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| A concept plan for JBG's project at the Beauregard Town Center. [Cunningham Quill Architects] |
The project would be the first effort to redevelop the Beauregard Street corridor since Alexandria approved the Beauregard Small Area Plan in 2012.
The Beauregard Design Advisory Committee will discuss the JBG proposal at a meeting at Goodwin House, 4800 Fillmore Ave., Alexandria, Sept. 26 at 6:30 p.m. The meeting is open to the public.
The Beauregard Town Center encompasses 48 acres on the west side of Beauregard Street between Rayburn Avenue and Reading Avenue in Alexandria’s West End. The site is currently occupied by the Shops at Mark Center and about 198 garden apartment units in the Hillwood and Stoneridge complexes, all of which are owned by JGB.
Because the area is so large, redevelopment is expected to be completed in phases, said Maya Contreras, a planner with the City of Alexandria’s Department of Planning and Zoning. JGB has not yet submitted a timetable.
The company’s revised plan would have less development than what the company sought two years ago, when it proposed 1,150 units and 150,000 square feet of retail.
The Beauregard Town Center is just one part of the 287-acre Small Area Plan, which encompasses seven neighborhoods. The Small Area Plan calls for mixed-use development, the majority of it residential with some office uses and a hotel facing Beauregard Street and retail on Reading Avenue.
The Small Area Plan requires new developments to include replacement housing for displaced lower-income residents on a one to one basis, so the details on how that will be implemented will be a key issue when the city reviews JBG’s site plan. The need to provide affordable housing was one of the key issues for the public during community meetings before the Small Area Plan was adopted.
JBG has committed to ensuring all current residents find a new home in the new development, and will pay a moving allowance to every tenant forced to relocate once construction begins, the Washington Business Journal reported.
“It seems like they are interested in pushing forward quickly,” said planner Laurene MacTaggart, with Alexandria’s Planning and Zoning Department. “We want the project to move forward but we want to make sure it’s the best project it can be.”