After hearing concerns raised by residents, Alexandria officials are revising their redevelopment plan for the city’s Beauregard neighborhood that they hope will bring additional commercial and residential development to an already expanding area.
Alexandria hadn’t updated its plans for Beauregard in 20 years, and planning officials say the new plan, which would guide development in the area for the next 20 to 30 years, would allow the city to take a more active role in coordinating a remake of Beauregard. The city has joined with several local developers who are expected to spend more than $148 million in private funds to pay for everything from transportation projects, like rapid-transit buses, to parks and affordable housing once the plan is approved by city council.
The city also hopes to construct a new fire station, improve the intersection at Seminary Road and Beauregard Street and develop a “neighborhood town center” with grocery stores, restaurants and retail shops.
But at meetings over the past three months citizens have raised concerns about the plans, including parking options and increased density in an area that is already well developed. Residents questioned how new development would be integrated with the existing neighborhood, and whether they’ll be able to afford to stay in a neighborhood they call home after developers begin replacing existing apartment buildings.
The city’s plan will replace “aging apartment buildings” over the next 30 years, which could force some residents out of the area. The city will provide those residents with relocation assistance, city officials say, and about 700 of the demolished units will be replaced with affordable market-rate housing.
“[The current plan] is a working draft. One of the things we’re looking at is potentially revising that based on community comments,” said Jeffery Farner, a deputy director in the city’s department of planning and zoning.
Alexandria plans to use comments it has culled from community meetings in a new draft of the plan, which will be released this week.
The council is set to vote on the plan in May.
