Alexandria Redevelopment Would Replace 66 Homes With 529-Unit Mixed-Use Project

Plans filed with Alexandria reveal the city's intention to add hundreds of new affordable units as part of a mixed-use community in north Old Town.

Developers plan to redevelop the site of the Samuel Madden Homes to include 529 units and ground-floor retail and amenity space, according to details shared with Bisnow.

More than half of the units would be affordable and workforce housing. The new development sits on 3.4 acres between Henry and Patrick streets and would replace a cluster of 66 affordable units composed of two- and three-bedroom townhouses.

The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority is partnering with Fairstead, Mill Creek Residential and The Communities Group on the project.

“The Samuel Madden Homes sit at a critical site in Northern Virginia," Fairstead Development Director Noah Hale said in a statement. "It’s a gateway to Alexandria, and just minutes away from Amazon HQ2. It has the potential to serve as an important link in the community with mixed-income housing, public open space, and needed childcare and food resources for the entire neighborhood."

More than half of the units in the new development would be income restricted, totaling more than 260 homes. A portion would be reserved for those making 30% to 60% of the area median income, and others would be reserved for workforce housing, or those households making between 60% and 80% AMI, according to the plans.

Many of the amenities in the building will serve its low-income residents. The development partners have brought on nonprofit Hopkins House to operate a 13K SF daycare and early learning center. The plans also include a 500 SF food pantry.

That would leave an additional 16K SF for street-level retail, and a 10K SF public park is planned for the site.

Mill Creek Residential has focused in recent years on urban or urban-adjacent properties with strong growth potential, Executive Managing Director Sean Caldwell told Bisnow in 2019.

Fairstead, a vertically integrated national developer focused on sustainability and affordability, has an office in Bethesda.