Redevelopment of the power plant on the Alexandria waterfront

The Potomac River Generating Site is identified in the Alexandria Old Town North Small Area Plan, adopted in 2017 by the Alexandria City Council. The original plan was conceived by the City of Alexandria to transform the site from an underutilized brownfield into a sustainable, active community.Hilco envisions transforming it into a mixed-use development that will integrate into Old Town North and take advantage of the beauty and accessibility of the Potomac River. For decades, this massive space along the Mount Vernon Trail has been inaccessible to the Alexandria community.

On November 16, 2020, Illinois-based Hilco Redevelopment Partners (HRP), a unit of Hilco Global, announced the purchase of the approximately 20-acre Potomac River Generating Station (PRGS) site. The firm plans to demolish the power plant, then turn the 20-acre lot into a mixed-use development. This will reintegrate the inaccessible industrial zone into Alexandria, adding 14 acres of public green space, new jobs, retail, and tax revenue.

This project includes many complex issues, including its first challenge, deconstruction of the power plant. Remediation is the first step in this process. The old power station contains a variety of hazardous materials. Hilco has outlined a thorough and prudent plan that will take as much time as needed to make certain the work is done safely and to code, recycling as much steel and construction materials as possible. After this is accomplished, the project will proceed to redevelopment of the site. The site is planned for buildings up to 172 feet in height. Uses on the site will be residential as well as possible office, arts and innovation spaces, hotel and retail.The redevelopment will also add new streetscapes, sidewalks and open space improving waterfront access.

Presenter - Michelle Beaman Chang

Vice President, Mixed-Use Development, Hilco Redevelopment Partners

Michelle Beaman Chang joined HRP as a Vice President of Mixed-Use Development in 2021 where she is focused on the redevelopment of the former Potomac River Generating Station site in Alexandria, Virginia. Michelle is leading the transformation of this former coal-fired power plant into a vibrant mixed-use community of residential, office, retail, and cultural space that reflects the site’s rich history and prominent location along the Potomac. Her responsibilities span the full range of development activities including: entitlement approvals and community engagement; oversight of the design, engineering, and general contracting teams; managing project budgets, forecasts, and reporting; and branding, marketing, and lease-up.

Michelle has over 15 years of development experience in the Washington, D.C., New York City, and Philadelphia markets with a specific expertise in housing at all income levels. Most recently at Akridge, Michelle managed Burnham Place, a 3M square-foot air rights development above the $10.7B Washington Union Station expansion project. Prior to Akridge, Michelle founded Imby Community, a hybrid digital/in-person platform to manage pre-development risk through the alignment of local sentiment to project goals. Michelle has held development roles at Vornado where she oversaw a $600M development portfolio of 1,500 multi-family units and at AHC and Catholic Charities where she created or preserved nearly 800 units of affordable and mixed-income housing units that leveraged national and state low-income housing and historic tax credits.