Archive for 'Development'

Opinion: No one waterfront plan will ever please all

Opinion: No one waterfront plan will ever please all

To the editor: I write this having read many articles and opinion pieces about the waterfront proposals. The Alexandria City Council, Citizens for an Alternative Alexandria Waterfront Plan and the waterfront plan work group all have [...]

Opinion: What’s the rush on the waterfront?

Opinion: What’s the rush on the waterfront?

To the editor: Maybe I missed it, but nowhere in the present waterfront contretemps do I recall the urgency for this significant project. Really, why now? What’s the rush? The world will not come to an [...]

Opinion: In redevelopment, as in life, hindsight is 20/20

Opinion: In redevelopment, as in life, hindsight is 20/20

To the editor: In 1967, newly married and new to Alexandria, I was anxious to open a retail shop. My husband and I began touring spaces and wandered into a small, empty building on the 300 [...]

Opinion: Who says Arlandria should be an immigrant area for all eternity?

Opinion: Who says Arlandria should be an immigrant area for all eternity?

To the editor: “Homogony”? “Stakeholders”? “Gentrification fears”? “Chirilagua”? “Tenants and Workers United”? In the interests of diversity you think that the miserable, sad dated strip mall in Arlandria should be preserved? Really? It should be redeveloped [...]

Opinion: Decision against Arlandria residents evokes the Jim Crow era

Opinion: Decision against Arlandria residents evokes the Jim Crow era

To the editor: The weekend vote approving the massive new development in Arlandria is but another example that citizens are marginalized. Their input doesn’t count. The city that belongs to us has been hijacked by a [...]

Opinion: Arlandria redevelopment represents progress

Opinion: Arlandria redevelopment represents progress

To the editor: For years now I have been a proponent of two things: the addition of affordable housing and urban revitalization through the use of approved zoning ordinances and special use permits. Sometimes, one is impossible when [...]

Despite protests from residents, city council approves Arlandria-Chirilagua redevelopment

Despite protests from residents, city council approves Arlandria-Chirilagua redevelopment

The Alexandria City Council voted 6-to-1 Saturday to approve two apartment and retail buildings in Arlandria despite protests from residents of the mostly immigrant, low-income community. The six-story, 600,000-square-foot structures will replace Mt. Vernon Village Center, [...]

Gentrification fears fuel debate in Arlandria

Gentrification fears fuel debate in Arlandria

City planners and developers have long viewed Arlandria as a neighborhood in need of a facelift, but as two massive, six-story buildings move closer to reality, local residents worry gentrification is on the horizon. Arlandria, a [...]

Citing ethics, city attorney denies legal advice to waterfront opponent

Citing ethics, city attorney denies legal advice to waterfront opponent

City Attorney Jim Banks says threats of a lawsuit against the city’s proposed waterfront plan kept him from advising former Vice Mayor Andrew Macdonald on how to block rezoning of the Potomac shoreline. Macdonald, co-founder of [...]

Valuable, underused waterfront food pavilion closes

Valuable, underused waterfront food pavilion closes

City officials hope a new restaurant or better-conceived food court will revitalize the Torpedo Factory food pavilion, a potential attraction at the marina for residents and visitors. The pavilion’s lessee, RealCo Group, forced out the building’s [...]