Under the plan Alexandria announced in April 2025, Waterfront Park and Point Lumley Park would have been fenced off right about now. That plan kept both parks closed from fall 2026 until fall 2028 so crews could rebuild sections of the sea wall and install a pump station. That schedule is off. Over the past eight months the project was redesigned, rebudgeted, and pushed back about a year, and on Oct. 7 it cleared a key design approval.
This fall's openings on King Street are landing in that gap, ahead of the bricks and the bulkhead work.
The Closure That Came Off the Calendar
The old schedule depended on the pump station, and the pump station is gone. As ALXnow reported, the National Park Service denied the city's plan to build one at Waterfront Park, 1 Prince Street, earlier this year. City Council then approved a new plan in June built around an "enhanced gravity storm sewer system." Council voted on June 13. ALXnow's June coverage noted that only 30% of the alternative had been designed at that point.
The new approach upsizes the existing gravity storm sewers, adds backflow prevention, flood control gates and valves, and raises key sections of bulkhead and shoreline to elevation 6 feet. It also restores Waterfront Park, according to The Alexandria Brief. The city says this design removes 100% of sunny-day flooding and matches the old pump station's river protection up to elevation 6 feet. It does not protect against a future sea-level rise of one to two feet unless a pump station is added later, though the city says the design can take one.
No source we found gives revised closure dates for the two parks, and the city has not posted a current notice on park access. What is clear is that the fall 2026 to fall 2028 closure belonged to the pump-station plan, and that plan no longer exists.
What the Board Approved Last Wednesday
On Oct. 7, the Board of Architectural Review took up the city's paired applications for alterations, partial demolition and encapsulation at 2 King Street, 1 King Street, 0 Prince Street, 1A Prince Street and 3 Duke Street. The board approved both as amended on a 6-1 vote, with Ms. Miller voting against, according to the meeting's action docket.
The approved design changes how the bottom of King Street will look and feel. ALXnow's preview of the meeting listed these elements:
- Red brick replacing asphalt on the unit and 100 blocks of King Street
- A 20-foot-wide walkway with a riverside railing from Robinson Terminal South to the foot of King Street
- New promenades at Waterfront Park and Point Lumley Park
- A garden at Point Lumley Park paid for by a private donation, shown on the city's plans as the Rosenbaum Bequest Garden
The July plan also included a raised pedestrian crossing on lower King. One detail is still uncertain. The October design package shows a new promenade at Point Lumley, but the July summary said Point Lumley improvements "may be deferred to stay within budget." Both statements stand in the public record right now.
Why Construction Slid to 2027
The redesign brought a new timeline. Here is the sequence from the city's latest published schedule, as The Alexandria Brief reported it on July 9:
| Milestone | Timing |
|---|---|
| Utility test pits on King, Union, Prince, The Strand and in both parks | July 13–24, 2026 |
| Grading plan and 70% design | Fall 2026 |
| Guaranteed Maximum Price proposal from Skanska/JMT | Fall or winter 2026 |
| Final design | Winter 2026 through spring 2027 |
| Construction begins | Summer or fall 2027 |
The city's own project-design page still shows the older schedule, with the pump station and construction starting this year. That page was last updated before the June vote.
Money is part of the reason for the longer runway. At 30% design, the gravity-sewer option was estimated at $145 million to $165 million. About $141 million was available from city capital funds, stormwater utility fees and grants. The city plans to close the gap through value engineering and more grant applications.
The project itself is still pressing. From January to October 2025, the Prince Street level of the waterfront flooded 227 times, compared with a 20-year average of 145 events a year, according to city figures reported by ALXnow. Flood costs, including cleanup, sandbagging and lost business revenue, run $400,000 to $800,000 a year.
King Street Keeps Filling In While the River End Waits
The extra year gives the waterfront one more season in its current shape. Meanwhile, the blocks above the construction zone are adding storefronts. Starting from the river and moving west, here is what has arrived or is on the way:
- Bricks & Minifigs, 110 N. Royal St. This LEGO resale shop, owned by Dylan Blanco, expected to open in early October with a grand opening in November. The company's location page lists store hours but still says "coming soon."
- Twosome Place, 404 King St. The South Korean chain is opening its first U.S. cafe on the ground floor of the Alexandrian hotel, which also houses Van Leeuwen Ice Cream and Life Alive Organic Cafe. The space is 2,600 square feet with 78 indoor and outdoor seats.
- Floriana, 277 S. Washington St. In July, owners Jamie Branda and Dino Tapper told ALXnow that permitting delays had pushed their target to late August or early September. We have not seen confirmation that it has opened.
- Gorjana, 726 King St. The jewelry brand has filed to remodel a storefront and goes before the Board of Architectural Review on Wednesday, Oct. 21. No opening date has been announced.
- Mudhouse Specialty Coffee Roasters, 1119 King St. Founders John and Lynelle Lawrence announced a July 29 opening, with coffee roasted in-house, breakfast and coffee cocktails.
- Long Dark House and Madame Coco's Emporium, 1510 King St. Chanthal Harris's horror and sci-fi bookstore shares the address with Meshelle Armstrong's chocolate shop, which is returning to Old Town. Both businesses' websites now list the King Street address.
Twosome Place is the newcomer with the biggest ambitions for the location. Its CEO, Jay (YoungJoo) Moon, put it this way in a release quoted by ALXnow:
"We're excited to introduce American consumers to the café culture we've built over the past two decades, one centered on quality, hospitality, and creating a place where guests can gather over exceptional coffee and cake."
The menu includes a Dalgona Cream Top, a Black Sesame Latte, a Misugaru Frappe and K-Toast with bulgogi and egg. The company also sells a strawberry chocolate cream cake that it calls the "only trademark-registered cake in Korea." Alexandria Living Magazine reports the grand opening is set for Saturday, Oct. 17, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The Rest of the Fall Calendar
Old Town Oyster Week runs through Oct. 17, so it is already underway. The official event site lists Daniel O'Connell's, Fish Market, Hank's Oyster Bar, Hank's Pasta Bar, Vola's Dockside, The Wharf and Murphy's as participating restaurants. Collect seven or more stamps on the Oyster Passport and you're entered in a raffle for Guinness prizes. The week ends with the Find the Pint scavenger hunt on Saturday, Oct. 17. ALXnow's weekend preview listed Fish Market as the reigning shucking-competition champion going into the Oct. 10 contest outside Daniel O'Connell's.
That makes Oct. 17 a busy Saturday on King Street, with the Twosome Place grand opening in the morning and the scavenger hunt the same day. Here's what follows:
- Oct. 24: Lost Boy Cider Fall Fest at 317 Hooffs Run Drive
- Oct. 30–31: Old Town Halloween Bar Crawl
- Oct. 31: Alexandria Fall-O-Ween at John Carlyle Square, 300 John Carlyle St.
- Nov. 21: Alexandria Cider Festival at Lloyd House, 220 N. Washington St., and along Queen Street
There is one more project to watch nearby. NOVA Parks set aside $1.5 million in its new budget for renovations at Carlyle House, and that work could be finished as soon as next fall. Next up for the waterfront is the 70% design and the Skanska/JMT price proposal. Both are due this fall and winter, and they will show whether the Point Lumley work stays in the plan.
At HOMEGROWN The McDonald Etro Group, we follow Old Town's waterfront project as it moves through design. If you own a home near lower King Street and want to know what brick paving, a riverside walkway and a 2027 construction start could mean for your property's value, start with your instant home valuation, and we'll walk you through the numbers.
