[Archived] Community Invited to Potomac West Alliance Kick-Off; Nationsbank to Announce Loan Commitment


Media Advisory
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date:	Friday, August 30, 1996
Contact:	For the City of Alexandria: Tom Brannan, Assistant City Manager, (703) 838-4300; For NationsBank: Melba Spencer, Corporate Communications, NationsBank, (704) 388-3185

Community Invited to Potomac West Alliance Kick-Off; Nationsbank to Announce Loan Commitment

Alexandria Mayor Kerry J. Donley and Members of City Council will
host a swearing in ceremony, press conference, and reception at 6:30 p.m.
Wednesday, May 8, at the Alexandria Branch YMCA, 420 East Monroe Avenue.
The kick-off event will introduce members of the new Potomac West
Alliance Pilot Project, a public/private agency that will coordinate City
and community economic development activities in the City's Potomac West
area.

The event is open to the public and is expected to attract
representatives from business and neighborhood organizations within the
Potomac West area.

City Councilman William D. Euille and officials from NationsBank will
announce a major commitment of new loan funds to businesses and residents
within the 1.7-square-mile Potomac West area. Based in Charlotte, N.C.,
NationsBank is recognized as an industry leader in community investment
initiatives, lending more than $8.5 billion in the past three years in
low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. NationsBank is the fifth-largest
commercial bank holding company in the U.S., with assets of $194 billion
and full-service banking centers in nine states and the District of
Columbia.

The swearing-in ceremony for the 11 members of the newly appointed
interim board of directors of the Potomac West Alliance will be followed
by a press conference and reception. City Council Member Lois L. Walker
is City Council's representative to the Potomac West Alliance, and she
serves as a non-voting member of the board of directors.

The Potomac West area is bounded by Four Mile Run on the north, the
Potomac Railroad Yard and Jefferson Davis Highway (U.S. Route 1) to the
east, Union Station to the south, and Russell and Glebe Roads to the west.
The area is served by two major commercial corridors, Mt. Vernon Avenue
and Jefferson Davis Highway, and includes the neighborhoods of Del Ray,
Lynhaven, Mt. Jefferson, Hume Springs, Auburn Village, Warwick Village,
Arlandria, and Rosemont. Potomac West also includes the Mt. Vernon
Avenue/Route 1 Enterprise Zone, the only State-designated enterprise zone
in Northern Virginia.

City Council approved the Potomac West Alliance Pilot Project in
March and at that time set aside $30,000 to hire an interim executive
director and an urban design consultant. The interim executive director
will work with the business, civic, and government members of the
Alliance during the next six months to develop a legal framework and an
organizational structure for a permanent Potomac West Alliance. The City
funds will also allow the Alliance to hire a consultant who will develop
proposed urb an design guidelines for improving building facades, signs,
landscaping, and lighting in the Potomac West area.

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