Preview Public Art for Del Ray Central Nov. 4

Del Ray Central (formerly Mount Vernon Commons) developer, Latitude 38, is conducting a meeting to preview the public art outside the new apartments. The Artist will present her idea and concept for the site that, after a years getting through the planning and financing gauntlet, is quickly materializing before our eyes. This project brings new development that much closer to Arlandria. There is a good project write-up here.

Del Ray Central is located at 3051 and 3061 Mount Vernon Ave. The meeting takes place on November 4th, 2009 at 6:00 at the Mount Vernon Recreation Center (map). We added it to the blog calendar, as well.

Forum on Alexandria’s Strategic Goals for Development and Economic Vitality, Thursday night at 7pm

October 22 Forum to discuss the City of Alexandria's Strategic Goals for Development and Economic Vitality

If you live, work, or do business in the City of Alexandria, you are invited to speak at a public forum about the City of Alexandria's strategic goals for development, redevelopment and economic vitality. The forum will be held Thursday, October 22, 7pm at City Hall in Council Chambers.

Community input is important to the City's current Strategic Plan review and will help shape implementation moving forward. Vice Mayor Kerry Donley and Council Member Paul Smedberg will lead the discussion on this strategic goal: There is Quality Development and Redevelopment, Support for Local Businesses, and a Strong, Diverse, and Growing Local Economy. Individuals who wish to comment at the public forum are asked to sign up in advance and limit their comments to three minutes. Sign up in advance by calling Brandi Collins, Urban Planner, at 703-746-3854, or email brandi.collins@alexandriava.gov.

Participants should address the following questions:

1. What should the City's top three development and economic development priorities be?
2. How should the City measure success as we work on those priorities?
3. What constraints should be placed on development and economic development?

Residents can also submit their comments online at www.alexandriava.gov/StrategicPlanning. For more information, please call Brandi Collins, Urban Planner, at 703-746-3854, or email brandi.collins@alexandriava.gov or visit www.alexandriava.gov/StrategicPlanning.

Celebrate after-school programs: Lights on Afterschool , Thursday - October 22 at 4 PM

Make plans to join Community Lodgings and the Afterschool Alliance to
celebrate the importance of afterschool programs on Thursday October 22nd
at our Lights On Afterschool event!

In communities today, 14.3 million children take care of themselves after
the school day ends. Afterschool programs keep kids safe, help working
families and inspire learning. At Community Lodgings, nearly 80 homeless
and low-income children attend our afterschool program daily – especially
important in a community which ranks first in sexual assaults, homicides
and unemployment rate in all of Alexandria. Join us, along with 7,500+
afterschool programs nationwide, in celebrating our afterschool programs.

Community Lodgings' Lights On Afterschool event will begin at 4:00pm and
will be held at our Family Learning Center at 607 Notabene Drive. We will
be joined by community leaders such as Mayor Bill Euille as well as
principals and representatives from the City so that they can share their
experiences working with Community Lodgings' youth afterschool program.
Please RSVP by Tuesday, October 20th if you are interested in attending. If
you have additional questions about the event, feel free to call us at
703-549-4407 or respond to this email.

Jim Dempsey
Director of Development
Community Lodgings
T: 703.549.4407
C: 919.523.3606
www.communitylodgings.org
http://twitter.com/CommunityLdgngs


Featured in the Catalogue for Philanthropy: "One of the best small
charities in the Greater Washington region."

Potomac Yard Community Workshop, TONIGHT, 6 pm

Plan to attend the community workshop on the redevelopment of Potomac Yard.

When:
Tuesday, October 20
6:00 pm to 6:30 pm (open house)
6:30 pm to 9:30 pm (meeting)

Where:
Charles Houston Recreation Center
901 Wythe Street

Why You Should Be There:

Over the last year, the Potomac Yard Planning Advisory Group and community members have been contributing to creating a vision for the future redevelopment of the Potomac Yard retail center. The vision includes a future Potomac Yard that is built around transit, including a new Metrorail Station, incorporates a vibrant mix of uses and amenities, provides an urban street grid, and is organized around vital open spaces. At the October meeting, attendees will:

View a three-dimensional model and other media that present the current plan proposed to promote the long-term vision for the Potomac Yard retail center.

Meet PYPAG members and City staff, and provide comments and ask questions on the proposed plan.

Participate in focused briefings and discussions on: site design and sustainability, transportation, and open space, civic uses, and housing.

Comments received at the community workshop will inform the final drafting of the Potomac Yard Master Plan, to be released to the public in early December 2009, in anticipation of being heard by the Planning Commission and City Council on the February 2010 dockets.

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Mark Your Calendar for Upcoming Meetings about the Potomac Yard Plan:

Lynhaven Citizens Association Meeting -- Focus on Transportation Issues -- Monday, November 2, 7:00 pm, Cora Kelly Rec Center, 25 W. Reed Ave (Potomac Yard discussion 7:45pm to 8:15pm) (three-dimensional model available for viewing)

Planning Commission Worksession--Thursday, November 5, 6:30 pm, City Hall, 301 King Street, City Council Workroom

Potomac Yard Planning Advisory Group Meeting--Tuesday, November 17, 7:00 pm, City Hall, 301 King Street, Room 1101

City Council Worksession--Tuesday, November 24, 5:30 pm, City Hall, 301 King Street, Room 1101

The Station at Potomac Yard (aka Arlandria's new fire house)

Grand Opening for The Station at Potomac Yard

Join the City of Alexandria for the grand opening of The Station at Potomac Yard, 2801 Jefferson Davis Highway, on Saturday, October 17, at 8:30 a.m. 

Following the grand opening ceremony, tours of the fire station and housing will be available from 9:30 a.m. until noon.  

When national home builders Pulte and Centex joined forces in late 2004 as Potomac Yard Development, LLC (PYD) to acquire and redevelop a 167-acre tract along Route 1 in Alexandria, they hoped to design dense residential neighborhoods that would revitalize and transform the former regional rail center into a walkable urban village, and complement the future mixed-use development planned for other parts of the site (including office, retail, commercial and hotel space, and a town center).  The City of Alexandria, with a great deal of community input, had spent nearly a decade articulating its vision for Potomac Yard, so developing plans that conformed to the City's detailed preliminary concept seemed relatively straightforward. In fact, PYD hoped to create a residential design template that could be replicated, with minor revisions, throughout the Yard.

However, by the spring of 2006, when City staff was reviewing PYD's initial submission (which included three- and four-story townhomes and urban loft structures), it became apparent that the desired layout and size of the proposed development, with its minimal building set-backs and narrow streets and alleys, would present challenges to the City's emergency services delivery system.  To preserve the City's planned urban design concept, and to maintain its own phased development schedule, PYD offered a creative solution to improve response time for the large emergency vehicles that might need to navigate the Yard: PYD would provide a parcel of land adjacent to the first neighborhood, as well as $6.6 million, to construct Alexandria's first new fire station facility in more than 30 years.  City staff and PYD's project team collaborated together to design an innovative mixed-use structure that would combine first floor municipal use, a small retail element, and a four-story residential component above the first floor that contained 44 long-term affordable rental units and 20 apartments with rents affordable to City workers, including first responders and teachers. The City designated Alexandria Housing Development Corporation (AHDC), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit housing development entity, to develop, finance, own and operate the residential and retail components of the project.

Throughout the summer and early fall of 2006, the "Potomac Yard Fire Station-Affordable Housing" project concept was extensively vetted with the public at community meetings and after more than a dozen outreach and information sessions, the project was unanimously endorsed by a mayor-appointed citizen task force.  At the City's option, a fourth bay was added to the fire station to accommodate an expanded stock of emergency and HAZMAT equipment gained by the City after 9/11 and in anticipation of future Fire and EMS departmental needs.  The City agreed to supplement funding for the fourth bay and for added costs associated with the fire facility achieving LEED certification. (The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design/LEED Green Building Rating system is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings).  The project was approved by both Alexandria's Planning Commission and City Council in February, 2007. View a complete history of the planning process to learn all the details about how this unique project was developed and approved.

The productive public-private-nonprofit collaboration among the City of Alexandria, PYD, and AHDC, forged through creation of The Station at Potomac Yard project, has achieved extraordinary results that benefit the whole community by enhancing public safety, meeting critical needs for new infrastructure and affordable housing, and by providing an excellent example of Smart Growth.  In maximizing the use of donated land, incorporating green building design and principles in all components of the building, and in combining uses, including affordable housing close to shopping, amenities, and public transportation, The Station is an outstanding model of sustainable design, construction and livability that the City hopes to replicate again, possibly through other public-private collaborations.