The city council approved the revised master plan of Landmark Mall, Alexandria’s major West End development project, during its public hearing on Saturday.
The new master plan was a refinement of the 2009 master plan as per the Department of Planning and Zoning staff report. The revised master plan
features a transportation hub to connect the Landmark Mall area with the rest of the West End transit corridor, a revised plan for the site’s Duke Street crossing to improve safety, an emphasis on affordable housing and open space for the West End community – including 3 1/2 acres of public open space – and recommendations for a potential fire station and school.
Mayor Justin Wilson said, “While our speaker list doesn’t show it, this is a pretty momentous occasion here … and I think it’s a testament to the hard work of staff as well as the community group and planning commission who have worked so hard for so long to get to this place."
The management of landmark wanted to distinguish the the West End visually from Alexandria's more old town centers. This is the reason why the preliminary design of the site is of mix architectural styles and building heights. Jeff Farner, deputy director of the Department of Planning and Zoning said, "We’re OK with additional height, we just want it to be attractive. We want it to be well designed." Mark Bulmash, senior vice president of development at the Howard Hughes Corporation added, “We want to make this a very vibrant, walkable urban village here."
Most of the members of the council approved of the plan as a whole. However, there are several councilors who raised questions regarding the staff's approach on the affordable housing. The shift in focus from commercial to residential property also raised questions.
According to staff, the
changes were made to give city council flexibility as the development process continues over the next two decades, instead of setting a target for affordable housing from the outset.
The staff report tells that 80 percent of the site would be dedicated to residential property, while the remaining 20 percent would be dedicated to commercial property. Questions about the amended plan's focus were raised by Councilors Chapman and Mo Seifeldein.
Councilor Chapman said, "I know that we have talked about trying to get away from residential property taxes as a focus of our revenues, so we are looking now at taking one of our biggest commercial spaces and, not necessarily diversifying that, but flipping it on its head in terms of the makeup on this site."
The reason why the staff made the shift is in order for it to adapt in the rapidly changing market of residential properties. Currently, this is evolving to include more mixed-use office spaces. The staff report says that part of the requirements for retail properties in this site is that the first floor must be built in such a way that it could support commercial use in the future.
Pepper made a motion, seconded by Chapman,
to approve the master plan with an amendment made by Seifeldein to change the language around affordable housing to be more defined about a target percentage on-site. The motion was approved unanimously.
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