The Landmark Mall redevelopment is moving forward and will include the Sears property, Howard Hughes Corp. officials told residents Wednesday evening.
Dozens of people packed a meeting room in Cameron Station to learn more about what’s happening to the nearly-empty West End mall and the 51-acre property it sits on in Alexandria’s West End.
“Howard Hughes now controls the entire site,” announced Howard Hughes Corp. VP Mark Bulmash to applause from residents.
Actual demolition of the mall property may still be a few years away as the planning and design process continue.
“We can now redevelop it as it needs to be. … All the acquisitions, barriers and impediments to redevelopment have been taken care of,” Bulmash said.
Planning Process
The Landmark/Van Dorn Corridor Plan is one of 18 small area plans in the City. Meetings this winter and in 2019 with residents will look at the Landmark Mall section (51 acres) of that Small Area Plan.
The community engagement process will refine the plan and collect ideas for new uses, and discuss how to incorporate more recent City policies regarding traffic safety and transportation.
Wednesday evening’s meeting was the first of four meetings with the community to collect input and answer questions. (Future meetings and additional information will be provided by the City of Alexandria at www.alexandriava.gov/LandmarkVanDorn.)
The Vision
The plans for what is now Landmark Mall are building off of a 2009 Landmark/Van Dorn Corridor Plan that called for a mixed-use center with transit, community open spaces, retail, residential and more. The 2009 vision called for urban scale blocks, a multi-modal network for transportation open space, mixed-use spaces and affordable housing.
Howard Hughes Corp. is a mixed-use developer, not a “mall developer,” Bulmash explained.
“It makes sense for us to build places that people want to go to, and shop and live and play,” Bulmash said. Howard Hughes Corp. also owns much of the Downtown Columbia area in Maryland, the Seaport District in New York, Riverwalk in New Orleans, Summerlin in western Las Vegas and other properties.
Landmark Mall has been designated an Opportunity Zone — a geographic area eligible for special funding strategies and programs to promote redevelopment. City officials are looking at how its designation as an Opportunity Zone could affect funding, investment and timelines.
One of the main questions the re-planning process will be: “How can we make it more integrated into the neighborhood and more safe for people to access?” said Project Manager Ashley Labadie, an urban planner with the Alexandria Department of Planning & Zoning,
At Wednesday evening’s meeting, it was noted that existing challenges include changing the current design’s focus on automobile access and large surface parking lots and deciding how to reintegrate the Landmark area into the surrounding neighborhoods.
Potential improvements include pedestrian crossings across Duke Street either at grade or on an elevated bridge, wider sidewalks, much smaller building setbacks and canopy trees throughout the Landmark Mall area, said Jeff Farner, deputy director in the Alexandria Department of Planning and Zoning. There are also recommendations in the plan for incorporating affordable housing in the Landmark Mall redevelopment.
There will also be a detailed traffic and transportation study as part of the planning process.
Howard Hughes Corp. is trying to keep flexible in responding to the marketplace as it continues its design and planning process. “We’re still exploring a lot of things,” Bulmash said.
“I know people have been frustrated,” Bulmash acknowledged.
