About the Old Town North Arts and Cultural District

History

Old Town North was defined as Alexandria's Arts and Cultural District in the 2017 Old Town North Small Area Plan. The objective of the District is to contribute to the City's creative economy and enrich the neighborhood. Identified arts uses that are desired include visual or performing arts venues, such as a theater, concert hall, or music venue; instructional art, drama, or music academy; museum; culinary arts institute.

To implement the District, the City of Alexandria passed an ordinance to incentivize developers to provide "arts spaces" larger than 5,000 square feet, and to include smaller spaces for galleries or artists studios. This incentive proved to be very effective, with a number of development projects taking advantage of these provisions. Carr Companies (now Carr America) is providing arts spaces in its two condominium projects, Venue and Muse; it is planned that MetroStage will occupy the space at Venue, while The Art League has already moved in to the spaces at Muse. At TideLock, another arts space is being built in a multifamily rental building. And City Dance is planning to occupy an arts space at 425 Montgomery Street, the former site of an obsolete office building deemed more suitable for residential use. Other projects are on the planning boards, including a 13,000 square foot arts venue and a public art feature at the redeveloped Montgomery Center, and an Art/Culture Gateway where N. Fairfax Street enters the redeveloped Potomac River Generating Station.

The Old Town North Alliance has made the implementation of the Small Area Plan its mission. We provide neighborhood information and outreach; work with developers and City staff for community benefits, advocate for sound development; and have prepared a master plan for an "Arts and Cultural District Walk" that will fill in some of the blank spaces along the Fairfax Street frontages as well as create an interesting path for visitors to follow between the existing Torpedo Factory Art Center and the future Art/Culture Gateway at the Potomac River Generating Station.