Image via Google Maps
Trying to find a parking spot in Old Town on a nice summer evening or a weekend can sometimes feel impossible — and may be getting harder.
Eleventh Street Development, LLC is looking to demolish a 75-spot parking garage at the corner of Union and Duke Streets and replace it with six townhomes. The proposal is set to go before the Planning Commission in September.
But there's hope — at the same meeting, Hotel Indigo, across Union street from the proposed garage redevelopment, will present a proposal that could help mitigate loss from the new townhomes. Carr Properties, which owns the hotel building, is hoping to change part of their 69-spot parking garage under the hotel for public or other third-party use.
According to the application, the hotel and its restaurant, Hummingbird, do not fully use the 69 parking spots originally approved for the 120-room hotel. The application proposes freeing up 42 spaces for public or other use and keeping just 27 for the hotel.
The garage would be monitored by a valet who would park cars during busier times, and self-park would be an option when the hotel is at lower capacity.
In a letter accompanying the application, the attorney representing Carr Properties, Kenneth Wire, described the reasoning behind the application: “The Applicant anticipates that managing the parking this manner will fill an unmet parking demand that will be growing during the warm weather months, as the Alexandria waterfront continues to attract residents and tourists,” he said.
