Tonight (Tuesday), Alexandria’s City Council will consider providing a $4 million loan to Housing Alexandria to build the second and final phase of its Sansé and Naja affordable housing project at the intersection of Mount Vernon Avenue and Glebe Road in Arlandria.
The Sansé and Naja project represents Alexandria’s most “significant affordable housing investment” to date, according to a city staff memo to City Council. The development will deliver 495 affordable rental units to the 3.2-acre site and could be fully occupied by 2028.
City Council has so far approved $79.7 million in funding for the project, which broke ground in 2023 and began vertical construction the following fall.
According to city staff:
At $4 million, the pending request is consistent with the funding plan presented by [Housing Alexandria] in 2022 and represents the final installment of City funding. The full package for Naja also includes a $5.3 million HUD Section 108 CDBG (Community Development Block Grant) loan with repayment guaranteed by the City. [Housing Alexandria] will share proceeds from the developer fees it earns to help the City with loan repayment until project cash flow is sufficient to carry the loan in the future.
Council will also consider a Housing Trust Fund grant of up to $400,000 to Housing Alexandria for rental subsidies for eight units at the Naja apartment building.
The first phase of construction — the 416-unit Sansé apartment building — will deliver the first 206 units in mid-2026 and the remaining 210 in early 2027, according to the city. The building will include a food hub from nonprofit ALIVE! and flexible space for city departments serving the neighborhood.
The Naja building, to be constructed in the second phase, will include 79 affordable rental units and more than 15,000 square feet of commercial space that will be used as a clinic by Neighborhood Health.
Originally, the concept for Naja included 58 for-sale affordable condominium units and a two-story commercial use, but the city said current market conditions no longer support those uses.
“In response, [Housing Alexandria], in consultation with Arlandria community members and with the support of the Department of Planning and Zoning, now proposes a larger rental project, within the original building footprint,” city staff said in the memo.
Construction on the Naja building is expected to begin in mid-2026 and be completed in late 2027.
