The Biggest Waterfront Project In The DC Region Clears Final Hurdle

• 9:05 AM EDT

by UrbanTurf Staff

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The largest waterfront redevelopment planned in the DC region in years has cleared its final major hurdle.

On Saturday, the Alexandria City Council unanimously approved Development Special Use Permits for the first phase of HRP Group's redevelopment of the former Potomac River Generating Station in Old Town North, along with a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) package to fund the public infrastructure the long-dormant site needs. HRP is now targeting a 2027 groundbreaking for the 19-acre coal plant site.

The approved permits cover the project's first two vertical blocks — Block B (designed by Gensler) and Block C (designed by Handel Architects) — plus two new public spaces: a Potomac-fronting park and a rail corridor park along the site's eastern edge. Together, the two residential blocks will bring hundreds of apartments and condos across four towers, split evenly between rental and for-sale units, along with roughly 85,000 square feet of ground-floor retail and a share of affordable housing. The waterfront park will include a Great Lawn, an overlook atop the historic pumphouse, a non-motorized watercraft launch, and new Mount Vernon Trail connections; the rail corridor park will add sport courts, play areas, and a dog park.

HRP bought the former power plant site in 2020 with plans to turn it into a mixed-use waterfront neighborhood. At full buildout, the project is expected to total up to 2.5 million square feet of residential and commercial space, including roughly 160 affordable units and more than 10 acres of publicly accessible open space with waterfront access.

The Council also approved a $135 million TIF package, split across two phases and backed by bonds tied to the project's future tax revenue. Those funds will cover deconstructing the old power plant, remediating industrial contamination, building new public roads, and constructing the open spaces. With entitlements and financing in place, attention now turns to design refinement of Block A — envisioned as a 70-foot arts and cultural center with retail, office, and subsidized creative space — as HRP works toward breaking ground on Alexandria's newest waterfront neighborhood.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the_biggest_waterfront_project_in_the_dc_region_clears_final_hurdle/24730.