A New Look Of Prosperity In Old Town

Hotels and National Harbor Have Retailers Hopeful Again

There's a new ripple of excitement and anticipation along King Street this summer as retailers take steps to prepare themselves for the more prosperous times they think lie just ahead.

More than 20 retailers banded together to place 10 planters filled with boxwood and variegated ivy on the 1100 block of King, at their own expense, to spruce up the neighborhood and add to the 18th-century ambiance.

The city is preparing to unveil a set of banners that will help give the area a more unified feel. Residents will be able to look them over outside City Hall and tell Alexandria officials which style they like best.

More than 36 restaurants have opened outdoor seating in the past three years, adding to the area's foot traffic on warm evenings. Street-side dining has become so popular that city officials had to tighten limitations on where tables and chairs can be placed to ensure sidewalks don't fall victim to pedestrian gridlock.

Several retailers have set up shop, including Old Original Bookbinder's seafood restaurant, Bruegger's Bagels, Conrad's Furniture Gallery and Diva, a designer consignment shop in a Victorian house on South Pitt Street.

There has been a flurry of interest among other retailers to lease the prime storefront space being vacated at 118 King by the Discovery Channel Store, according to Stephanie Landrum, acting executive director of the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership. Discovery has decided to close all 113 of its stores nationwide, freeing the large Alexandria space for another merchant.

"It's a great opportunity for us," Landrum said. "There's been a lot of competition and interest" from other companies because stores on that part of the street have historically done well.

The Old Town Theater, which has been open and closed in the past several years, reopened in late June. It features first-run films, movies by local filmmakers and some special events.

Three hotels are under construction on the King Street corridor. ING Clarion has purchased the Holiday Inn at 480 King and is refurbishing and transforming it into Hotel Monaco. It will be operated by San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotel & Restaurant Group, which is known for its posh, comfortable and quirky lodging establishments and eateries. Another Kimpton hotel will be built on upper King, and a Westin hotel is under construction nearby.

The new optimism marks a turnaround of sorts for Old Town, where retailers had come to feel rather battered in the past several years. They suffered through a series of sobering events, including the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the economic downturn that followed and the sniper shootings that frightened shoppers into staying home in October 2002. Then, in 2003, came Hurricane Isabel, which pushed a wall of water into Old Town, damaging more than 60 businesses near the waterfront.

Old Town has had to fight its way back from that series of challenges, said jeweler David Martin, owner of Gold Works, who has operated his business at 1400 King for 18 years. Meanwhile, Alexandria was getting fresh competition from a number of newly created ersatz downtowns in such places as Reston and Fairfax Corner.

"Other villages suddenly got really pretty, downright homey," Martin said. "Alexandria will never be the same. It lost the appeal of being a destination. We've needed to win it back again."