The Arlandrian News Round-up "On the Homefront" Edition

Arlandria Forum at the Birchmere

Watch the video, take the survey
The Arlandria Action Plan Advisory Group heard from a panel of development experts at an event at the Birchmere. Watch the video of the event and take survey to tell the City about your thoughts on Arlandria, before passing it on to your friends and neighbors.

The 4MR Center

Repurposed with a purpose
The Special Use Permit to allow the former Duron building to be used as a community use (as outlined here) passed Planning Commission unanimously last week.  The only concern expressed about the plan was that the City wasn't spending enough to get the much needed community amenity up to par. Next up, the proposal is before City Council this Saturday, June 12th (docket report).  Meanwhile, a team of community heroes has been busy cleaning up the site.

Still cooking
The environmental designed chicken rotisserie restaurant approved for 3401 Mount Vernon Avenue is still progressing.  Word is that everything is still on schedule with construction set to commence in the Fall.  Meanwhile, chicken fans, Popeyes is back in business across the street at 3402.

Alexandria Crossing

Now receiving
Alexandria Crossing, formerly know as Glebe Park, has opened another phase of newly constructed affordable units on Old Dominion Boulevard, while the adjacent -- and sold-out -- market rate homes receive their final touches.  The yet-to-be-completed workforce condos at the site still have a few units on the market, but have otherwise pre-sold well. The affordable apartments on West Glebe Road are due to be completed in July.

Run Restoring
Next Wednesday, June 16th, the next meeting of Four Mile Run Restoration Joint Task Force will offer an early opportunity to review and comment on the engineering designs of the in-stream restoration of the tidal portion of the stream between Route 1 and Mount Vernon Avenue. The in-stream design is on schedule to be completed by the end of the year. The design is at a point where it is ripe for citizen input.

The Task Force will also be reviewing the three stimulating presentations by the finalists in the bridge design competition. The presentations came from three highly qualified design teams. But with money to design the bridge and no money to build the bridge, the Joint Task Force is looking for  ideas about ways to pay for the bridge construction. Getting the bridge built is a key component in the Master Plan. It will set a design standard and serve as a catalyst for future amenities in the corridor. Wednesday's 4MR meeting will be held at the Fairlington Community Center.

The news from Lynhaven
The Lynhaven Courier, the newsletter of Lynhaven Civic Association just out this week, has updates on the Arlandria-Chirilagua Festival coming to Four Mile Run Park (at Commonwealth Avenue) this Sunday June 13th and the recent Ruby Tucker day, honoring the memory of the late local civic activist and dear friend to us all.

“A new day for Arlandria”

Authored by Melissa Garcia

The panel on the Birchmere stage.

Arlandria Action Plan organizers Maya Contreras and Brandi Collins partnered with the Alexandria Economic Development Partners (AEDP) to host the Arlandria Developers Forum at the Birchmere. The group gathered on Monday May 17th to discuss challenges and opportunities to redevelopment in Arlandria. (Video of the forum is available on the City of Alexandria website here).

A ‘been there, done that’ skepticism gave way to enthusiasm as the panel of developers -- experts involved in well regarded projects throughout the DC metro area -- discussed ways to synergize community involvement and City commitment to leverage what they consistently referred to as a vibrant, affordable area.

Longtime business owner Gary Oelze of the Birchmere, who hosted the event, challenged the group to execute change in the area. “I’ve been here for a long time.  I started the Birchmere 44 years and brought it Arlandria rather than Shirlington or Clarendon. I've seen 4 or 5 of these planning committees before. We would LOVE to see something happen and to be a part of it."

Val Hawkins, President of AEDP jump-started the meeting with his response, “It’s a new day for Arlandria.”

The developers shared their vision of Arlandria reaching its potential. Developer Jair Lynch, from Jair Lynch Development Partners felt the close proximity of the Birchmere and Four Mile Run Park could spawn an artist community and would be conducive for free concerts. “It is good to find a neighborhood right on the edge, trying to define itself.” Cameron Pratt of Fouglar-Pratt thought restaurants featuring live musicians would do well in the neighborhood. “This (the Birchmere) is one of the top music venues in the nation.”

The lack of transportation infrastructure was seen as a major hindrance by both the panel and the audience. Connie Ring, representing the recently redeveloped Alexandria Crossing said, “The key is to find solutions to the transportation issue. The best environment for public housing residents is to be in a vibrant community with access to transit.” Pratt felt obstacles to accessibility imposed limitations on development “Transportation and infrastructure keep it from being a Shirlington or Clarendon. “ Lynch concurred. “If we had a cut through, that would be a game-changer.”

Mayor Bill Euille, felt the group should provide for sustained diversity as property owners, the city, and developers come up with something that can be implemented. “We want something positive to happen – it’s been a long time in the making.”

Predictably, representatives from Tenants and Workers United balked at the prospect of development, asserting low income residents would be priced out of the neighborhood.

Census bureau statistics contradict that fear: turnover rates in Arlandria are the highest in the city (35% of Arlandrians move year). And with only 10% of the Arlandria population remaining for 5 or more years, more than 90% of the current renters will no longer live here by the time redevelopment occurs. Additionally, there is a long standing commitment to support the many, various subsidized housing projects throughout Arlandria and to create new affordable units in any new development. And since Arlandria residents have the longest commute time in the City, bringing businesses and jobs to the community could go a long way toward stabilizing the neighborhood. The collective impression of the panel was positive - that the small improvements and development would improve the livability of the neighborhood while maintaining the diversity that gives Arlandria its character.

The group was left with a thought-provoking question from the panel: “What do YOU want Arlandria to be?”

“What we learned and discussed were existing hindrances to redevelopment, existing opportunities and assets, and strategies that can strengthen the ‘sense of place’ in Arlandria and encourage appropriate redevelopment. Our panelists re-affirmed that selecting and implementing these strategies will require the collaboration and partnership of the community, property owners, developers, and the City,” said Contreras.

Vision from the Arlandria Plan, 2003

The organizers and expert panelists were all clear that without community involvement, Arlandria revitalization could continue to stall. If you are interested in seeing the vision of ‘”A new day for Arlandria” become a reality, please start by watching the video, taking this survey, and passing it on to your friends and neighbors. Please share your comments and ideas here in the comments section of the Arlandrian. If you would like to be involved in executing some grass-roots initiatives locally or representing Arlandria at upcoming council meetings, contact Melissa, Kevin or Nick here on the Arlandrian blog or at: info@arlandria.org.

What's Happening at Glebe Park

Activity abounds at the Glebe Park project. The buildings slated for replacement were leveled in anticipation of Friday's groundbreaking. There were a couple articles on the site last week, as well -- one before and one after last Friday's groundbreaking ceremony.

First, DCMud put out an article discussing the Glebe Park Project early in the week (link to article). They announced the groundbreaking that occurred Friday and gave an overview of the project. Eight buildings in total were leveled, with 2 others gutted for a complete overhaul. In all, the end result will be 102 new and renovated units. Most will be 2 and 3 bedroom, ranging from about 1000 sqft to 2000 sqft. The 10 biggest units will be sold at market rate, with 8 others sold as work-force (moderate income) housing. The remaining 84 are slated to be low-income public housing run by the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Agency (aka ARHA).

Following the groundbreaking, AlexandriaNews.org posted the only summary of the event that I could find (link to article). There are some inaccuracies (misquoted two officials as saying the development was "mixed-use" instead of "mixed-income") and omissions (Rob Krupicka was left out of the summary, even though he was mentioned by speakers as instrumental to getting the project done), but it summarized the event and briefly talked to the history of the project.

A little more history

This project (now dubbed "Alexandria Crossing" according to signs that have been erected along West Glebe Road) has been far from controversial. Some 40+ units of below market-rate housing were moved from one concentrated below market-rate housing area (Parker Gray) to another (Arlandria). An expressed ARHA goal is to deconcentrate low-income housing, and this project did little towards that goal. Arlandria is home to numerous non-profit organizations -- several immediately adjacent to Glebe Park -- that provide low-income residents with housing and assist with career services (see chart here, but make sure to read the footnote). The mix of incomes, races, and cultures in the neighborhoods of the North End provide much of the eclectic energy of the area, but over-concentration of public and other below market-rate housing often leads to increased crime and decreased quality of life for all residents. Indeed, in the 1990s, Alexandria City Council adopted Fair Share housing goals that promised to promote HUD's mandate to affirmatively further fair housing by placing new affordable housing units in neighborhoods that aren't already poor or primarily minority. While the City's Community Service Board still follows that mandate with respect to assisted living and group homes, ARHA has not been as cooperative. Glebe Park will be a (much needed) significant upgrade to the substandard housing that got the wrecking ball, and it provides much needed affordable housing, but it is far from the ideal scenario.

ARHA is in a rush to get back to management of 1150 public housing units, the number that under City Council Resolution 830, ARHA and the City agreed to preserve since the 1970s. Preferably, ARHA and the City would have worked with developers to incorporate more below market-rate housing into new and ongoing projects throughout the city. More often than not, developers have the option to pay out of the obligation and often do. There should be a covenant to the below market-rate sidestep that only allows such exceptions in areas that have a high concentration already . The folks that worked on the Arlandria Plan back from 1998 to 2003 knew this and hoped to set the standard. Their vision led to re-zoning of the Arlandria CDDs (Coordinated Development Districts) that required 10% of any new development be slated for affordable housing. Their hope was that no neighborhood would turn its back on its affordable housing obligations and as neighborhood planning processes proceeded, such provisions would become commonplace throughout Alexandria. Instead, ARHA and other non-profit providers sought City financing to increase the number of affordable and public housing units in Arlandria, while successive neighborhood plans stayed silent about affordable housing provisions elsewhere. Even just a few months ago, the Landmark Gateway project was approved under the new approved Landmark/Van Dorn plan with hardly any affordable housing incorporated into it.

Discussions about affordable housing throughout Alexandria have to be more substantive that just a few photo ops (which is how the Alexandria Gazette Packet covered last week's groundbreaking -- see above), but I'll save a discussion of managing public and below market-rate housing more holistically (that is, something much better than Resolution 830) for another day. Let's just say the goal should be to improve the quality of life for residents of those properties and their neighbors, not to preserve ARHA's political power for its own sake.

City Council Defers Glebe Park Bridge Loan Decision

I listened to the audio of this portion of last night's City Council meeting and was going to do a quick write-up, but AlexandriaNews.org beat me to it. Here is their summary of what happened in discussion about Docket Item 22 ("Consideration of a City Bridge Loan to Enable the Redevelopment of Glebe Park to Proceed").

Essentially, Council deferred a decision until this Saturday's hearing (May 16) because no ARHA representation showed up. In fairness to ARHA (I'm practicing the golden rule, here), they were told it would likely be 8:30pm before Council got to docket item 22, then Council flew through the docket.

If all proceeds, Glebe Park in the Arlandria area will begin pre-demolition activities as early as next month, according to EYA representative Brian Jackson (EYA is the developer for ARHA on this project).

Meeting with City Council Candidate Frank Fannon

Members of Lennox Place at Sunnyside and Hume Springs Citizens Associations met with Republican candidate for Alexandria City Council Frank Fannon last night. We met and discussed Arlandria community concerns for over an hour, ensuring he left aware of some of the key issues.

We began by discussing the Alexandria Aces, Alexandria's new collegiate summer league baseball team that plays in Four Mile Run Park (on the baseball diamond shown in our banner, actually). Mr. Fannon and Patrick Malone were both instrumental in bringing baseball to Alexandria.

We then got into the key topics:

• Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) shortcomings. Residents listed a littany of complaints about ARHA and their horrid mismanagement of Glebe Park (dangerous mold problems (see on youtube), code violations, etc). Community members also discussed the problems with selection of ARHA property residents. Despite the long waiting list for affordable and low-income housing, disruptive individuals are often selected and allowed to negatively impact those trying to turn their lives around. Mr. Fannon acknowledged that he had heard complaints about ARHA wherever he went in Alexandria.
• In order to improve the area drastically and soon, city council needs to remove hurdles for redevelopment of the Safeway/Datatel site. Additionally, to spur future improvements, the city needs to form additional CDDs on nearby property (specifically along W. Glebe Rd and on Mt. Vernon between W. Glebe and Commonwealth Ave). Mr. Fannon was somewhat skeptical of what could be done with the current economy, but residents brought it to his attention that other projects in the area are moving forward. The Safeway/Datatel site is not, largely due to the overly restrictive way that it was written. Mr. Fannon did point to the fact that he wants to clear the hurdles for businesses to establish in Alexandria. Alexandria can be a difficult place to establish a business due to strict regulations.
• Other issues raised were support for local police and code enforcement efforts and reducing the ratio of below market-value to market-value housing in Arlandria. Residents pointed out that Alexandria has the highest ratio of below-market to market-rate housing in the city, yet the Safeway/Datatel site requires a 10% set-aside for affordable/low-income housing, which would further skew this figure.