A small infill project in Old Town Alexandria is cleared to move ahead after the City Council approved it on Saturday, Oct. 17.
The plan replaces a vacant lot and a one-story barbershop at 724, 726 and 728 N. Patrick St. in the Parker-Gray Historic District with five four-story townhomes, ALXnow reported.
What will be built
Each of the five homes will have four bedrooms and four and a half bathrooms, along with a one-car garage and a roof deck, according to ALXnow. The site sits directly across the street from the Charles Houston Recreation Center.
ALXnow reported that Eric Bernstein and Kirby Holdings are buying the property with plans to build the homes. The current owner is Jeffrey Schonberger, principal of D.C.-based Alturas Real Estate Interests LLC.
City property records cited by ALXnow show the three parcels are small:
- 728 N. Patrick St., the barbershop, is 3,650 square feet and was assessed at $430,500 in January.
- 726 N. Patrick St., vacant, is 4,400 square feet and was assessed at $630,600.
- 724 N. Patrick St. is a 2,200-square-foot lot assessed at $164,000.
Why it was delayed
The Planning Commission approved the plan 6-0. Council deferred it last month anyway, ALXnow reported, to have more talks with the property owner about keeping neighborhood-serving businesses on the site.
Tanner Scales of Feldman Ruel, the broker for the seller, told council the same family has owned the parcel since the 1950s. He said rising costs pushed them to sell.
"The operating expenses across the entire city have increased, and therefore they're no longer able to keep the property as-is," Scales said, according to ALXnow. "We went out to a wide range of buyers. The only real tangible interest we got, which was a lot, was from townhome developers."
The split vote
The approval wasn't unanimous. Councilman John Taylor Chapman voted no, along with council members Jacinta Greene and Abdel Elnoubi. Chapman said he wants to keep businesses in the city.
"I think we are coming to, and have been in, a critical space where we continuously say we are losing more economic activity in the city," Chapman said, according to ALXnow. "Having a property that then has to switch residential [from] commercial, for me, strikes at a very personal tone because of that ongoing conversation."
Building in a historic district
Five townhomes isn't a huge job by Northern Virginia standards. Building them in a local historic district adds its own layer of work, though. Projects in Alexandria's historic districts generally go through design review, and that can shape exterior materials, windows, rooflines and details. Builders who work in Old Town know that schedule and budget have to leave room for that review and the finish standards that come with it.
Tight urban lots bring their own challenges too. Four-story homes with garages and roof decks on lots this size mean careful staging, limited laydown space, close work next to neighbors and city streets, and likely coordination for deliveries and parking.
The bigger trend
The debate on council reflects something builders see in a lot of older neighborhoods. Small commercial buildings with aging owners and rising costs come up for sale, and the buyers with the most interest are often residential developers. Townhomes pencil out on these lots in a way that a new storefront often doesn't.
That creates steady infill work. It also creates pushback from officials who want to keep corner businesses in place, which can mean delays like the one this project faced.
Why it matters for contractors
For Alexandria-area builders, this is a clear example of where small-scale work is coming from: odd-sized infill lots in established neighborhoods, sold by long-time owners, and redeveloped as high-end townhomes. Five homes with garages, roof decks and four and a half baths each is a solid job for a custom or semi-custom builder and a full slate of subs.
It also shows the risk. A unanimous Planning Commission vote didn't stop council from deferring the project for a month, and three members still voted no. Anyone bidding on similar commercial-to-residential conversions in Alexandria should expect questions about lost businesses and plan for possible delays.
No construction start date was reported.