Landmark Mall Redevelopment Nears Approval

Alexandria City Council will consider a redevelopment plan for Landmark Mall on Saturday. The project would overhaul the languishing mall that received its last renovation more than 20 years ago.

Earlier this month, the city’s Planning Commission recommended approval on the Howard Hughes Corp.’s application to demolish the central portion of the mall and replace it with a mixed-use town center with 317,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 400 residential units and an upscale movie theater.

The project would reflect an urban village design with a grid network of streets, while Sears and Macy’s, which each own about a third of the mall, would stay put.

A portion of the existing parking structure would be removed and replaced with mixed-use units, screening a portion of the parking structure. The project also includes a pedestrian plaza, naturalized green space and a transit center.

Howard Hughes is in line to make more than $4 million in contributions to the city for the project, including more than $2 million toward the city’s affordable housing fund. The project does not plan any affordable housing on site.

Other donations include $500,000 for improved pedestrian and bike paths, $200,000 for public art and $1 million for new planned bus rapid transitways in the city.

Speakers at the June Planning Commission meeting questioned the viability of the new urban village design without improved pedestrian connections in the area surrounding the mall and positioning the transit center in the rear of the site as opposed to near Duke Street.

For more on Landmark Mall, see:

Read more:

• Opinion - Landmark Mall: A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words
• Opinion - Landmark Promises
• Opinion - A Failed Plan for a Failed Mall
• Landmark Mall Redevelopment: Residents Hopeful
• Landmark Mall Meeting Information Now Online
• City Receives Landmark Mall Redevelopment Plans