Property owners on Beauregard Street have big plans for redevelopment
The owners of properties along Beauregard Street on the western edge of Alexandria have big plans for redeveloping the existing apartments and office buildings.
They discussed their plans at a recent community meeting hosted by the City of Alexandria on a new Small Area Plan for Alexandria West. The previous SAP for that area, completed in 2012, is out of date, city officials said, as redevelopment didn’t occur as projected and office buildings are no longer needed.
Related story: Most residents oppose the plan for redeveloping the Beauregard Corridor
Alexandria’s revised objectives for the SAP include more affordable housing and improved pedestrian connectivity, transit, and traffic safety. The city is also pursuing state legislation to require developers to provide a percentage of committed affordable housing and to mitigate the displacement of existing tenants.
A key factor driving redevelopment is Alexandria’s plan for the West End Transitway, a bus rapid transit line along the Beauregard corridor. The first phase is expected to begin operations in 2028.
Morgan Properties
Morgan Properties is in the early stages of planning how to redevelop the garden apartments and retail center in the Mark Center, a property it bought in 2017.
The company owns 2,265 apartments in several communities, including the Lynbrook, Brookdale, and Stoneridge apartments plus 62,000 square feet of retail.
The 2012 SAP envisioned a mix of multifamily housing, townhouses, stacked townhouses, a minimal retail component, and an option for an office building and a hotel for the town center area currently occupied by the Shops at Mark Center.
Morgan Properties now believes the site is better suited for residential development, including multifamily and townhouses, rather than an office and hotel, said Vice President of Commercial Asset Development Jon Nickel.
Related story: Tenants speak out against rat and bug-infested apartments
The company’s vision calls for mixed-use development, retail spread throughout the site, mid-rise buildings that take advantage of the hilly terrain, a new street network to improve connectivity and circulation, connections to the future BRT, and improved access to Dora Kelly Nature Park and the Winkler Botanical Preserve.
It’s a big site so if any new development is done, it would be done incrementally in a phased approach, Nickel said.
A resident of an apartment owned by Morgan complained about arbitrary charges and rodent infestations and questioned why the company should be allowed a bonus density if it can’t effectively manage its existing properties.
In response, Nickel noted that bonus density is granted in exchange for a community good, such as transportation improvements.
Southern Towers
A 2021 plan approved by Alexandria allowed increased density at Southern Towers, the five-building apartment complex between Seminary Road, Beauregard Street, and I-395.
That would allow two additional buildings, a hotel and an office building with optional retail, but those uses are no longer viable, said Jason Lifton, director of development at the CIM Group, the company that bought the property three years ago.
CIM is just starting to think about development plans for the next 10 to 15 years, Lifton said. The best use for the site is “more residential density that includes more committed affordable housing in addition to market-rate housing.”
About 30 acres of the 40-acre Southern Towers property is surface parking, so Lifton says there is room to build more housing. A BRT station is also planned for that site.
Several residents at the meeting complained about predatory practices by the CIM group – leading to higher rent and utility costs – and poor maintenance of the property.
Related story: Sens. Warner and Kaine condemn Southern Towers owner for predatory practices
Lifton noted that a major renovation process is underway at Southern Towers and conceded the complex needs tens of millions of dollars worth of improvements.
“We have no plans of knocking down buildings and displacing tenants,” he said. “We want to keep it affordable.”
“The goal here is to figure out the 30-plus acres of parking lots and how we better use that land,” Lifton said. “We’re very much at the beginning of that process.”
According to Lifton, CIM wants to maintain adequate parking, ensure appropriate setbacks from the existing buildings to retain natural light, create more green space, and improve pedestrian safety throughout the site.
Monday Properties
Monday Properties is considering multifamily housing and retail on the site of the medical building it owns at 1900 N. Beauregard St.
“The office market in this area has really been decimated. Major tenants have moved out, leaving office buildings completely vacant,” said Timothy Helmig, managing partner at Monday.
While there is a market for health-related businesses, medical offices want to be close to regional health networks, such as those planned by Inova for the former Landmark Mall site and Springfield,
“We’ve already lost substantial amounts of long-term commitments in the 1900 building,” Helmig said, “so we’re going to end up with an office building completely empty in early 2024 with no demand for medical or traditional offices.”
Upland Park
The new Upland Park development has already been approved for the northwest quadrant of Beauregard Street and Seminary Road.
Fourteen houses along Fairbanks Avenue and Foster Avenue will be demolished soon to make way for phase 1, which calls for 92 townhouses and a new public park, said Chris Bell, senior vice president of acquisitions and development at Hekemian & Co.
Phase 2 of Upland Park will consist of a multifamily building with 443 units, an expansion of the park, and some type of commercial building, possibly a hotel or office building, Bell said.
Also during phase 2, Foster Avenue will be connected to Beauregard Street with a signalized intersection, and a new signal will be installed at Fairbanks Avenue and Seminary Road.