New Condos at 1201 N. Royal Street Start Construction
Our neighborhood long enjoyed attending performances at MetroStage, having dinner at Cafe Marianna or its successor Bastille, and purchasing teak furniture at Abaca on the block at the northern end of Royal Street formerly occupied by the Smoot Lumber Yard. Then, the land was sold, and Carr Companies obtained approvals for a multi-family building with a significant "art space". A few months ago, the building came down, and site excavation started.
Please see the following update from The Washington Business Journal
By Michael Neibauer – Managing Editor, Washington Business Journal
Jul 13, 2020, 5:55pm EDT
The Muse condominiums will sit at 1201 N. Royal St. in North Old Town, Alexandria.
SK&I
Carr Cos. has broken ground on its arts-focused, 73-unit condominium project overlooking the Potomac River in Alexandria’s Old Town North.
The Muse condominiums at 1201 N. Royal St. will be developed on the site of the existing MetroStage. The nonprofit theater company is moving to another Carr project — Venue at 901 N. Fairfax St. Venue, scheduled to deliver in the third quarter of 2021, is Carr’s multifamily conversion of the former Crowne Plaza Hotel.
Slated to open in late 2021, Muse will feature two buildings connected by an enclosed bridge and an 'arts walk,' a landscaped seating area with space to display art. The smaller of the buildings will house Alexandria's The Art League on the ground floor with three, two-story loft residences above. The larger building will include the condos, ranging in size from 920 square feet to 2,800 square feet, an indoor-outdoor fitness center, 24-hour staffed front desk, lobby lounge and library.
The project will sit on what is now the home of MetroStage, the nonprofit theater company. It is moving to another North Old Town project by the same developer, Carr Cos.
SK&I
The project will sit on what is now the home of MetroStage, the nonprofit theater company. It is moving to another North Old Town project by the same developer, Carr Cos.
SK&I
The condos will start in the $800,000s. The sales office is expected to open in September.
Muse was designed by SK&I Architecture, with interior design by ADG. A Carr affiliate acquired the MetroStage property in June 2018 for $4.25 million, according to Alexandria records.
The North Royal Street project fronts the Mount Vernon Trail immediately southeast of the shuttered Potomac River Generating Station, which eventually will be razed and redeveloped under the 206-acre Old Town North plan adopted in 2017. Other projects in the area include the mixed-use 503 First from Edens and Trammell Crow Residential's redevelopment of the former Royal Street bus garage.