Sunday, May 19, 2013
Film is rated PG-13.
Boy, this is going to be one short review. This movie has more spoilers than the 1967 Enterprise had Tribbles…and in the interest of full disclosure, this is written by the Cinema Siren who owns chairs from the Voyager show, can list the original episodes in order of appearance, has a T-shirt with a quote in Klingon, and a model of the Enterprise signed by all the original cast members. That is to say, fandom lives here. Any experience of watching the new release by director J. J. Abrams would naturally be filtered through a brain steeped in Star Trek knowledge and lore. That being said, there is, unlike some long-term fans, no automatic hate for anything new. To my mind, the cast, theme, and story lines of the reboot are very much in …
Friday, May 3, 2013
Project planners say setback will provide time for better community outreach.
The process of determining the location and type of Metrorail station at Potomac Yard has been delayed a few months, Alexandria officials announced Friday afternoon. Along with the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, Federal Transit Administration and the National Park Service, Alexandria has been plugging away at the environmental impact study for the project. A draft statement on the study, which assesses everything from sound and noise issues to air quality and wetland impacts related to a station, was scheduled to be released Friday. However, the FTA and NPS recommended technical changes and amendments to the plan during a review of the statement, creating more work for planners. According to a press release from the city: …
Thursday, March 28, 2013
MRP Realty and JBG Companies announce the construction of The Alric, a multi-family apartment development.
MRP Realty and JBG Companies announced Wednesday the start of construction of the first phase of The Exchange at Potomac Yard, a 14-acre town center within the Potomac Yard development on the east side of Route 1 in Alexandria. Construction of The Alric, a 323-unit, multi-family apartment development, marks the first part of the town center. Located at 731 Seaton Ave., The Alric will include a mix of one- and two-bedroom residences in two five-story buildings. The complex also will include a roof terrace and lounge, courtyards, private ground-level patios, a pool and outdoor seating areas. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2014. The Alric was designed by SK&I Architectural Design Group, which designed The Madison building …
Monday, February 4, 2013
Planners now eye mid-2017 opening date for station.
Elected officials serving on Alexandria’s Potomac Yard Metro Implementation Work Group continued to express their commitment to building a Metro station at Potomac Yard during a meeting last week at City Hall. The group received an update on the progress of an ongoing Environmental Impact Study (EIS) required to build a station. The city will determine a locally preferred alternative between three station designs and locations later this year. A no-build option remains in play, but officials underscored the importance of a station in developing Potomac Yard and the city’s economy. “If we don’t make it happen here, [the development] is going to go elsewhere [in the region,]” said Mayor Bill Euille, who sits on the group with Councilman …
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Elements of the new 21-acre linear park continue to pop up on the eastern edge of the Pulte development at Potomac Yard.
- THE NEIGHBORHOOD FILES
- Drew Hansen
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Wednesday, January 30
Green, blue and purple pieces of playground equipment have begun to pop up in Potomac Yard Park, a 21-acre linear park that’s taking shape this winter along Potomac Avenue in the Pulte development at Potomac Yard. Eventually the park will feature a stage, play fountain for children, maze, canal and athletic courts, among many other amenities. Connected by a lighted, 1.5-mile multi-use trail from Target to Braddock Road Metro station, the park will house its amenities in several “belvederes” or urban plazas located where the development’s streets dead-end into the rail tracks to the east. Each belvedere will contain a different amenity. Athletic court lights, paved surfaces, trees and elements of the belvederes have also started to spring …
Monday, January 28, 2013
Potomac Yard Metro Tax Increment Bill was introduced by Del. Rob Krupicka (D-45th).
Alexandria city officials and members of the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce are scheduled to testify in a state committee hearing Monday in support of a bill to generate state funding for a Potomac Yard Metro station. The Potomac Yard Metro Tax Increment Bill (HB-1650), introduced by Del. Rob Krupicka (D-45th), provides that if an infill Metro station is constructed in a service district in a locality—in this case, the city of Alexandria—then the locality is entitled to retain the sales and use tax revenue generated in the district to pay bonds issued to construct the station. The bill would place a $1.25 million a year cap on the tax revenue retained. The state would support approximately 10 percent of the cost of the Metro construction …
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Faroll Hamer discusses emphasis on walkable, amenity-rich communities with connection to transit.
Faroll Hamer, the director of Alexandria’s Department of Planning and Zoning, discussed current development trends, architecture and transit throughout Alexandria when he visited with the Del Ray Citizens Association last week for a question and answer session. Hamer, who has led the city’s planning department since 2007, said there’s an emphasis on developing “an amenity rich life that you can walk to” built around transit. Those transit options include not just Metro, she said, but three high-capacity transit corridors that are being developed in the city (including the Route 1 BRT) along with other existing modes of transit. “Change is always hard,” she said. “I respect that everyone doesn’t agree with the direction. I think it’s …
Wednesday, January 9, 2013
Third vehicle stripped of tires and rims at West End office complex.
10 a.m. Wednesday update — An attempted wheel theft was also reported Saturday at Francis Hammond Middle School. "We had an attempted theft of SUV wheels in the Francis Hammond Middle School parking lot behind the gymnasium," according to an email from Mac Slover of the Alexandria Department of Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities. "We believe they were interrupted before they could get the wheels off the SUV." --------- Three cars were “tire-jacked” in Alexandria on Saturday according to NBC4, including two in broad daylight at the Regal Cinemas at Potomac Yard. Tires were stolen from a Cadillac Escalade and Dodge Charger in the same Potomac Yard lot on Saturday, while a Chevy Suburban was stripped of its tires and rims while parked …
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
City secures $30,000 donation for traffic-calming measures in adjacent neighborhoods.
Alexandria City Council approved plans for a 370,000-square-foot office for the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA) in Potomac Yard Land Bay G Saturday. The office is the first non-residential complex to be approved for the development. The structure, which is located just south of the Target, is expected to be the focal point of a new town center in Potomac Yard. Keeping IDA in Alexandria was seen as an economic development priority by councilmembers. The agency currently works out of an office near BRAC-133 in the West End. The new structure will be composed of two, eight-story towers built on a connected ground floor. It will have a 580-space parking garage consisting of one level below grade and four levels above grade. The 1.88-acre …
Monday, December 10, 2012
Recommendation allows families to opt in to some focus schools.
The Alexandria School Board is considering placing elementary school-aged children living in the Potomac Yard area in the Jefferson-Houston School attendance zone. The School Board is planning to vote at its Dec. 20 meeting on a recommendation from Alexandria City Public Schools staff to send children to the Old Town school. The Potomac Yard area, which includes new development along Route 1 and E. Monroe Avenue as well as the Potomac Greens neighborhood (see the attached chart), had not been previously zoned to an elementary school, contrary to belief of many school board members and ACPS staff. “I think we thought all of Potomac Yard was elementary zoned for Jefferson-Houston,” Superintendent Morton Sherman said at Thursday’s board …
David Potomac Yard
12:32 pm on Tuesday, February 5, 2013
The metro station will be funded out of a special tax district and private contributions from developers. The city's bond ratings have recently been reaffired at AAA and the rating agencies know full well of the planned metro station. The contract with the developer even includes an early lump sum baloon payment to keep the city within its statutory limit. Also, the travel delay will be minor to … more ›