Old Town North Office Building Could Become Residences
Proposed building elevation
The Old Town North Alliance welcomes the conversion of 801 N. Fairfax Street (which used to house the Alexandria Chamber of Commerce and the Thailand Royal restaurant, among others) to residential uses, within its existing footprint. Current plans being evaluated by the City of Alexandria call for 54 dwelling units, most likely condominium units, with enhanced patios and landscaping along N. Fairfax and Montgomery Streets. The current one level of underground parking and one level of surface parking will continue pretty much as they have done in the past, with the underground parking serving new residents, and the surface used for visitors and for the office building to the south. The developer is Abramson Properties, an experienced Alexandria-based development team, currently building a mixed use project at King and Beauregard and also developers of the Harborside townhouses along S. Union Street. The Abramsons maintain an office in Old Town North, on Wythe Street.
The article from ALXNOW.com below provides additional details.
A proposal asks to turn a vacant office building into a residential development.
Patio and Landscaping plan
A commercial-to-residential building transformation at the corner of North Fairfax and Montgomery streets could start to move forward this summer.
The project, at 801 N. Fairfax St., goes before the City of Alexandria Planning Commission this Thursday and may go before the City Council on July 7.
The proposal asks for approval to increase the allowed height of the building as it switches to residential to allow use of the building’s rooftop as part of the long-planned conversion from an office building to homes.
The building is currently empty.
Use of the rooftop for communal space and possibly for mechanical needs will help the project be a successful conversion, according to a City staff report. The building will not be higher than what is allowed in that neighborhood.
“The SUP request allows the applicant additional flexibility in converting the 801 N. Fairfax Street building from commercial to residential use with essentially the existing building footprint. The SUP is not necessary to provide rooftop open space access to future residents, though the SUP allows the repurposing of obsolete mechanical areas as amenity spaces, allowing for the applicant to provide rooftop and penthouse amenities comparable with newer multifamily residential developments in the area. Staff supports the residential conversion, including the building height SUP, as it will bring a vacant property back into use while reusing an existing concrete structure,” according to the City staff report.
The building is located near the hotel-to-residential conversion project at the Crowne Plaza in the Old Town North neighborhood.
