Plans to develop a new streetscape along Campbell Avenue could bring a more pedestrian-oriented focus to Shirlington beginning next year.
Property management company Federal Realty Investment Trust, which owns the Village at Shirlington retail center, proposes to overhaul the neighborhood’s central avenue with the following improvements.
- New seating
- Expanded planting areas
- Protection of existing trees
- Renovations and improvements to public spaces near the library and theater
- New light fixtures
- Bike racks
- Seat walls
- Changes to the physical layout of the street, in the form of shifted curbs, new crosswalk locations, and a reworked median on Campbell Avenue.
“This is critical to keeping Shirlington competitive with its peers,” attorney Nick Cumings said at a community meeting yesterday (Tuesday).
He noted that the plan is not attached to any other development plans.
Geoff Sharpe, vice president of creative planning and development with Federal Realty Investment Trust, said there has been a lot of deferred maintenance in Shirlington and general urban design updates that are long overdue.
“Because the outdoor dining is so successful at Shirlington, there’s tension over the real estate of the sidewalk,” Sharpe said.
Most of that comes down to battles between pedestrians and restaurants taking up space for outdoor dining, when Sharpe said the issue is really that the streets too heavily favor car traffic. In an informal ARLnow poll last month, 68.2% of respondents wanted Campbell Avenue to be pedestrian-only.
“Campbell Avenue was designed in the 1980s and the approach is very old school,” Sharpe said. “Forty years ago, it was all about moving traffic quickly. Nowadays, from an urban design perspective, we’re more concerned with pedestrian safety and traffic calming.”
Sharpe said other changes include a plan to “decommission” a fountain on Campbell Avenue that Sharpe called unpopular — “I don’t know anyone that’s a fan of that” — with other public art.
A major theme of the proposed changes is adding more seating space, both to common areas along the main stretch of Campbell Avenue and as part of beautification efforts outside Signature Theatre (4200 Campbell Avenue).
“Signature Theatre can have 200 people queued up at the will-call window,” Sharpe said. “When we engaged with the theatre, we developed more understanding of their needs. The designs are still hardscaped, but with more common area seating.”
According to the applicant, the plan is to take the proposed improvements to the County Board for review on Saturday, June 14.
If approved, construction is slated to start on Jan. 2, 2026. The plan is to finish the streetscape changes in time for the start of the outdoor dining season next year and just in time for Alexandria’s annexation.
