The acting director of Alexandria’s Office of Housing has been chosen to fill the permanent role.
City Manager Jim Parajon appointed Aspasia Xypolia as director of the Office of Housing, the city announced today (Sept. 10). The city had conducted a national search to fill the role after former director Helen McIlvaine announced her retirement at the end of April.
Xypolia has served in the interim role since May, overseeing the city’s housing strategy and policy on housing production, preservation, finance, and negotiations with private developers on affordable housing commitments. During Xypolia’s early tenure, City Council approved the new Housing 2040 plan to guide the city’s housing policy over the next 15 years.
“Aspasia’s extensive experience in affordable housing development and preservation makes her a perfect fit to continue to lead Alexandria’s Office of Housing permanently,” Parajon said in a release. “I look forward to continuing to work with her on initiatives to help renters, homeowners, and developers work together to meet our housing goals.”
Before joining the city government, Xypolia was director of Prince George’s County’s Department of Housing and Community Development. In the role, she led efforts to create or preserve over 6,340 housing units in less than five years, provide over $122 million in emergency rental assistance, and revive a dormant right of first refusal law to preserve over 2,260 units of naturally occurring affordable housing.
Xypolia has master’s degrees in city planning from MIT and landscape architecture from Louisiana State University and also serves on Virginia Housing’s Northern Virginia Advisory Council.
