A new Alexandria townhouse development was saluted July 29 for its creative development plan and focus on providing affordable homeownership opportunities.
Housing Alexandria’s Cardinal Path project at 4575 Seminary Road fills a key gap in the local housing market, making it a role model, according to the Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance.
Homeownership is “so out of reach for so many,” Hanna Metuda, NVAHA’s deputy director, said during the July 29 “virtual bus tour” of creatively financed and delivered affordable housing projects across the region.
Housing Alexandria combined three parcels fronting on Seminary Road in Alexandria’s West End and, using a variety of financing sources, is developing 31 two- and three-bedroom townhouses and five two-bedroom condominiums.
Seven of the properties are being reserved for use by Sheltered Homes of Alexandria, which owned one of the three parcels and is a development partner. The remaining properties are being sold at below-market rates as part of an equity-sharing agreement between Housing Alexandria and homeowners.
It could be the first of similar projects across the city, Housing Alexandria CEO Jonathan Frederick said at the hour-long July 29 forum.
“We think this is something that will continue to be who we are and what we do,” he said.
The townhouses have nearly all been sold. The inaugural group of property owners is paying between $275,000 and $365,000, depending on the property, about half of market value.
As a result, their monthly housing costs will be about 60% less than those owning similar market-rate properties nearby, Frederick said.
When they next sell, those property owners will retain 25% of the home’s increased valuation, based on an appraisal to be taken then. The properties then will be resold at below-market rates to future buyers, and the process will continue into the future.
The adjacent five-unit “Hart House” condominium building — named for housing advocate and land-use attorney Harry “Bud” Hart — will be ready next year, Frederick said.
The number of people willing to trade future appreciation to buy into Alexandria’s expensive homes market was significant. Between 100 and 150 applicants qualified to purchase the townhouses, with a lottery used to make the selection.
Requirements included living and/or working in Alexandria, having a total household income at or below 80% of area median income and having not owned a home in the last three years.
The process for selecting buyers for the five Hart House properties will begin this fall and continue into early 2027.
Like other properties spotlighted at the July 29 meeting, Cardinal Path used a variety of financing sources to cover the approximately $35 million cost for land acquisition, planning and construction.
Because the project included for-sale properties, the development team did not seek federal low-income tax credits, which finance many housing properties, but there were “lots of other sources” that were part of the financing mix, Frederick said.
The NVAHA event also looked at construction of The Lodge at Autumn Willow by The Michaels Organization, an affordable-housing apartment complex located in the Fair Lakes area of Fairfax County, and True Ground Partners’ Wholey Legacy Homes, a redevelopment project in Arlington.
Each “has its own story, financing structure and challenges,” Metuda said.
Frederick said he appreciated the regional efforts of other developers — “great work is happening across Northern Virginia” — but envisioned Housing Alexandria continuing to work exclusively in the city.
