Alexandria’s development plan for the waterfront park at the base of its main retail corridor will have to be scaled back to win approval from landowner Old Dominion Boat Club. The city’s planning staff says the boat club, which has a marina and parking lot at the base of King Street, has not agreed to move its parking lot to allow for an open plaza connecting the street to the Potomac River and Waterfront Park. Because of the stalemate, Alexandria likely will nix a restaurant building and modify the originally planned entrance from King street to the waterfront.
The waterfront draft plan released in February cites a “clear [resident] consensus that there should be more waterfront dining options at the Strand [Street].” But on Monday, proponents of the plan said that since the boat club refuses to agree to the proposed underground parking garage along Strand Street, keeping the restaurant building that would have been built above the garage wasn’t necessary.
