Victory Center Office To Residential Conversion Proposed In Alexandria
Community Corner
Victory Center Office To Residential Conversion Proposed In Alexandria A partial tax exemption is proposed with plans to turn a longtime vacant office complex into residential units.ALEXANDRIA, VA — On Tuesday, Alexandria City Council first received a developer proposal to convert the Victory Center office building to a residential use. A partial tax exemption from the city is proposed with the development.
Developer Stonebridge is calling for a conversion of the vacant office building at 5001 Eisenhower Avenue to 378 rent-controlled housing units and a city-operated community space. Of the 378 units, 41 units would be affordable to households with 50 percent of the area median income, and 41 would be for 60 percent of the area median income households. Another 190 units would be available to households with 80 percent of the area median income, and the remaining 106 units would be for households with 100 percent of the area median income. The current median income in the DC metropolitan region is $154,700 .
A presentation to City Council indicated that the 600,000-square-foot office building has been vacant for 21 years, as it has lost several bids for federal agency locations. The Victory Center was originally constructed in 1973 for the U.S. Army Material Command, but it has been vacant since the agency moved to Fort Belvoir in 2003. It was temporarily used as a large-scale vaccination site during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to City Council meeting documents, the city government had provided a partial real estate tax abatement in 2019 to incentivize office redevelopment and leasing. However, office tenants didn't end up leasing the space.
Due to the building's age, location, inability to lease and physical factors, city staff and the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership determined that the Victory Center is obsolete for office use. The presentation to City Council indicates the Victory Center accounts for about 3 percent of the city's mid-year vacancy rate of 15.5 percent.
With that, the developer is asking for a 25-year partial real estate tax abatement to allow for converted building improvements. Under Virginia state code, localities can allow a partial tax exemption for real estate improvements in a rehabilitation district for up to 30 years. The proposed tax exemption would be 90 percent in the first five years, then 10 percent less every five years. The exemption would be 50 percent by the 21st to 25th year.
Conditions of the city's financial incentive would require future development of up to 450 residential units adjacent to the existing Victory Center office building. Fifty of these units would be developed six years from the project launch, and the remaining 400 units could come up to 16 years later.
Mayor Justin Wilson said the presentation was the beginning of City Council's consideration of the proposal. City Council will have a first reading of the proposal on Dec. 10, then a public hearing and final vote on Dec. 14. The city has created a web page on the Victory Center proposal with more information.
Upcoming meetings on the proposal will be:
