Besides making the Growler hungry, all this talk of retail and sub shops has driven the Curmudgeonly One back to the Alexandria Zoning Ordinance to look at the CRMU-H (mixed use residential high) zoning designation.
The Growler found something interesting.
If a developer wants to put up a single-purpose building for residential or commercial (i.e., office) use on a site zoned CRMU-H, they are permitted a floor area ratio (FAR) of only 1.25, which is not terribly dense They can also get another .25 FAR of retail use.
But if the developer opts for a mixed-use building and is willing to go the special use permit route, they can achieve FAR as high as 2.5 as long as at least 50% of the building is residential.
In essence, there's a built-in density bonus for going mixed-use.
Now perhaps the zoning is structured this way to incentive developers -- to encourage them to stick with the mixed use designation zoning which one might assume was applied by wise City fathers in their wisdom at some point in the past to encourage neighborhood development.
But does it strike anyone that this might encourage developers to put up big buildings with maximum FAR where the profit is in the sale of the bonus residential units or enhanced revenue flow from additional office space rental, with retail as a mere throwaway? In fact, could the empty retail space be a loss leader for tax purposes?
It's always been a mystery to the Growler that the owners of Braddock Place haven't pushed very hard over twenty years to attract ground floor retail businesses that at least service the office tenants that occupy the commercial space, not the neighborhood.
Where are businesses like Kinko's or FedEx, banks, or small coffee shops serving the lunch crowd? Public housing and crime are less significant factors for these sorts of businesses =, which are typically open only Monday through Friday, 8 a.m to 5 p.m.
If we have any land use junkies out there who can explain this, speak please!
12 comments:
"Where are businesses like Kinko's or FedEx, banks, or small coffee shops serving the lunch crowd? Public housing and crime are less significant factors for these sorts of businesses =, which are typically open only Monday through Friday, 8 a.m to 5 p.m. "
Thats an easy one to answer. While crime would not be an issue from 9-5, it would become a big issue after 5 and on the weekends. Since burglary is a big problem in PG (I think one store in Braddock Place was robbed 15 times), what bank would want to open near Bland or Adkins?
Now, if there was increased residential presence, they might change their mind, but then you run into the issue of the SUP process in Alexandria and the belief that Alexandria is not a business-friendly place.
I think part of the Growler's point was that these sort of businesses are generally only open 9-5, M-F because that's when the crowds they serve are there. With the obvious exception of banks, they probably also have little cash on hand.
"I think part of the Growler's point was that these sort of businesses are generally only open 9-5, M-F because that's when the crowds they serve are there. "
And I think the bloggers point was there is little crowd to serve right now; anyone taking a look at the Braddock Place office market lately? What crowd are we talking about? Where is this crowd to serve? I was out at 1:00 PM and I saw few people in the Braddock Place plaza (there were more people loitering at Adkins than outside at Braddock Place)
With vacancy rates rising throughout the region and other jurisidictions beefing up office space near Metro's, what would drive a business to want to locate at Braddock Road Metro?
The Braddock Road Metro retail space isn't doing well in part because the building owners find retail space more trouble to manage than offices or apartments. Each new tenant is going to want considarable changes made to the space for his or her needs. I think that cuts into the landlord's profit. If tenants make their own modifications, they will expect lower rents
We need to think about the larger issue (in every sense of that word) of special use permits and the much greater density that attaches to them. For years civic activists have said "The special use permit is for something special." Instead the city grants special use permits to projects where the only remarkable, special feature is the giant size. I do not believe the city ever has a legal obligation to grant a special use permit to a new project. The Parker Gray density could be held to something everyone could live with if the city insisted on by right development only. The planning staff would still exercise some control over the appearance of the buildings. Even by right buildings need Planning Commission approval of their site plans.
Katy Cannady
Katy -- Tenants typically pay for their own buildout, not the landlords.
Earlier this week I read some of the background info on Public Housing and crime on the Growler's other page. It looks like this has been a concern for the non-public-housing residents for at least 25 years, and that the problems before were much worse than what we have now.
Back then the crackdown was on illegal and illicit behaviors on a fairly wide scale, and actions of the ICCA/residents resulted in the closure of a handful of places contributing to that delinquent behavior (e.g., package stores selling fortified wine). The Projects are still here, but those activities have, for the most part, ceased. Granted, there is still some illegal activity and other things that we may not be used to or prefer, but it does not seem to match what is discussed on the articles from fifteen to twenty years ago.
My guess is that by focusing civic leaders' attention on the behaviors that are illegal or undesirable may yield better results than generic statements about the benefits to society of scattered public housing vice concentrated Projects, or of a desire to create conditions that may be amenable at some point to preferred retail.
Remarkable! The Growler has now revealed at least two vehicles for granting developers density bonuses. Affordable housing and mixed use development. No wonder The Monarch is the size it is. Now I understand the reason for the work-life retail promised in the Payne Street Condos project. Bud Hart is a rather clever attorney. The work-life concept seemed the heighth of puffery.
Others may criticize me but PG remains a mostly affordable neighborhood so I propose we remove affordable housing from all discussions until such time, like public housing, placement of affordable housing is fairly considered. The city supposedly is saving the Braddock Road 7-11 property for low density affordable housing and it still angers me that Planning staff did nothing recently to change the 7-11's operations. It was on the west side of the Metro Station don't you know.
Is there any affordable housing in Carlyle? Potomac Yard only recently secured the Fire House units. Bah, the city would have me believe that I cannot read HUD's housing definitions and understand the differences in housing type. The pols are scam artists and it is time to reign them in. I went to the Beatley debate and it left me discouraged. How do we break this political cycle? Voting for only one Republican is not the answer.
TRF - get a clue. Crime has not 'ceased'. I assume you live in the nieghborhood in question and I further assume from your statement that you never leave your house. If you did you would see what a dump PG is compared to the rest of Alexandria. Retail? We have retail - go check out the 7-11, it's wonderful. If you don't know where it is, just go to Adkins and follow the trail of hot dog containers and other trash - it'll lead you to the front door of the 7-11. It's people like you that got us in this god forsaken mess to begin with.
"My guess is that by focusing civic leaders' attention on the behaviors that are illegal or undesirable may yield better results than generic statements about the benefits to society of scattered public housing vice concentrated Projects."
The fact of the matter is that concentrated public housing ITSELF fosters illegal and undesirable behaviors. Grousing about the abundance of specific problems will not produce change and has thus far only sealed PG's fate as the City's dumping ground.
The poster's implication that increasingly vocal opposition to concentrated public housing in Alexandria is motivated by a "desire to create conditions that may be amenable at some point to preferred retail" is more than a little troubling and I hope inadvertent.
My experience as a 40 year resident of Alexandria is that that most people who live in or near PG are first and foremost ashamed that the City's public policy as it relates to poverty has failed.
The fact that economic development in the area is finally butting up against the concentrated public housing is an issue, but not the driving force behind most people's objection to concentrated public housing.
"My guess is that by focusing civic leaders' attention on the behaviors that are illegal or undesirable may yield better results than generic statements about the benefits to society of scattered public housing vice concentrated Projects, or of a desire to create conditions that may be amenable at some point to preferred retail. "
Its not like people havent tried. The answer is we are the guinea pig for the City's "containment strategy".
And the focus is there...people constantly highlight to City leaders that many of the neighborhoods problems revolve around visitors and guests who dont live here, and who seem to hang out around certain select areas. But again, City leaders dont accept reality.
Isnt that the main problem? They know the truth but are not willing to accept it. Most of them still think of poverty with a 60's mindset, for example, rather than accepting what nearly everyone who lives in PG knows: that the long-term poor are held back more by their own behavior than by social inequities and that their behavior indirectly hurts the entire neighborhood around where they are concentrated.
TRF, you mention undesirable. And thats the problem. Its not just people in PG getting hurt. Its anyone thinking about opening a business here.
Its pretty clear where the undesirable activities are coming from and what they are. We all know them by heart. And we all call them in. And they dont stop. And we know why.
"The Braddock Road Metro retail space isn't doing well in part because the building owners find retail space more trouble to manage than offices or apartments."
Mrs. Cannady, then please explain why the retail market in Arlington, MoCo, and DC is blowing Alexandria out of the water? What are they doing so differently that allows retail, office, and residential to thrive in their counties/cities?
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