Friday, February 13, 2009

Apartments for the Commonwealth


Northern Virginia’s Del Ray neighborhood is set to lose 11 primarily vacant storefronts in the coming months, as the Mount Vernon Commons, LLC begins work on their so-named project at the intersection of Mount Vernon and Commonwealth Avenues in Alexandria.
The Mount Vernon Commons development aims to deliver 141 one and two-bedroom residential units, along with 3,000 square feet of ground floor retail to what is currently 3015-3111 Mount Vernon Avenue and 3026 Commonwealth Avenue. Once planned as a new condo development for Alexandria, project managers are naturally pursuing rental apartments – with a possibility that units “may revert condominiums at a later time.” Alexandria affordable housing guidelines require that six of the one bedroom units and three of two-bedroom units be available below market rate.
Once completed, the LEED-certified Mount Vernon Commons will consist of two buildings, ranging from three to four stories, for a gross of 146,605 square feet of new development. The traditional apartment units will be accented by painted brick “townhouse-style” units fronting Commonwealth Avenue, atop two-stories of underground parking. Additionally, the southern end of the development will sport 3,000 square feet of publicly accessible open space with seating and an undetermined art element.
The project was initially under the stewardship of Fairfax-based Carr Homes, which, after receiving approval from the Alexandria City Council in December of 2006, sold both the site and plans to the Mount Vernon Commons, LLC. After the change of hands, the new owner moved for a one year extension on their 2008 construction deadline, a move backed by the Del Ray Citizens Association. In accordance with the Planning Commission’s approval of the extension, the development must now break ground by June 21, 2009, or begin the approval process anew. The project is being designed by Heffner Architects, PC and built by Clark Construction.

1 comments:

Evan on Feb 13, 2009, 8:01:00 PM said...

Thats really nice to see some plans to rejuvenate that area, hope it goes through. Design-wise, it's ok, especially for the area, which is very conservative design-wise. Most of the design looks art deco/streamline moderne-inspired, which fits in very well with alot of the existing building stock in the area. It's also great to see some LEED in the Alexandria area.

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