About 136 EYA townhomes built in the late 1990s on the Potomac side of southeast Old Town, over the buried bulkhead of an 18th-century wharf.
Ford's Landing occupies the southeast corner of Old Town Alexandria, on the river below Franklin Street, and it is one of the few Old Town addresses you can date to a single decade. EYA built roughly 136 townhomes here in the late 1990s, on ground the Ford Motor Company had used for an assembly plant and, long before that, on Keith's Wharf. The brick elevations were drawn to echo 18th- and 19th-century waterfront warehouses rather than the Federal rows uphill, so the enclave reads as one piece: a uniform street pattern, a uniform vintage, and a history that sits entirely underneath it.
Alexandria excavated this ground before EYA built on it, and the resulting archaeological site — 44AX119 — is why the development carries six interpretive markers rather than a single plaque. The bulkhead of Keith's Wharf survives beneath the townhouses, along with remains associated with a late-19th-century marine railway, an early-1900s shipyard building slip, and timbers from vessels and barges left in the fill. That history is not only decorative. Alexandria's Archaeological Protection Code, adopted by Council on November 18, 1989 and folded into the zoning ordinance in 1992, gives city archaeologists review of ground-disturbing permits and can require evaluation before excavation. If your plans involve digging — a deep footing, a utility trench, hardscape — raise it with the city early rather than at permit stage.
Newer construction does not sit outside the rules. Ford's Landing lies within the Old and Historic Alexandria District, created by City Council ordinance on July 17, 1946, so a Certificate of Appropriateness is required for exterior alterations visible from a public right of way, and a Permit to Demolish is required for removing or capsulating more than 25 square feet of material whether or not anyone can see it. Preservation staff can approve routine work administratively — repainting in the same color, in-kind roofing, ordinary maintenance — and as of August 2026 the city says that review normally takes fewer than five business days. Larger work is docketed for a public hearing. If you are buying with window replacement, a rear addition or a condenser relocation in mind, ask Preservation staff for the property's file before you write the offer.
Closeness to the water is the amenity and the underwriting question at the same time. Alexandria's current FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps took effect January 11, 2024, and the Special Flood Hazard Area in this part of the city reaches inland rather than stopping at the shoreline, so whether a given Ford's Landing address requires flood insurance turns on the specific lot, not on the enclave. As of August 2026 the city participates in FEMA's Community Rating System at Class 6, which it says earns policyholders up to a 20 percent premium discount. Ask for the elevation certificate — the city's floodplain administrator holds them for recent construction — and get a bound quote before releasing a contingency. The waterfront flood-mitigation work Council advanced on June 13, 2026 is centered several blocks north, around lower King, Union Street and Waterfront Park.
These addresses are in the independent City of Alexandria, so Alexandria City Public Schools serves them rather than Fairfax County. For the 2026-27 year, Ford's Landing is assigned to Lyles-Crouch Traditional Academy at 530 South Saint Asaph Street for elementary, then George Washington Middle School, then Alexandria City High School, which operates across its King Street and Minnie Howard campuses. The School Board approved new attendance boundaries on June 12, 2025, effective with the 2026-27 school year, so an assignment printed on an older listing may be stale — confirm the specific address in the ACPS Attendance Zone Locator.
Most Old Town houses predate the automobile; these do not, though what off-street parking conveys varies by unit and belongs in writing. The surrounding streets fall inside Alexandria's residential permit parking system, where permits are issued only to full-time residents and cost $55 for a first vehicle, $75 for a second and $250 for each additional one, current as of August 2026. King St-Old Town Metro, served by the Blue and Yellow lines, sits at the top of King Street — roughly a mile of walking from the south waterfront, with the free DASH King Street Trolley covering most of it. Washington Street, a few blocks west, carries the George Washington Memorial Parkway designation through the city.
Ford's Landing sits within Old Town Alexandria — that guide covers the zoning, permitting and site constraints that apply across the wider area.
Artur can confirm what applies to a specific address here — lot, zoning, association documents and school assignment — before you write an offer.
