The Heritage at Old Town renderings, provided by the developer.
The Heritage at Old Town development, which has drawn criticism from the community, will be a bit smaller than originally planned, and developers reassured the community that those in affordable housing will be taken care of through the redevelopment process.
On Tuesday evening, Heritage at Old Town PropCo LLC hosted a virtual meeting for the public on the proposed redevelopment of The Heritage apartments in Southeast Old Town. Community members who attended the virtual meeting expressed concerns about parking, traffic, construction noise and the design of the proposed buildings, among other concerns.
The original proposed plan included 842 new units with parking underneath the park area. After receiving feedback and concerns about the height and mass of the original plan, the proposed number of units has been reduced to 777, with 774 parking spaces underneath the new structures.
The current apartment community only has one and two-bedroom apartments, but the new buildings would have 158 studio apartments, 444 one-bedroom apartments and 175 two-bedroom apartments. The new apartments would also be significantly larger in square feet.
The new plan will add new street parking spaces to the east side of South Patrick Street, for a total of 56 spaces as opposed to the only 31 spaces that now exist on the west side of the street. In addition, an ally to access the back of neighboring townhouses was reintroduced.
Of the 777 proposed new units, 195 would be available for affordable housing and would be dispersed throughout the new buildings. 140 of those units would be for those residents currently under HUD contracts and 55 would be available at reduced rates based on area median income. The remaining units would be priced at market value.
Cathy Puskar, representative for the project developers, stressed that the earliest time residents would have to move out would be summer 2021. She said the construction process will take 2 years once it begins, and said all affordable housing residents will be assisted in temporary relocation.
Chris Harvey, an architect with Hord Coplan Macht, presented renderings of the newly proposed buildings. He explained that the new buildings would complement but not replicate the historical buildings in the surrounding areas. The design of the buildings will feature a “stepping down” design that will make the buildings seem smaller from the street but they would then increase in height towards the center of the building. Breaks in the building will allow for views from South Alfred St. to South Patrick streets, and there would be plenty of park space, balconies and other features to foster a sense of community. He recognized the importance of the project’s location as a “gateway to Alexandria.”
During the meeting, Puskar laid out a timeline of how the project will proceed. A Board of Architectural Review (BAR) virtual meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 15 from 7 p.m. – 10 p.m. about the project. At this meeting, Puskar said the developers will ask for approval of demolition of the existing buildings, which were built in the 1970s. As part of this request, the BAR will have to confirm there is nothing historically significant about the buildings.
Additionally, the BAR meeting will allow the developers to introduce their concept for approval. The BAR will look at the mass, scale and architectural design of the proposed buildings and provide feedback. At that point, the developers will need to obtain approval of the City Council and the planning commission which will most likely not occur until Jan 2021.
They will then have to go back to the BAR to obtain a certificate and finer details of the project will be decided like color of bricks, etc. Puskar made clear that there will be plenty of additional opportunities for public engagement on the project.
The BAR will be reviewing The Heritage at Old Town project at a Wednesday, July 15 meeting scheduled that starts at 7 p.m. It can be joined using the link or dial-in number here:
URL: https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_XHpdZUfiTjK3Fuwav2CcnQ
Zoom Audio Conference:
Dial in: 301-715-8592
Webinar ID: 923 0263 4208
Password: 669217
Public comment will be received at the meeting. The public may submit comments in advance to Lia Niebauer at lia.niebauer@alexandriava.gov or make public comments through the conference call during the hearing.
