City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: DECEMBER 9, 2024
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: JAMES F. PARAJON, CITY MANAGER
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Public Hearing, Second Reading and Final Passage of an Ordinance to amend the 5001 Eisenhower Avenue Redevelopment District for the Purposes of Conversion to Residential Use. [ROLL-CALL VOTE]
BODY
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ISSUE: Facilitating economic use of a long-vacant office building and a portion of a 9.73-acre site located at 5001 Eisenhower Avenue.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council:
1. Hold a public hearing and adopt an ordinance amending section 3-2-192 of the City Code to provide a performance based partial real estate tax abatement to induce the redevelopment of 5001 Eisenhower Avenue (Attachment 1).
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute a performance agreement, with content not substantially different from that which is outlined in the Term Sheet (Attachment 2), in order to induce redevelopment of Eisenhower Avenue.
BACKGROUND: 5001 Eisenhower Avenue is a large, outdated office building on a 9.73-acre site, originally constructed in 1973 for the U.S. Army Material Command. Since that agency's move to Ft. Belvoir in 2003, the 600,000+ SF building has been vacant. Despite the efforts of two owners over 21 years to identify and secure federal tenants, the most likely user of an office building of this size and orientation, no lease was ever executed. The building's chronic vacancy has significantly raised Alexandria's total office vacancy rate and is a contributing impediment to significant Eisenhower West redevelopment activity.
Most recently, in 2019, in an effort to induce commercial activity, the City granted the owner, an affiliate of Stonebridge, a partial real estate tax abatement to make the site conducive to office redevelopment and leasing. Similar to a previous partial real estate tax abatement grant...
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