Chamber, City Officials to Speak in Support of Bill to Add State Financing to Potomac Yard Metro

Potomac Yard Metro Tax Increment Bill was introduced by Del. Rob Krupicka (D-45th).

Alexandria city officials and members of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce are scheduled to testify in a state committee hearing Monday in support of a bill to generate state funding for a Potomac Yard Metro station. The Potomac Yard Metro Tax Increment Bill (HB-1650), introduced by Del. Rob Krupicka (D-45th), provides that if an infill Metro station is constructed in a service district in a locality—in this case, the city of Alexandria—then the locality is entitled to retain the sales and use tax revenue generated in the district to pay bonds issued to construct the station. The bill would place a $1.25 million a year cap on the tax revenue retained. The state would support approximately 10 percent of the cost of the Metro construction …

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Alexandria Planning Director Discusses City's Direction [VIDEO]

Faroll Hamer discusses emphasis on walkable, amenity-rich communities with connection to transit.

Faroll Hamer, the director of Alexandria’s Department of Planning and Zoning, discussed current development trends, architecture and transit throughout Alexandria when he visited with the Del Ray Citizens Association last week for a question and answer session. Hamer, who has led the city’s planning department since 2007, said there’s an emphasis on developing “an amenity rich life that you can walk to” built around transit. Those transit options include not just Metro, she said, but three high-capacity transit corridors that are being developed in the city (including the Route 1 BRT) along with other existing modes of transit. “Change is always hard,” she said. “I respect that everyone doesn’t agree with the direction. I think it’s …

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Jennifer Atkins

3:18 pm on Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Joseph - Sorry you had to miss the presentation. The meeting minutes from DRCA will have more details, so if you are a DRCA member, you will be seeing those soon. The Leslie Avenue buildings were mentioned in passing when discussing preservation of art deco buildings, but there was no discussion of anything going on there now.   more ›

Alexandria Planning Director to Speak at DRCA Meeting

Faroll Hamer will participate in a Q&A session at 7 p.m. Monday at Mount Vernon Community School.

The Del Ray Citizens Association is hosting a question and answer session with Alexandria Planning and Zoning Director Faroll Hamer at 7 p.m. Monday at Mount Vernon Community School. DRCA President Bill Hendrickson will lead the Q&A, which will focus on recent land-use development, future expectations and the impact of these decisions have on the city and Del Ray.  "The city has approved a huge amount of development in recent years, a lot of which will affect Del Ray, and more is on the way,” Hendrickson said. “We need to understand these changes and work to influence future land-use decisions in ways that will benefit, rather than negatively impact us." Hendrickson said he will ask questions to Hamer for about 30 minutes before opening …

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Updated: Two Vehicles 'Tire-Jacked' at Potomac Yard

Third vehicle stripped of tires and rims at West End office complex. An attempted wheel theft was reported at Francis Hammond Middle School.

10 a.m. Wednesday update — An attempted wheel theft was also reported Saturday at Francis Hammond Middle School.  "We had an attempted theft of SUV wheels in the Francis Hammond Middle School parking lot behind the gymnasium," according to an email from Mac Slover of the Alexandria Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities. "We believe they were interrupted before they could get the wheels off the SUV." — — — — Three cars were “tire-jacked” in Alexandria on Saturday according to NBC4, including two in broad daylight at the Regal Cinemas at Potomac Yard. Tires were stolen from a Cadillac Escalade and Dodge Charger in the same Potomac Yard lot on Saturday, while a Chevy Suburban was stripped of its tires and rims while parked …

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Second Del Ray Transportation Meeting Set for Jan. 15

Meeting will explore potential traffic mitigation measures.

The City of Alexandria is holding a second meeting to discuss Del Ray-area transportation issues at 6:30 p.m. Jan. 15 at Mount Vernon Recreation Center. The meeting is a follow-up to a Nov. 29 gathering where community members and city staff took some early steps in forming a neighborhood traffic-calming plan. Much of the emphasis was on Route 1 and Potomac Yard impacts on Del Ray. The Jan. 15 meeting will explore in more depth potential mitigation and triggers for mitigation measures. In December, the city and residents secured roughly $30,000 for traffic-calming measures in an approved plan for a new office for the Institute for Defense Analyses at Potomac Yard. The money, which will be used at the discretion of Department of …

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Overlooked: Potomac Yard History

A peek at things in the neighborhood you might miss at first glance.

This week, Del Ray Patch is taking a look at some of the historical markers and other things that might be overlooked in the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Just east of Del Ray, the development at Potomac Yard is quickly coming on line. Pulte, the developer, isn’t doing so without a nod to the past. A plaza located on Main Line Boulevard next to the Pulte sales office contains a series of historical displays telling the history of the Yard and its immediate area, including Del Ray. There’s a focus on transportation, which has greatly shaped the area’s evolution. At the bottom of each panel, a timeline breaks out the important dates of things like the opening of the Washington, Alexandria & Mount Vernon Electric Railway in 1892. …

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Leslie Hagan

2:39 pm on Friday, January 4, 2013

I agree, Kevin.   more ›

Council OKs IDA Office at Potomac Yard

City secures $30,000 donation for traffic-calming measures in adjacent neighborhoods.

Alexandria City Council approved plans for a 370,000-square-foot office for the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) in Potomac Yard Land Bay G Saturday. The office is the first non-residential complex to be approved for the development. The structure, which is located just south of the Target, is expected to be the focal point of a new town center in Potomac Yard. Keeping IDA in Alexandria was seen as an economic development priority by councilmembers. The agency currently works out of an office near BRAC-133 in the West End. The new structure will be composed of two, eight-story towers built on a connected ground floor. It will have a 580-space parking garage consisting of one level below grade and four levels above grade. The 1.88-acre …

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Joseph M.

11:08 am on Thursday, December 20, 2012

http://www.bizjournals.com/washington/breaking_ground/2012/12/pentagon-rejects-post-sept-11.html?&page=all "The Pentagon has eliminated the stringent real estate leasing standards it put into place following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, opting instead for a more relaxed version widely used by federal civilian agencies."   more ›

Join the Conversation: School Board Considering to Zone Potomac Yard to Jefferson-Houston

Recommendation allows families to opt in to some focus schools.

School Board Considering to Zone Potomac Yard to Jefferson-Houston

Recommendation allows families to opt in to some focus schools.

The Alexandria School Board is considering placing elementary school-aged children living in the Potomac Yard area in the Jefferson-Houston School attendance zone. The School Board is planning to vote at its Dec. 20 meeting on a recommendation from Alexandria City Public Schools staff to send children to the Old Town school. The Potomac Yard area, which includes new development along Route 1 and E. Monroe Avenue as well as the Potomac Greens neighborhood (see the attached chart), had not been previously zoned to an elementary school, contrary to belief of many school board members and ACPS staff. “I think we thought all of Potomac Yard was elementary zoned for Jefferson-Houston,” Superintendent Morton Sherman said at Thursday’s board …

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Planning Commission OKs IDA Office at Potomac Yard

Last-minute move secures $30,000 for traffic-calming money specifically for Del Ray.

The Alexandria Planning Commission approved Tuesday plans for a 370,000-square-foot office for the Institute of Defense Analyses in Potomac Yard Land Bay G, just south of where Target is currently located. The proposal will go before the City Council on Dec. 15. The office, the first non-residential building in the Potomac Yard development to enter the city’s approval process, is expected to be the focal point of a new town center. The proposed office is seen by city staff as an important addition to Potomac Yard, envisioned as a mixed-used center that also supports retail and other services. IDA has outgrown its current office, located next to BRAC-133 in the West End. Its proposed Potomac Yard structure is composed of two, eight-story …

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Michael H.

12:23 pm on Saturday, December 8, 2012

91% of commuters in every part of the DC region? No. Perhaps among people in Loudoun and western Fairfax. But in Arlington and DC? Not even close. More than a third of residents in DC don't even own cars. In 2010, only 41% of employed DC residents drove to work. The majority used other forms of transportation, from MetroRail and Metrobus to cycling and walking. (And taxis too, though that was a …   more ›