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Planning commission recommends approval to convert vacant building at 2525 Mount Vernon Ave to retail, daycare and 30 short-term residential units
Summary
The commission voted 7–0 to recommend approval of a special-use permit to reduce required parking and allow conversion of an existing building at 2525 Mount Vernon Avenue to mixed commercial uses on the ground floor and 30 short-term residential units on the second floor; staff and applicant cited transit access and neighborhood support.
The Alexandria Planning Commission voted 7–0 to recommend City Council approval of a special-use permit allowing conversion of the vacant building at 2525 Mount Vernon Avenue to a mixed-use configuration with ground-floor retail, restaurant and a daycare plus 30 units of short-term residential rental on the second floor.
Katie McDonald, planner with Planning and Zoning, said the site is zoned CL (commercial low) and is in the Potomac West small-area plan and Mount Vernon Avenue business area overlay. Staff said providing the otherwise-required on-site parking was not feasible for the proposal and that the site’s high walkability score (85), three bus routes with stops adjacent to the building and proximity to Braddock Road and Potomac Yard metro stations supported a parking reduction. Staff recommended conditions requiring the applicant to provide information to building residents about available parking options and to restrict eligibility for any future residential parking-permit program should one be created in the area.
Applicant attorney Kathy Puskar said the contract purchaser intends to reactivate the long-vacant former DCHS building with 30 short-term rental units on the second floor and ground-floor retail and daycare that would add active ground-floor uses along Mount Vernon Avenue. She said the applicant owns an off-site garage in the block and that the project had neighborhood outreach including Del Ray Land Use Committee and Del Ray Citizens Association and had letters of support from the Del Ray Business Association.
Commissioners emphasized adaptive reuse of the vacant building, ground-floor activation and neighborhood support. Several commissioners said daycare on the ground floor is a community benefit. The commission closed the public hearing and recommended approval by a unanimous vote. The matter will now proceed to City Council for final action.
