JBG SMITH Unveils Updated Plans for Potomac Yard
The company is aiming to repurpose upward of 550,000 square feet.
JBG SMITH has submitted plans to the City of Alexandria, Va., calling for more than 750 new multifamily, townhome and committed affordable units in the area’s Potomac Yard neighborhood. The plan provides a diverse blend of housing types within four vacant parcels near the Potomac Yard Metro station. The proposal is aimed at addressing the region’s need for quality housing proximate to mass transit stations.
Representing a quarter century of development across Potomac Yard’s southern portion are the following proposed buildings:
- On Landbay G, Parcels E and B, JBG SMITH proposes approximately 550 multifamily residences across two seven-story buildings.
- On Landbay G Parcel G, it proposes approximately 100 units of on-site dedicated affordable housing. On Landbay H, plans call for approximately 116 single-family for-sale townhome units, divided into 80 16-by-42-foot units and 36 20-by-42-foot units.
In a prepared statement, a JBG SMITH official noted that the plans aim to offer a blend of rental, for-sale and dedicated affordable housing options for would-be Potomac Yard residents, regardless of their budgets or household sizes.
Future-focused
Situated immediately south of the Reagan National Airport, Potomac Yard is proximate to Amazon’s HQ2. The recipient of public and private investment in recent years, Potomac Yard is anchored by Virginia Tech’s Innovation Campus. The campus will open its first academic building, an 11-story, 300,000-square-foot structure, next year.
The Potomac Yard-VT Metrorail Station currently provides Blue Line and Yellow Line service to the area. Abutting the station is an array of land improvements intended to foster the expansion of Potomac Yard’s long-term urban development. Among them is the 4.5-acre Potomac Yard Park extension to the existing more than 20-acre park, dedicated by the City of Alexandria in October 2024. The company also intends for improvements to the District Pump Station, delivered to the city the previous December.
In a March letter to stakeholders, JBG SMITH announced that its previous plans to develop a Potomac Yard entertainment district anchored by the Washington Capitals and Washington Wizards had fallen through. It was later announced the company would “pursue alternative options for a major entertainment anchor.”
Earlier this year, JBG SMITH topped out a 25-story, 355-unit community in Arlington, Va. The development is part of a larger, 755-unit, two-building project. Delivery is scheduled for Spring 2025.
