Homeless Shelter, 5-Story Affordable Housing Envisioned Next To Fire Station

GROVETON, VA — The concept design of the proposed fire station and homeless shelter colocated at the former Hybla Valley Nursery site will be presented to the community Thursday.

Fairfax County staff will host a meeting on the Penn Daw Fire Station, Emergency and Affordable Housing project Thursday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Bucknell Elementary School gym, 6925 University Drive, Alexandria, VA. Feedback from the community will be accepted.

The site is located on Beacon Hill Road just off Richmond Highway next to the Walgreens. The concept presented at a July advisory committee meeting calls for three stories of the emergency homeless shelter with two stories of supportive housing above, five stories of affordable housing, and a two-story fire station with a mezzanine. A landscaping buffer would be added along the southern and eastern sides of the development.

The zoning application process is happening in 2023 and continuing into 2024, according to the presentation. Design is also in the process with public hearings expected in 2024. Construction could begin in 2025 following required approvals and a bidding process.

The county is moving forward with a plan to build a new Penn Daw Fire Station at the Hybla Valley Nursery site as well as replace the current Eleanor Kennedy Shelter at 9155 Richmond Highway in Fort Belvoir. Fairfax County purchased the 3.5-acre former Hybla Valley Nursery site at 801 Beacon Hill Road, Alexandria, VA, in June 2020 as a site for the new Penn Daw Fire Station.

A new fire station is being pursued as the county sees a need to boost emergency services in the area due to "population growth, changing demographics and more residential and commercial development." The current fire station, built in 1967, was expanded in 1980 but has limited ability to expand further. In addition, the county said the fire station has outdated features such as apparatus bays that cannot host larger, heavier equipment.

The county later decided it could colocate the fire station and the Eleanor Kennedy Shelter, which is currently a 100-year-old building made from a pump home location on Fort Belvoir. According to the county, the current site cannot accommodate supportive housing due to its historic status and location within a 100-year floodplain and resource protection area.

Similar to what the county is considering for Eleanor Kennedy Shelter, the county previously replaced its Bailey's Shelter and added supportive housing on site.

Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck created an advisory committee to engage the community about the colocation proposal. The committee, made up of members of the public safety representatives, faith community and affordable or emergency housing providers, the Mount Vernon Council of Citizens Association, the Mount Vernon Lee Chamber of Commerce, Fort Belvoir and county staff, has been meeting since late 2020.

A 2016 bond referendum provided funding for Eleanor Kennedy Shelter and three other shelters. A 2015 bound provided renovation funding for five fire stations, including Penn Daw.