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.
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.
(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.
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.”
Alexandria has kicked off the new year with a glimpse at some of this year’s biggest priorities.
A memo from Director of Planning Karl Moritz, published ahead of Planning Commission meeting this Thursday, lays out some of the work priorities for the city over the upcoming year.
The tension between Alexandria’s leaders and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin is not exactly a secret, but there have been a few surprising examples of overlapping policy goals.
Most recently, Mayor Justin Wilson shared vocal support for Youngkin’s new Make Virginia Home plan.
As the City of Alexandria gets ready to kick off its advocacy for the upcoming general assembly session, one of the main talking points is how the city could use more help from the state in handling affordable housing.
Meronne Teklu, speaking on behalf of the Economic Opportunities Commission, the Landlord-Tenant Relations Board and the Alexandria Housing Affordability Advisory Committee, told the City Council this weekend that each of the groups expressed concerns about the rising rate of evictions.
There’s nothing unusual in Alexandria financing an affordable housing project, but one specific request from the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) could set a notable precedent.
The Samuel Madden redevelopment would replace the 66 affordable housing units with a new mixed-use development featuring around 530 units. Two-thirds of those units would be available at various levels of affordability, while the other third would be available at “market rate” –rents without any affordability baked in.
Over the next year, Alexandria will launch an ambitious affordable housing overhaul that could reshape the city’s zoning code with a renewed emphasis on affordable housing.
The overhaul is following in the footsteps of years of zoning reforms in Alexandria that aim to get developers to help produce more housing. The city is pushing for committed affordable housing units — buildings with residences set aside specifically for those making less than the area median income — to try and keep up with the loss of 14,300 market-rate affordable units over the last two decades.
The Arden, a 126-unit residential development just south of Alexandria, is opening early next year.
The development from housing nonprofit Wesley Housing is set to host a grand opening on Jan. 13, marking the completion of a major affordable housing project for an area in desperate need.
After five years of rapid growth, Wesley Housing’s new CEO says that the organization has no plans to expand beyond the D.C. Metro area.
Kamilah McAfee was promoted to lead the organization last month, and will take over for longtime CEO Shelly Murphy on January 2. She has been the vice president of development for Wesley Housing since 2018, and before that was the deputy director of real estate development for six years.
