Power Plant Redevelopment In Old Town North Gains Key Approvals

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Proposals associated with transforming the old Potomac River Generating Station into a mixed-use development in Old Town North gained approval from Alexandria City Council Tuesday.

Hilco Redevelopment Partners, which purchased the site in September 2020, is planning environmental remediation and redevelopment of the former 18-acre coal-fired power plant at 1300 N. Royal Street. The Potomac River Generating Station Coordinated Development District would turn the former power plant into a mixed-use district with up to 2,000 residential units as well as retail, office, arts and cultural and potential hotel uses, according to a city staff report. The amendments and conceptual design plan call for at least 58,333 square feet of affordable units and a potential public-private Partnership for a 100-unit affordable housing project. There would also be several acres of publicly accessible open space.

City Council unanimously approved master plan amendments, zoning text amendments and rezoning associated with the project but voted 6-1 on the Coordinated Development District conceptual design plan. Councilmember Alyia Gaskins had the lone opposing vote.

Gaskins said the potential for a public-private partnership for affordable housing is one of the most innovative ideas for the site but is "the piece that is the most shaky." On the public-private partnership potential, she said there is uncertainty about the city funding availability and whether the state will change its Qualified Allocation Plan for low-income housing tax credits.

"I also think that while I love this project, I love our people more, and when I read the small area plan...to talk about the diverse mix," said Gaskins at Tuesday's City Council meeting. "We don't have the tools to evaluate a diverse mix or to ensure that you get a diverse range of ages and incomes and abilities and household sizes. We can't ensure that. To ensure that we have enough to cover the gap to meet the things that we want to do with our climate goals. There's just a lot of uncertainty."

Mayor Justin Wilson expressed support for making the site more economically valuable for the city. The mayor said redeveloping the power plant site is even harder than redeveloping the Robinson Terminal South site or Potomac Yard, the latter of which he said took decades.

"The most significant public amenity we were talking about in this is the cleanup of this site," Wilson told City Council. "If you don't believe me, go right now to the real estate assessment page and look at what this site is assessed at. This site is 18 acres, assessed at $10,000,000. Eighteen acres in the city of Alexandria would cost you hundreds of millions of dollars. But the reason it doesn't is because of the dramatic environmental cleanup that's required on this site."

The conceptual design plan did have an amendment regarding building heights impacting air navigation around Reagan National Airport. As reported by ALXNow, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority wrote to City Council in a letter expressing concerns about potential building heights affecting air navigation. The condition approved by City Council says the applicant has to get Federal Aviation Administration for blocks and buildings subject to FAA height restrictions before a building permit is released. Hilco must provide the approval by the appropriate federal and state agencies that blocks and buildings do not pose a hazard to air navigation.

Hilco has provided several public tours of the former power plant site and held various public meetings since purchasing the site. A project website is available for more information.