Resident Group Opposes Proposed Development In Southwest Old Town

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Residents in the southwest quadrant of Old Town Alexandria are voicing opposition to a proposed residential redevelopment of the existing Heritage at Old Town buildings.

The current 244-unit Heritage at Old Town garden-style and mid-rise apartments would be developed into three mixed-income multifamily residential buildings on three blocks, totaling 750 units. The proposed development would preserve 140 federally-subsidized housing units and provide 55 additional affordable housing units. The floor area ratio is proposed to increase to 3.03 square feet in the residential multifamily zone.

The locations of the proposed buildings are 416 South Alfred Street, 431 South Columbus Street; 901 Gibbon Street, 450 and 510 South Patrick Street, and 900 Wolfe Street. Block 2 and portions of Block 1 are within the Old and Historic Alexandria District.

The Planning Commission is set to have a hearing on Feb. 2, and City Council will have a hearing on Feb. 20.

In response to the proposal, over 80 neighbors and residents formed the Citizens Association of the Southwest Quadrant (CASWQ) to oppose the redevelopment plan. The association believes the building designs are not compatible with the neighborhood asks the developer to redesign the project and scale down the building height.

"The concerns the residents have is that these proposed buildings would be inconsistent with character and charm of Old Town Alexandria," said Stafford Ward, a representative of CASWQ, in an email to Patch. "Property owners such as myself moved to Old Town so we would not be surrounded by tall and dense apartment buildings that are found in Ballston, and in other parts of Arlington."

Furthermore, CASWQ believes the development exceeds the South Patrick Street Housing Affordability Strategy's maximum building heights of 55 feet and floor area ratio of 3 square feet. Ward says the current Heritage buildings have one 62-foot building parallel to South Alfred and South Columbus Streets, and the other buildings have heights of 40 to 50 feet. The proposed development has a maximum height of 80 feet with building heights for each block ranging from 45 feet to 80 feet, and the proposed floor area ratio is 3.03 square feet.

"A building of this height, mass, and density would set a precedent for future developments in the Quadrant likely for the remaining six other development sites highlighted in the South Patrick Street Housing Affordability Strategy," said Ward.

A city staff report on the proposal attributes the 3.03 square foot floor area ratio to a density bonus allowed with affordable housing. On the building height, the staff report states, "per the SPSHAS and the Zoning Ordinance, buildings (or portions thereof) with maximum allowed heights above 50 feet are eligible for the application of bonus height up to 25 feet with the utilization of Section 7-700 [of the city’s zoning ordinance]."

Ward said residents are also concerned that the development's potential 750 new residents would exacerbate the already congested traffic heading to Interstate 95, the Capital Beltway and I-295. Each proposed building would have a two-level underground parking garage and an off-street loading dock.

CASWQ formed during the summer, when many of the participating residents first learned the development was being planned. As the Board of Architectural Review held its first concept review and demolition permit hearing on July 15, 2020, CASWQ members wrote to board members.

"As we formed our community group, we learned that many residents living in close proximity of the Heritage did not receive any notice of the demolition to take place in the fall of 2021," said Ward.

When the board decided to allow demolition of the current Heritage property, over 200 Southwest Quadrant property owners signed a petition appealing the board's decision. City Council voted in October to uphold the board's decision.

However, the board has not voted on the development's concept despite reviews on multiple dates. As reported by Alexandria Times, board members criticized development renderings and the project's architect. Although the concept review by the board is voluntary, the Planning Commission typically takes recommendations from the board on concept reviews before reviewing the concept themselves.

Ward said residents in CASWQ are not opposed to affordable housing. The association would support a development like the Clayborne apartment community.

"A development of no more than 55-feet with a mix of both market rate and affordable housing units would satisfy the interests of all parties involved in this development plan, and still adhere to the City’s South Patrick Street Housing Affordability Strategy."

With the Planning Commission and City Council set to hold hearings, CASWQ has a few key objectives. The residents want the city to restrict the Heritage redevelopment to buildings of no more than 55 feet in height, reject the developer’s request to extend the height of the buildings per Section 7-700 of the City’s Zoning Ordinance, make public traffic, shadow, environmental, and school capacity studies available to residents of the Southwest Quadrant; and guarantee "right of return" to the tenants at the current Heritage buildings.

"Many of those tenants receive rental assistance from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and are immigrants who do not have a strong command of the English language," said Ward. "We want to ensure that their rights are respected under the state laws set forth by the Virginia Department Housing Authority."

The city staff report indicates construction of the development would happen in two phases. The first phase would involve the demolition and redevelopment of Blocks 1 and 4, and the second phase would involve the demolition and redevelopment of the Block 2 mid-rise building. For phase one, the applicant would move 70 of the 140 tenants with a Housing Assistance Payments (HAP) contract from Blocks 1 and 4 to Block 2, and 40 additional households would move off-site. The remaining 30 HAP households live in the Block 2 mid-rise building.

Upon completion of the first phase, all 140 HAP contract affordable tenants will be offered the right to return to the new buildings on blocks 1 and 4. When the second phase is complete, new affordable units will be located in all three blocks.