Alexandria has a handful of gateway sites — Old Town and Potomac Yard on either side of Route 1, Landmark to the west. A local developer is proposing to create another, on a hill overlooking the intersection of King and North Beauregard streets.

Abramson Properties has submitted a concept plan to build a 628,000-square-foot mixed-use project on the former site of the Jefferson Memorial Hospital and its ancillary medical office buildings. The development, at 4600 King Street, as envisioned would include 439 residential units, an unknown quantity of office space, a 144-key hotel and retail, including a 62,000-square-foot grocery store.

The project, which will require a rezoning, is in the earliest stages of review.

"It’s where Fairfax, Arlington and Alexandria meet," said Danny Abramson, president of Abramson Properties. "It’s truly the entrance to Alexandria coming east."

Abramson said his firm is positioning the project as transit-oriented, though it will not be within walking distance of Metro. Instead, it will feature a bus rapid transit station on site.

"The design is evolving and it's very exciting," Abramson said.

The site desperately needs an update. Currently owned by the Lazlo N. Tauber Foundation, the property was cleared roughly six years ago and it’s sat vacant ever since. It sits above a small, deteriorating strip shopping center, formerly home to one of the earliest Five Guys, until that burger outpost closed in the fall.

Alexandria had a deal to pick up the hospital site in 2007 for $5 million — a steep discount. Dr. Alfred Tauber offered to, for all intents and purposes, donate the land if it could be designated for a public use.

Michael Neibauer covers economic development, chambers of commerce, transportation and politics.