Monroe Avenue in Del Ray and another on First Street in North Old Town. Another Giant sits on S. Glebe Road just north of the Arlington County border.

While Giant has not said they will be vacating any of their current Alexandria locations, they could be up for bid in the near future.

Alexandria Economic Development Partnership officials said they have shopped the 20,000-square-foot E. Monroe Avenue space to several potential retailers, including The Fresh Market.

The Greensboro, N.C.-based grocer is preparing to open a location at Bradlee Shopping Center in 2014.