The Carlyle/Eisenhower East Design Review Board on Thursday night recommended approval of two developments just southeast of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office that will bring new housing to the neighborhood.
The projects at this site, at the intersection of John Carlyle Street and Eisenhower Avenue, were supposed to be office buildings when they were initially conceived more than a decade ago.
However, there is already unused office space in Alexandria and the Northern Virginia region, exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic and resulting trends toward working from home.
Now, Carlyle Plaza, LLC is considering building a senior living tower at 765 John Carlyle Street/1900 Eisenhower Ave.
The 17-story senior housing tower would share above-ground parking with an adjacent building — the second project considered Thursday night. The senior living building would have 186 units. Retail storefronts would line the ground floor. (See the development report from the DRB meeting here.) The architect for the senior living development is Perkins Eastman.
The site is outlined as block P in the map below from the developer.
Carlyle Plaza LLC
The second project (rendering below and block 32 on the above map) is located at 760 John Carlyle Street/1700 and 1800 Eisenhower Ave. It includes two towers that are part of a larger, multi-phased planned development in that area. The residential units going up in this first phase would be rental apartments.
Like the senior living tower, the original plan was to build office space here.
Carlyle Plaza LLC
Carlyle Plaza LLC is interested in converting the originally proposed office building in block 32 to residential. One tower would have residential units with ground floor retail and the second tower would have only residential units. Above grade-parking is planned for the residents. It would not be limited to seniors.
The new plans for block 32 leave much more open space than the original office tower plans, with green space, fields and amenties, much of which will be accessible to the public. The architect for the project is Arquitectonica. There may also be office space and other uses incorporated into block 32 in the years ahead.
In the coming months, the City of Alexandria will remove the traffic circle at the far east end of Eisenhower Avenue, creating more open space. The towers will overlook this new open space. In addition, new pedestrian plazas will allow space for events. Additional details about this development are available in the development report here.)
The projects will move toward additional approvals from City officials in the coming months.
