For Immediate Release: July 18, 2022

The City of Alexandria has received two planning awards from the Virginia Chapter of the American Planning Association (APA Virginia): The Arlandria-Chirilagua Small Area Plan is the winner of the 2022 Commonwealth Plan of the Year Award and the Landmark Mall Redevelopment project won the 2022 Red Clay Development of the Year Award .

"I wish to congratulate our Planning staff on these award-winning plans,” Mayor Justin Wilson said. “These plans are about more than constructing buildings; they are about building community. These plans clearly embody the hard work of City staff as well as the hopes and aspirations of members of our community who drove these processes from start to finish.”

Commonwealth Plan of the Year Award

The Commonwealth Plan of the Year Award honors the best planning document of the year. The award-winning plan illustrates an outstanding planning process, vision, implementation strategies and innovative approaches. The Arlandria-Chirilagua Small Area Plan was adopted in January 2022 following a two-year community planning process to proactively address housing affordability concerns in the area and develop strategies that enable residents to remain in their community. APA Virginia commended the City for the tools and strategies used during the planning process to inclusively engage the neighborhood’s residents. They specifically recognized the City for its Spanish-first approach during the process. 

Red Clay Development of the Year Award

The Red Clay Award is awarded to developments that exhibit great planning and create great places in Virginia to live and work through infill development, building rehabilitations, brownfield redevelopments, downtown revitalization or similar projects. The City received this award for the planning effort to transform Landmark Mall into a vibrant, sustainable, urban economic center, and providing a replicable model for suburban mall retrofits.

"We are honored to be recognized by the Virginia APA for our planning efforts,” said Planning and Zoning Director Karl Moritz. “Communities across the Commonwealth are engaged in outstanding, groundbreaking planning. I am proud that Alexandria is at the forefront of this work and is contributing to the many examples of planning innovation in Virginia."  

For more information about the Arlandria-Chirilagua planning process, visit the project website. Visit alexandriava.gov/Landmark for more information on the Landmark Mall Redevelopment project.

For inquiries from the news media only, contact the Office of Communications & Public Information at newsroom@alexandriava.gov or 703.746.3969.

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This news release is available at alexandriava.gov/go/3788