Christina Mindrup speaks to the Eisenhower Partnership. Photo by Vernon Miles.
In the middle of a year of ups, the latest down came as a bit of a shock to the Eisenhower Partnership. There was a lot for Frank Cole to brag about at the group’s annual meeting on Nov. 19: the film festival earlier in November, the unveiling of the new police memorial outside the headquarters on Wheeler Avenue, and the new AlexRenew facility at the eastern end of Eisenhower Avenue were some of the highlights. But positive as these were, it doesn’t address the elephant in the room: the Transportation Security Administration’s lease to move to Alexandria has been voided by a federal judge.
At this point, there are more questions about the move than answers, and even the city’s business leaders seemed in the dark. In an only half-joking manner, Cole and Christina Mindrup, vice president of Commercial Real Estate for the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership, repeatedly passed the microphone back and forth and expressed their unease about answering the audience.
“The lawsuit didn’t go in our favor,” said Mindrup, “We don’t have a position to comment on at this time.”
On Nov. 11, an order from U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Charles Lettow blocked the move, but the order itself is currently under seal, leaving the reason for the decision a mystery. The TSA’s arrival at the Victory Center was a key part of the recently approved Eisenhower West Small Area Plan.