Alfred Street Baptist Church seeks permission to redevelop Old Town apartments with affordable housing

Rendering of the proposed 145-unit affordable apartment complex at 598 S. Alfred Street in Old Town, viewed from Wilkes Street and S. Alfred Street (via City of Alexandria)

A northwest aerial of the proposed 145-unit affordable apartment complex at 598 S. Alfred Street in Old Town, with a view of Wilkes Street and S. Alfred Street (via City of Alexandria)

A northeast aerial of the proposed 145-unit affordable apartment complex at 598 S. Alfred Street in Old Town, with a view of Wilkes Street and S. Columbus Street (via City of Alexandria)

Rendering of the proposed 145-unit affordable apartment complex at 598 S. Alfred Street in Old Town, viewed from S. Alfred Street (via City of Alexandria)

Rendering of the proposed 145-unit affordable apartment complex at 598 S. Alfred Street in Old Town, viewed from from Wilkes Street and S. Columbus Street (via City of Alexandria)

Rendering of the proposed 145-unit affordable apartment complex at 598 S. Alfred Street in Old Town, viewed from S. Columbus Street (via City of Alexandria)

The Alfred Street Baptist Church is asking for the city’s permission to construct a four-story, 145-unit affordable apartment complex at an existing Old Town apartment.

The church is proposing to demolish a 1.2-acre portion of the Olde Towne West apartment complex and redevelop it to “expand the number of affordable housing units” in the neighborhood, according to a proposal. The plan is slated for review by the Planning Commission at its Dec. 2 meeting.

Constructed in the 1970s, the Old Towne West property contains three parcels:

22 units at 901 Wolfe Street
19 units at 601 S. Alfred Street
36 units, including two office units, at 598 S. Alfred Street.

The church purchased the parcels in 2009, according to the proposal.

With developer-partner The Community Builders, Inc. (TCB), the church is seeking to demolish 34 affordable housing units at 598 S. Alfred Street and replace them with a 145-unit multi-family building for residents making between 30% and 60% of the area median income (AMI).

Of those units, 111 would be affordable to incomes up to 60% of the AMI. The remaining 34 units would be affordable to incomes up to 30% of the AMI, according to the proposal.

The property would include a one-level below-grade parking garage with 94 spaces and an enclosed courtyard.

Old Towne West affordable housing proposal by the Alfred Street Baptist Church (via City of Alexandria)

According to the development special use permit (DSUP) application:

As part of the proposal, TCB is seeking a rezoning of the residential multi-family zone, in keeping with the S. Patrick Street Housing Affordability Strategy, and is seeking a development special use permit to increase the density from .75 FAR to 2.16 FAR and will provide all units as committed affordable units at varying levels of affordability. The applicant is proposing to provide 111 units affordable up to 60% AMI and 34 units affordable up to 30% AMI. The units available at 30% AMI have an estimated average net square footage of 900 square feet, for a total of 45,000 square feet, well over the 1/3 of the increase in density that is required by the RMF zone to be affordable on average to those households at 40% of AMI.

Alfred Street Baptist Church and The Community Builders, Inc. (TCB) also plan to eventually redevelop units at 601 S. Alfred Street, according to the proposal.

“Subsequent phases of the redevelopment will be forthcoming for the units at 601 S. Alfred Street and those plans will be processed for the redevelopment at a later date,” the partners wrote.

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