After a request from the Del Ray Citizens Association, Alexandria is leaning toward extending a public comment period by two months after it releases its controversial zoning for housing plan later this year.

The massive plan would upend a number of zoning ordinances. One of them is a bonus height amendment that would incentivize developers to add affordable housing to projects in exchange for two additional stories of construction in areas where height limits are 45 feet or more.

Many Del Ray residents are opposed to 70-foot-tall apartment buildings along Mount Vernon Avenue.

“The Del Ray Citizens Association requests the Planning Commission and City Council provide a 60 day review period between the release of the analysis/findings and the first public hearing to ensure the public has adequate time to review and comment on the Zoning for Housing proposals,” DRCA wrote. “This 60 day period gives the DRCA sufficient time to analyze the proposal and have our membership vote on the initiatives.”

The proposal is in the community engagement phase between now and June. City staff recommendations will be made in July and August, followed by more community engagement sessions in September and October and then public hearings in November and December with the Planning Commission and City Council.

Karl Moritz, the director of planning and zoning, said that the city will work with DRCA to accommodate their request.

“(DRCA) suggested to us that they would find it very helpful if there was at least a 60 day period between the release of staff’s recommendations and the first public hearing,” Moritz said at a public meeting last week. “It’s top of mind, and something that we’re taking a serious look at.”

The Planning Commission deferred a vote on the bonus height proposal last summer after protests from Del Ray residents. The move would impact properties along Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray, as well as in Arlandria, Alexandria West, the Beauregard area, the Landmark area, Eisenhower West, Old Town North and Carlyle.

City leaders, including Mayor Justin Wilson, say that the proposed policies will desegregate Alexandria, which passed a number of zoning ordinances in the 20th century that resulted in dividing the city by race.

“That reality was enforced by a patchwork of ordinances, restrictive covenants, intimidation and lending practices that served to effectively segregate our City for generations,” Wilson wrote in his newsletter last month. “While de jure policies that explicitly enforced segregation were made illegal long ago, the legacy of these policies live on today. In fact, in recent years, Alexandria has grown MORE segregated.”

Nancy Williams, the assistant director of the Department of Planning and Zoning, said that the city is evaluating whether racist zoning ordinances still exist.

“I just want to underscore that what we’re doing here is research,” Williams said. “We did not make a claim that there is racism. We’re trying, with everyone’s support, to generate an understanding of past laws and how they may influence land use patterns… It is worth our while, I think, to take a look to research whether or not any of these barriers still exist, and can prohibit us from moving forward in a way that provides opportunity for everyone.”

According to the city, the initiative includes:

• Bonus height text amendment — This initiative would incentivize more use of Section 7- 703 of the zoning ordinance that allows additional height in new residential projects in exchange for affordable housing. Current law allows the provision to be used in areas with a height limit greater than 50 feet, and the proposal is to allow it to be used in areas with height limits of 45 feet or more. A goal of the initiative is to expand housing choices and dispersion throughout more areas of the City in a manner that is harmonious to the surrounding physical context of the visual depiction of community
• Historic development patterns —  The purpose of this initiative is to identify land use patterns, such as the mix of uses and building types found in historic neighborhoods (Del Ray, Rosemont, Old Town, and Parker-Gray) that can no longer be built under existing zoning. Characteristics of historic land use patterns that are desirable would be identified along with recommendations for changes to the Zoning Ordinance to allow these patterns to be considered
• Coordinated Development Districts and affordable housing — CDDs establish the zoning for large tracts of land planned for redevelopment. The purpose of this initiative is to ensure that the creation of affordable housing is supported in each new CDD. The recent CDD for the Potomac River Generating Station site is a model that staff will examine for potential application in future CDDs
• Expanding housing opportunities in single family zones — This initiative will propose a zoning framework to expand housing options in single family zones by enabling new typologies in neighborhoods where they don’t exist now. These options may by their nature be less expensive than the typical new single family home, but this initiative will not be examining the potential for these new units to be “committed affordable” as we have interpreted that without specific tools or public investment to make them so
• Analyses of industrial, townhouse and multi-family zones — These initiatives will seek to create a common set of rules for industrial, townhouse and multi-family development and reduce unnecessary regulatory barriers to construction
• Expansion of transit-oriented development — This initiative will review existing permitted densities within the walksheds of existing and planned Metro stations and bus rapid transit stations. It would further analyze any existing barriers currently in place that limit increased densities around transit stations
• Office-to-residential conversions — This initiative will review Alexandria’s recent experience with office-to-residential conversions, including an evaluation of the impacts of conversions from a variety of perspectives, including housing supply, economic development objectives, and fiscal impact. The project will determine whether the Zoning Ordinance includes impediments to office-to-residential conversions and whether there are areas where we want to encourage or limit conversions

The city’s upcoming public meetings on the issue are on Wednesday, May 10, from 6 to 7:45 p.m. at the Charles Beatley Central Library (5005 Duke Street) and on Monday, May 22, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Lee Recreation Center (1108 Jefferson Street).

During a City Council meeting last night, discussion of a new report shed light on property owners discriminating against residents who received eviction protection aid — a move the city says is illegal.

Helen McIlvaine, director of the Office of Housing, and housing analyst Kim Cadena shared a report on the specifics of where the city’s housing investments are going.

The report had been part of the consent calendar, items typically approved in a bundle without discussion, but City Council member Sarah Bagley said she pulled the item out of the consent calendar to address an ongoing legal struggle between some property owners and city residents.

In a section about protected classes in Virginia, the section notes that it’s illegal to discriminate based on the source of funding from a renter or buyer of housing, notably including any assistance, benefit or subsidy program.

“One of the questions that I had related to the source of income: is receiving funds from an eviction prevention program, is that a source of income?” Bagley asked. “Can a landlord refuse to take eviction prevention funding from the city or from a church?”

Mcilvaine said that kind of discrimination is something her office has been dealing with recently.

“That issue has come up quite recently because we’re aware of properties in the city that are not renewing leases for households that had been receiving assistance during the pandemic,” McIlvaine said. “We are currently working with the city attorney’s office as well as local counsel. We believe that would be evidence of discrimination.”

Bagley said the issue is worth bringing up so local residents know that, at least from the city’s assessment, it’s likely this kind of discrimination is illegal.

“That’s one of the primary reasons I wanted to call out this presentation,” Bagley said. “I want to encourage people not to hesitate to accept relief if it’s available because it’s our understanding at present that that would fall under the source of income protected class.”

Bagley told ALXnow that the eviction prevention program should help between 50-100 households in Alexandria avoid eviction — and that discrimination for utilizing these funds could be illegal:

The program originally had $100,000 for FY24 but after last night should be at $270,000. The program currently caps household relief at $5,000 per household but given the average payment that fund should assist between 50-100 households avoid eviction (in addition to those who receive support through incredible network of faith based and other community resources in the city).

A controversial proposal to expand Alexandria’s housing availability is running into opposition in Del Ray.

The Del Ray Citizens Association (DRCA), on Wednesday, will vote on asking the city to extend the timeline for its Zoning For Housing/Housing For All initiative. City leaders say that the massive plan essentially desegregates Alexandria, and includes an incentive for developers to build affordable housing up to 70 feet in height in areas where height limits are 45 feet or more.

Mayor Justin Wilson says the initiative is the “most ambitious housing effort in the City’s history.”

“For much of the 20th Century, wide swaths of Alexandria housing was off-limits to Alexandrians that were not white,” Wilson wrote in his April newsletter. “That reality was enforced by a patchwork of ordinances, restrictive covenants, intimidation and lending practices that served to effectively segregate our City for generations. While de jure policies that explicitly enforced segregation were made illegal long ago, the legacy of these policies live on today. In fact, in recent years, Alexandria has grown MORE segregated.”

Nate Hurto, founder of the grassroots group Save Del Ray, says that the city has not been forthcoming on the impact of the plan on neighborhoods.

“What we’ve been able to put together from a timeline perspective is that we will not see draft of what is being proposed until sometime late summer,” Hurto said. “I think that the big takeaway for zoning for housing is that this is being rushed through with delivery at the end of the year, right over the holiday season.”

The Planning Commission deferred a vote on the bonus height proposal last summer after a wave of protests from Del Ray residents. Under the proposal, numerous areas of the city would be open for developers to move in and increase the height of 45-foot-tall buildings to a maximum of 70 feet in height — specifically along Mount Vernon Avenue in Del Ray, in Arlandria, Alexandria West, the Beauregard area, the Landmark area, Eisenhower West, Old Town North and Carlyle.

“The current timeline is scheduled to be completed by the end of the calendar year,” Save Del Ray said in an email. “We feel very strongly that this incredibly short timeline is irresponsible and that basic questions will not have sufficient time to be answered.”

The proposal is in the community engagement phase between now and June. City staff recommendations will be made in July and August, followed by more community engagement sessions in September and October and then public hearings in November and December with the Planning Commission and City Council.

“There is unequal access to housing opportunities in Alexandria,” City staff said in a presentation last month. “Far too many Alexandrians cannot afford a place to live in our city.”

The city scheduled public feedback sessions on Tuesday, April 18, from 6 to 8 p.m. at William Ramsay Recreation Center (5650 Sanger Avenue); on Wednesday, May 10, from 6 to 7:45 p.m. at the Charles Beatley Central Library (5005 Duke Street) and on Monday, May 22, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Lee Recreation Center (1108 Jefferson Street).

According to the city, the initiative examines:

• Bonus height text amendment — This initiative would incentivize more use of Section 7- 703 of the zoning ordinance that allows additional height in new residential projects in exchange for affordable housing. Current law allows the provision to be used in areas with a height limit greater than 50 feet, and the proposal is to allow it to be used in areas with height limits of 45 feet or more. A goal of the initiative is to expand housing choices and dispersion throughout more areas of the City in a manner that is harmonious to the surrounding physical context of the visual depiction of community
• Historic development patterns —  The purpose of this initiative is to identify land use patterns, such as the mix of uses and building types found in historic neighborhoods (Del Ray, Rosemont, Old Town, and Parker-Gray) that can no longer be built under existing zoning. Characteristics of historic land use patterns that are desirable would be identified along with recommendations for changes to the Zoning Ordinance to allow these patterns to be considered
• Coordinated Development Districts and affordable housing — CDDs establish the zoning for large tracts of land planned for redevelopment. The purpose of this initiative is to ensure that the creation of affordable housing is supported in each new CDD. The recent CDD for the Potomac River Generating Station site is a model that staff will examine for potential application in future CDDs
• Expanding housing opportunities in single family zones — This initiative will propose a zoning framework to expand housing options in single family zones by enabling new typologies in neighborhoods where they don’t exist now. These options may by their nature be less expensive than the typical new single family home, but this initiative will not be examining the potential for these new units to be “committed affordable” as we have interpreted that without specific tools or public investment to make them so
• Analyses of industrial, townhouse and multi-family zones — These initiatives will seek to create a common set of rules for industrial, townhouse and multi-family development and reduce unnecessary regulatory barriers to construction
• Expansion of transit-oriented development — This initiative will review existing permitted densities within the walksheds of existing and planned Metro stations and bus rapid transit stations. It would further analyze any existing barriers currently in place that limit increased densities around transit stations
• Office-to-residential conversions — This initiative will review Alexandria’s recent experience with office-to-residential conversions, including an evaluation of the impacts of conversions from a variety of perspectives, including housing supply, economic development objectives, and fiscal impact. The project will determine whether the Zoning Ordinance includes impediments to office-to-residential conversions and whether there are areas where we want to encourage or limit conversions

Local nonprofit Housing Alexandria said it will break ground on a new 474-unit affordable housing project in Arlandria this summer at the intersection of Mount Vernon Avenue and Glebe Road.

The project — a pair of buildings the nonprofit announced will be called Sansé and Naja — will create 474 units of affordable housing, 36,000 square feet of commercial space and a two-level underground parking garage. All of the units will be affordable for households making up to 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI) with 105 units set aside as deeply affordable — available to those making 40% AMI.

According to the release:

The names Sansé and Naja come from Nahuatl (na-watl), a language indigenous to Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras with millions of speakers today. Sansé (san-say), the name for the larger building, means “unique” or “only one” and invokes a sense of a unified group. Naja (na-jah or na-ha), the name for the smaller building, means “me” or “myself”… The brand identity was developed by Moya Design Partners in consultation with residents of Arlandria-Chirilagua to create a brand identity that was by and for the residents of the neighborhood. Housing Alexandria expresses our gratitude to the participants in these focus groups, as well as Casa Chirilagua and Tenants and Workers United for giving us the space for these meetings.

Work at the site is scheduled to take around 3-4 years.

“The construction will be done in phases and barring any major interruptions (like the pandemic was at The Bloom) move-ins would begin starting in 2026,” said Kayla Hornbrook, vice president of community relations for Housing Alexandria.

The development made headlines last year when a Catholic diocese sued the City of Alexandria, alleging that it did not properly vacate an alley that divides the new development from the Saint Rita Catholic Church. The site underwent a redesign that did not use the alley, the City of Alexandria withdrew its vacation of the alley, and the lawsuit was eventually dismissed.

After the Arlington County Board voted this week to allow multifamily structures in single-family home zoning, some Alexandrians looked north as a hopeful example and others as a warning of what could be ahead.

The Missing Middle vote — referring to the multi-family structures that proponents hope will help make housing more affordable — created nearly unprecedented levels of controversy in Arlington County.

Just hours after the vote, leading advocates in favor of eliminating single-family zoning said the next step of the fight is in Alexandria.

The next big upzoning fight will be in Alexandria, let's check in on the local NIMBYs: "How about a population cap?" pic.twitter.com/yQIgvG7mtN

— Luca Gattoni-Celli (@TheGattoniCelli) March 23, 2023

Alexandria just launched a major new affordable housing initiative this week called Zoning for Housing/Housing for All, aiming to reshape parts of the city’s zoning code from the ground up to further emphasize affordable housing, but those plans stop short of eliminating zoning for single-family housing.

Luca Gattoni-Celli, founder of YIMBYs of NoVA, spoke at the City Council last year and argued in favor of reform to single-family zoning. But while Alexandria’s generally been a regional leader in pushing for affordable housing, city leaders have been reticent to jump onto the “eliminate single-family housing zoning” bandwagon.

Alexandria’s Mayor Justin Wilson said it won’t be as simple as copying and pasting Arlington’s approach into Alexandria. According to Wilson:

While Alexandria and Arlington are similar communities, there are clearly big distinctions as well. When crafting answers to our shortage of housing and inequitable access, we must develop an Alexandria approach. Arlington’s actions offer some lessons as well as urgency for our work.

Bill Rossello, a former City Council candidate and current President of the Seminary Hill Association, said his biggest concern is that a similar “Missing Middle” debate would be just as divisive in Alexandria as it has been in Arlington.

Rossello said he is concerned the Housing For All initiative could take Alexandria in a similar policy direction as Arlington and eliminate single-family home zoning. But like Wilson, Rossello said Alexandria’s housing landscape is different enough from Arlington that the housing affordability issues can’t be approached in exactly the same way:

The communities are fundamentally different even though they’re next-door neighbors as it relates to housing. We have a much wider array of housing than Arlington does. We’re more urbanized already and much more densely populated. Our single-family home housing stock is much lower. The detached single-family housing stock in Alexandria covers about 29% of the land parenthetically… and only accounts for about 12% of the housing units. In Arlington it’s the reverse, more than 70% of the land is within single-family home zones.

Rossello said in some ways, the land constraints already make questions about single-family homes moot.

“We just don’t have enough land to build single-family homes,” Rossello said. “But where we get chunks of land to satisfy the economic objectives of a developer while not creating crazy amounts more density [is] probably townhouses… I actually think the answer might be more townhouses as opposed to apartments.”

Rossello said Alexandria also needs to do more to explore three-bedroom opportunities.

“A lot of homes on Seminary Hill are small single-family homes,” Rossello said. “We need more of those opportunities so people who are 30-35 can find something they can afford but also meets their needs so they can have a baby and two dogs. What’s our missing middle? Our missing middle is that.”

A virtual community listening session for Zoning for Housing/Housing for All is scheduled for tonight (Thursday) from 6-8 p.m. A presentation on the initiative is scheduled for the start of the meeting, with captioning and interpretation services in Spanish, Amharic and Arabic. The Webinar ID for the Zoom meeting is 960 0721 3678 and the passcode is 727732.

Alexandria is preparing to launch a massive overhaul of its housing zoning with a kickoff event later this month.

The Zoning for Housing/Housing for All initiative was announced late last year but has been in the works since 2020. The initiative is essentially a top-t0-bottom review of the city code to rewrite the city’s zoning code to emphasize affordability and equity.

According to a release:

The Zoning for Housing/Housing for All initiative began in 2020 and supports the City’s commitment to housing production and affordability and acknowledgement that Alexandria’s zoning policies have perpetuated historic and systemic discrimination, and how those policies can be changed to reflect our tenet that housing is a human right.

Housing for All, the equity component of Zoning for Housing, will explore the extent of past discriminatory housing policies and their continued impact, especially on people of color and/or low income.

According to the release, the initiative’s focus is a gallery of some of the most discussed housing and density issues in Alexandria over the last years, from the trade for bonus height to questions about housing in single-family zones.

According to the release, the initiative will examine:

• Historic Development Patterns
• Coordinated Development Districts and Affordable Housing
• Expanding Housing Opportunities in Single Family Zones
• Industrial Zones Analysis
• Expansion of Transit Oriented Development
• Residential Multi-family Zone Analysis
• Townhouse Zoning Analysis
• Office to Residential Conversions
• Bonus Height Text Amendment

Kickoff events are scheduled for Monday, March 20, from 5-9 p.m. and Tuesday, March 21, from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Alexandria – Carlyle (2460 Eisenhower Avenue). The kickoff events are the start of a community and civic engagement process scheduled to run through the rest of the year.

 

The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) is requesting a $1 million loan after unexpected development costs and a new designation that could give it a tax credit boost.

Both the loan and the tax credits would go toward the Samuel Madden Redevelopment Project. The project involves the demolition of the existing 66-unit Samuel Madden Homes and replacing them with two multifamily buildings at 899 and 999 N. Henry Streets.

The new development would include 532 rental units, with more than 60% of those being affordable units for those making 30-80% of the area median income.

The first part of ARHA’s request to the City Council at the Saturday, Feb. 25 meeting is a $1 million loan to support redevelopment. The loan request comes after construction cost inflation and fluctuations in interest rates have pushed up costs for the projects.

“According to ARHA, recent changes in the financial markets including construction cost inflation and upward fluctuations in interest rates necessitate its request for $1 million in City Housing Opportunities Fund (HOF) funds to maintain project feasibility,” a memo from Helen McIlvaine, director of the Office of Housing, said. “City financial support was not initially anticipated beyond a small predevelopment loan.”

The loan funding comes from a $3.1 million reserve built up by contributions from other nearby developments around the Braddock neighborhood.

The second part of ARHA’s request is to have the site classified as a revitalization area.

A memo from McIlvaine said the change in title could help boost ARHA’s efforts to get more state funding.

“The Resolution designating the ARHA Samuel Madden site a revitalization area helps make ARHA’s application for low-income housing tax credit equity more competitive in terms of aligning the project with funding priorities established by Virginia Housing,” McIlvaine wrote.

What’s more, McIlvaine said city staff agrees with the revitalization area designation — noting a site where economically beneficial development will not occur without government assistance.

“Consistent with the City Attorney’s past interpretation of the relevant Virginia Code Section, staff believe that the proposed development of affordable housing at this site provides an economic benefit to the City that would not otherwise occur without government assistance,” McIlvaine wrote, “including local financial support and federal tax credits, as well as other planned public and private resources, which criteria comply with requirements of the designation.”

Separately from this loan and designation request, the Samuel Madden development has raised some eyebrows among City leaders in the past for a proposed tax exemption that could set a notable precedent. ARHA has previously discussed asking the City Council to make the Samuel Madden project tax-exempt, but given that ARHA is working with private developers, that could lead to affordable housing tax exemptions for private entities charging market-rate rents — not affordable housing.

“ARHA properties owned by ARHA are tax exempt, those are off the tax rolls, but when they do a redevelopment that involves a private entity, those projects would go on the tax rolls,” Mayor Justin Wilson said in a recent city coucnil meeting. “All the affordable housing projects that exist in the city that are owned by nonprofits do pay taxes. In this case, ARHA is partnering with a private entity, so the ownership structure is a little bit complicated.”

The loan and designation status are scheduled for review at a City Council meeting this Saturday, Feb. 25.

A major affordable housing development in the city’s Braddock area is headed to the Planning Commission tonight.

Tonight’s meeting on the proposed Samuel Madden redevelopment comes after more than a year-and-a-half of back-and-forths between city staff and the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

ARHA wants to demolish the existing 66 units of public housing in 13 two-story apartment buildings at 899 and 999 N. Henry Street and replace them with two new six-story apartment buildings (75 feet maximum height) containing 532 residential units. Of those, 326 units would be affordable and workforce housing for a period of 40 years, in order for ARHA to qualify for federal tax credits.

The current public housing units were built for defense workers during World War II in 1945. The 65 families currently living on the properties will be provided temporary housing, their moving expenses will be paid and they will have the option to move back to the property once construction is finished, according to a city staff report.

If approved, the development would also be home to 13,800 square feet of ground floor retail space, as well as a 13,540 square-foot Hopkins House early childhood center and a 500-square-foot Alive! food hub.

ARHA expects construction to take two years and is also applying for special use permit approvals for a potential restaurant with outdoor dining, an athletic club/fitness studio and a medical care facility.

If approved by the Planning Commission, the matter will be voted on by the Alexandria City Council at its public hearing on Saturday, Feb. 25.

The north building

The north building will be located at the highly visible intersection of N. Patrick and N. Henry Streets, and include 207 apartments. Residents will be able to parking in a single-level 127-space underground parking garage. The Alive! food hub would also be located on the ground floor of the building.

“The north building will include a 500-square-foot Alive Food Hub on the ground floor, which will function like a small market, allowing clients to shop for food, personal items, cleaning, and school supplies, and make connections to useful information/services,” according to a city staff report.

The City also wants ARHA to develop an oral history project for the site, and either contribute public art to the space or donate $54,000 to the city’s public arts efforts.

The south building

While the project is part of a single community, ARHA intends on selling the south building to a private developer.

“(D)ifferent entities will own the two buildings,” City staff noted. “ARHA will be the fee simple owner of the northern block, allowing for certain fee exemptions, while the southern block will be sold to a private developer.”

(Updated 4 p.m) Alexandria and several other localities have released an executive summary for a Regional Fair Housing Plan that not only provides some goals for housing but comes with a look at specific zoning changes that can be made to help get the region to those goals.

The plan was put together by a team comprising representatives from eight localities, including Alexandria, along with a few partner groups. A 60-day public comment period is scheduled to run through March 31 to allow locals to submit their thoughts on the plan.

Many of the goals have been frequent talking points in Alexandria City Council meetings in recent years, but others are ideas that go significantly beyond current policy in the city.

The goals laid out in the Regional Fair Housing Plan are:

1. Increase the supply of affordable housing for families earning at or below 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI) for the region – especially where there hasn’t been any.
2. Change zoning and land use policies to expand access to fair housing. Increase the development, geographic distribution, and supply of affordable housing.
3. Implement policies to preserve affordable housing and prevent displacement of residents. Keep the same number of existing affordable rental units in our region.
4. Increase the number of homeowners in the region and reduce the unequal treatment and discriminatory practices that keep members of protected classes from buying a home.
5. Protect the housing rights of individuals who are part of protected groups. For example, people of color, those with disabilities and seniors.
6. Increase community integration and reduce housing barriers for people with disabilities.
7. Make public transit easier to access and afford for members of protected classes.

Each of the goals also had substantial strategies listed to help localities achieve them, including a variety of zoning changes. Some of those changes, for example, involved not only reducing zoning limitations on Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) but offering incentives to homeowners who want to build them on their properties.

Beyond just increasing the supply of affordable housing, there are several policy suggestions aimed at making housing more accessible to seniors, people with disabilities, and other protected classes.

Another strategy involved creating a loan fund to help tenants, nonprofit groups and local governments buy apartments and manufactured home parks that are for sale.

“Adopt design standards that require accessible units in new multifamily developments that receive public funds,” the document said. “10% of all units must be accessible to people with mobility disabilities and at least 4% for those with hearing and/or vision disabilities.”

There were also fair housing goals in the plan that were aimed at specific localities. For Alexandria, they were:

• Prioritize public land for affordable housing.
• Provide partial tax abatements for homeowners who rent their ADUs to low-and moderate-income tenants.
• In accordance with Virginia Code § 15.2-2304. Affordable dwelling unit ordinances in certain localities, adopt an ordinance to institute mandatory inclusionary zoning city-wide and provide an array of incentives, such as density bonuses, special financing, expedited approval, fee waivers, and tax incentives.
• Reduce the 20,000-square-foot minimum lot size in the R-20 zone or permit duplexes in this zone.

“We need local solutions to our challenges. But the region can benefit from shared visions and approaches,” the executive summary said. “They aren’t limited by city and county boundaries. The Washington region has many examples of effective policies and programs that can be adopted in more places. Inclusionary zoning and housing production trust funds are two of them.”

The Alexandria Housing Development Corporation has been rebranded as “Housing Alexandria.”

No official word on the name change has yet to be released on AHDC’s website, but residents at its numerous properties were notified via email. Additionally, Housing Alexandria’s 14-story Park Vue apartment complex (511 Four Mile Road) in Arlandria has been renamed “The Square at 511.”

Housing Alexandria says that the strategic rebranding will mean a rollout of new logos.

“Along with this change in the company name, we will also adopt new logos to fully express our initiative of continued improvement,” Housing Alexandria told residents. “The re-branding, however, shall not affect the manner in which we operate our business, as well as the organizational structures of the company.”

The City of Alexandria website has also recognized the new name in its listing of affordable housing partners.

The rebranding is part of the organization’s 2021-2025 strategic plan, as it pursues “a brand that differentiates us from our peers and helps us more clearly express our values.”

“AHDC residents and community members will be able to identify our brand and work more efficiently,” the nonprofit said in the plan. “Increased presence will yield more community advocates, resident voices, and financial support for AHDC.”

Housing Alexandria is developing a 500-unit affordable housing complex at the intersection of Mount Vernon Avenue and Glebe Road in Arlandria as well as an affordable homeowner development on Seminary Road.