Torpedo Factory's future, West End townhomes and EV charging among items on Saturday's council docket
Hearing includes a franchise ordinance for the waterfront art center, development projects and new green building rules
Alexandria City Council will hold a public hearing on Saturday on more than a dozen items, including the future management of the Torpedo Factory Art Center, two residential developments, new electric-vehicle charging rules, and several ordinances implementing decisions made earlier this year.
The meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. at the Del Pepper Community Resource Center, 4850 Mark Center Drive.
Torpedo Factory franchise ordinance
Council will take up the second reading of a franchise ordinance to authorize the city to solicit proposals for a new operator to lease, manage, and operate the Torpedo Factory Art Center at 105 Union St.
The city has managed the waterfront art center on an interim basis since 2016. A stakeholder task force concluded in 2023 with recommendations to transition to a new governance structure. The city then conducted a market scan, including interviews with comparable facilities, stakeholder focus groups, and a request for information in 2025 that drew responses from three organizations.
If adopted Saturday, the city would issue a request for proposals with bids due April 27. Staff would present proposals to the council by May 12, with a franchise award anticipated in the third quarter. The solicitation requires a minimum five-year lease to allow the successful operator to carry forward existing artist leases, though proposers may offer longer terms to recoup capital investments. It does not prescribe a specific governance model.
At the Jan. 24 first reading, council directed staff to amend the solicitation to gauge respondent interest in incorporating additional archaeological artifacts — including the 18th-century, 50-foot ship discovered at the Hotel Indigo site — into the art center, which also houses the Alexandria Archaeology Museum.
The art center is home to more than 150 working artists, seven galleries, and The Art League. Council members have previously said no artist leases would end during the transition.
Upland Park advances in the West End
Council will consider amendments to the Coordinated Development District No. 21 concept plan for the Upland Park neighborhood, an extension of a development special use permit for townhomes, and a development site plan for a public park. The Planning Commission recommended approval of all three requests 7-0.
The project, on a roughly seven-acre site northwest of Seminary Road and Beauregard Street, calls for 92 townhomes and a half-acre park. Future phases could include 401 multifamily units, a 171-key hotel, and ground-level retail. The older single-family homes on the site have been vacate,d and demolition began in 2024. Saturday’s action would align the concept plan with the Alexandria West Small Area Plan, which was adopted after the project’s original 2021 approval.
The developer committed to a $3.2 million contribution to the Beauregard Implementation Fund, a signalized intersection at Seminary Road and Fairbanks Avenue, and pedestrian improvements, including a shared bicycle and pedestrian path along Seminary Road.
Duke & Quaker townhomes
A proposal for two multi-unit townhouse-style buildings at 11 and 21 N. Quaker Lane and 3369 Duke St. is the main item requiring an individual public hearing and roll-call vote. The applicant, 614 Westbrad LLC represented by attorney M. Catharine Puskar, is seeking to rezone the properties from commercial low with proffer to commercial low, removing the existing proffer, along with a development special use permit with requests for increased building height and bonus density. The Planning Commission recommended approval 7-0 on both the rezoning and the permit.
Curbside EV chargers
Two ordinances on the consent docket (Items 9 and 14) would finalize the curbside electric vehicle charging program that council approved on first reading Feb. 10.
The program would allow private vendors to install up to 60 publicly accessible chargers on city sidewalks at no cost to taxpayers. Vendors would finance, own, and operate the chargers under five-year licenses, with a maximum of 20 per vendor. The city would charge $1.50 per square foot of occupied sidewalk and $140 per EV charging-only parking space.
To prevent clustering, the program limits installations to two ports per block, requires chargers to be at least a quarter-mile apart, and bars them from Duke, King, Washington, Patrick, and Henry streets and Richmond Highway. Chargers in historic districts would need Board of Architectural Review approval. Vehicles must have a charging cable plugged in to use designated spaces; a $25 fine applies for violations.
Green building plan implementation
An implementation ordinance for the Green Building Plan council, adopted Jan. 24, would formally incorporate the plan into the city’s master plan. The plan replaces the city’s 2019 green building policy with performance-based standards for energy efficiency, renewable energy, and stormwater management in new development. The 2019 policy remains in effect until the ordinance is adopted.
Old Town North rezoning and commercial-to-residential conversions
Other second-reading ordinances carry forward actions from Jan. 24. Items 10 and 11 implement a rezoning and master plan amendment for 732 N. Washington and 710 Madison streets in Old Town North, changing the zoning from commercial downtown to commercial residential mixed use. Item 12 amends the city’s nonconformity rules to facilitate converting commercial properties to residential use.
Other items
Council will also consider a special use permit for outdoor recreation and entertainment at 601 and 619 S. Patrick St., recommended 7-0, and a permit to build a single-unit dwelling on a substandard lot at 420 E. Windsor Ave. , also recommended 7-0. An ordinance to temporarily move the City Hall precinct polling place to Lyles Crouch School (Item 8) and an appointment to the Legislative Subcommittee (Item 16) are also on the docket.
Council will hold a closed session for consultation with legal counsel on litigation and matters concerning the council’s budget authority (Item 21).
How to participate
Residents can register to speak at the hearing via the city’s speaker’s form. Written comments can be emailed to CouncilComment@alexandriava.gov. The first 15 speakers will be heard at the start of the meeting, with the remaining speakers heard after the docketed items.
The meeting can be watched on Zoom (webinar ID: 987 6079 3181, passcode: 585514), by calling 301-715-8592, on government channel 70 or on the city’s website. Translation services are available with 48 hours’ notice by contacting the city clerk at gloria.sitton@alexandriava.gov or 703-746-4550.
The full docket and supporting materials are available here.
The docket is subject to change.