Driverless Cars, More Valet Parking and a Bigger Place to Party: What Alexandria Businesses Want in 2027

ALEXANDRIA, VA—The Alexandria Chamber of Commerce wants City Hall to save parking spaces, reset traffic lights, clear roadblocks for developers and start planning for driverless cars before they begin navigating the city’s narrow streets.

It also wants Virginia to help retrain former federal employees, more trains to stop in Alexandria on nights and weekends, and somebody to figure out where the city could put a venue large enough to keep its biggest parties and conferences from leaving town.

Those marching orders emerge from the Chamber’s newly released 20-page 2027 Legislative Agenda. The report reaches far beyond taxes and business permits. It takes positions on some of Alexandria’s most contentious fault lines: parking, traffic, housing, development reviews and who gets heard when streets are redesigned.

Here are the proposals most likely to move from the report into Alexandria’s public debates.

Save The Strand Parking—and Bring On More Valets

The Chamber plants its flag firmly on the side of motorists in Old Town.

It calls for preserving the public parking facility at 206 The Strand, expanding valet operations and “opposing the unnecessary loss of parking without viable replacement solutions.”

That language could become ammunition whenever the city considers removing spaces for pedestrian improvements, waterfront projects, bike facilities or redesigned streets. The Chamber is telling officials that access to a business should count when they decide what happens at the curb.

Reset the Traffic Lights and Reexamine Street Closures

Alexandria’s traffic headaches get their own action list.

The Chamber urges the city to reconsider traffic flow, study what happens when streets close to through traffic, examine turn-lane restrictions and reset traffic-light timing. It also wants businesses consulted before the city reduces lanes or changes traffic patterns.

The agenda points to the Duke Street Land Use Plan and says support for commercial activity should be one of the measurements used to judge a transportation project.

In other words: A street redesign should not receive a passing grade if nearby businesses take the hit.

Find Alexandria a Bigger Place to Party

Alexandria hosts plenty of organizations with plenty of guests—but some of their largest events leave the city because there is no room for them.

The Chamber wants Alexandria to develop a “large-capacity event space” so locally based organizations can hold their major gatherings within city limits.

A venue big enough for conferences, galas or large celebrations could keep spending on hotels, restaurants, transportation and catering in Alexandria. The agenda, however, leaves the two juiciest questions untouched: How big—and where?

Write the Rules for Driverless Cars Before They Arrive

Autonomous vehicles may sound like tomorrow’s problem. The Chamber wants Alexandria to start treating them as today’s policy question.

It is pressing for business representatives to help shape rules governing driverless vehicles, with safety, accessibility, innovation and economic development all in the mix.

How an autonomous vehicle would handle Old Town tourists, delivery trucks, double parking, sudden lane closures and pedestrians stepping into King Street could make for a particularly Alexandrian test of the technology.

Speed Up Development—and Cut Duplicate Reviews

The Chamber wants major projects moving faster.

It calls for the timely completion of Robinson Terminal North, the new Inova hospital at WestEnd and redevelopment of the former Potomac River Generating Station property. It also asks the city to eliminate or combine multiple reviews of major projects by different boards and commissions.

Developers may welcome fewer stops and shorter delays. Residents who rely on boards and commissions to question projects may want to know exactly which reviews could disappear.

Build More Housing—but Don’t Control the Rents

On housing, the Chamber backs more construction, continued zoning reform and the conversion of obsolete offices into homes.

But it draws a bright line against allowing local governments to regulate rents or lengthening eviction proceedings for tenants who have violated their leases. The Chamber argues that added restrictions and uncertainty could drive away the private investment needed to build more housing.

It pairs that market-driven position with a call for Virginia to establish its own rental-assistance fund and housing vouchers to supplement or replace federal programs.

Retrain Former Federal Workers—and Teach AI Skills

The region’s shaken federal workforce appears explicitly in the agenda.

The Chamber wants Alexandria to build a workforce strategy that retrains and reskills former federal workers for jobs now available or expected from major development projects. It also calls for training people to use artificial intelligence while recognizing that many open jobs will demand other skills entirely.

Local schools would be pulled closer to the business community under the plan, with expanded career preparation, trade pathways and employer connections through Career and Technical Education programs.

Run More Trains When Workers and Visitors Need Them

The Chamber is pressing for more Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express trips during off-peak hours and weekends.

That could help tourists reach Alexandria without a car and serve restaurant, hotel, healthcare and other employees whose shifts do not fit the traditional commuter schedule.

The agenda also supports sustained funding for Metro, VRE and local transit, along with a regional express-lane network extending to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. Express lanes, it says, should remain free for transit and qualifying high-occupancy vehicles.

Make It Easier to Open a Daycare

A less flashy recommendation could have an immediate effect on working families.

The Chamber asks Alexandria to bring local childcare-business rules more closely into line with Virginia regulations, particularly when daycares share a location with other businesses. Streamlining that approval process could help providers open spaces more quickly in a city where childcare remains expensive and difficult to find.

This Is the Chamber’s Pressure Map for 2027

The agenda does not change a single law on its own. It shows residents, business owners, and elected officials exactly where the Chamber intends to push.

Some proposals—more weekend trains, workforce training and childcare access—may find broad support. Others involving parking removal, rent regulation, evictions and development reviews are built for a fight.

Readers can examine the complete Alexandria Chamber of Commerce 2027 Legislative Agenda online.