affordable housing | ALXnow

Arlandria housing project heads back to city review after local Catholic church refuses to yield alleyway

Published June 14, 2022 at 1:30PM

Rendering for Mount Vernon and Glebe, via AHDC

A few months after its initial approval, a new 474-unit affordable housing development in Arlandria is headed back for city review with a few amendments spurred on in part by Saint Rita Catholic Church holding onto an alleyway central to the housing developer’s plans.

The Alexandria Housing Development Corporation‘s (AHDC) Mount Vernon and Glebe project — which presumably will get another name before the development is finalized — is headed to review at the Planning Commission on Thursday, June 23 and to the City Council on Tuesday, July 5.

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Pair of new affordable housing developments headed to city review

By Vernon Miles

Published June 9, 2022 at 3:45PM | Updated December 16, 2022 at 9:46AM

Elbert Avenue Apartments (via Google Maps)

(Updated 6/14) A pair of new affordable housing projects are headed to the City Council for financing.

Both of the new developments will have just under 100 units; all locked in at various levels of affordability.

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Resident advocacy group racing against time to prevent wave of Southern Towers evictions

By Vernon Miles

Published May 19, 2022 at 11:10AM

Southern Towers residents wait for the bus. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

With a potential wave of evictions incoming next month, a group representing tenants of Southern Towers is trying to indirectly pressure the building’s owner into giving residents a reprieve.

The 2,261-unit Southern Towers complex at 4901 Seminary Road is one of the last bastions of market-rate affordable housing — housing that’s affordable without being set at a certain level by agreement with the local government. The West End building was purchased in 2020 by California-based real estate company CIM Group.

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Braddock affordable housing redevelopment headed to City review this month

By Vernon Miles

Published May 4, 2022 at 3:45PM

Rendering of new proposed Samuel Madden development (image courtesy ARHA)

A new redevelopment project that could bring hundreds of new affordable housing units to the Braddock neighborhood is headed to city and public review throughout this month.

The mixed-use redevelopment of Samuel Madden Homes in Braddock is scheduled for a pair of community meetings next week followed by a review at the Board of Architectural Review in two weeks.

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Affordable housing leaders in Alexandria offer look at housing advocacy post-pandemic

By Vernon Miles

Published April 27, 2022 at 3:45PM

A rally to extend the moratorium on rent evictions in front of the Alexandria Courthouse on Wednesday, July 1, 2020. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

A recent Agenda Alexandria meeting with some of the city’s leading affordable housing advocates provided a deep dive into some of the unique challenges and opportunities in the field locally.

In particular, the panel looked at how addressing the affordable housing crisis in Alexandria has changed since the pandemic started.

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City Council priorities spark discussion over future of housing in Alexandria

By Vernon Miles

Published April 20, 2022 at 4:00PM | Updated April 21, 2022 at 11:30AM

For Sale sign (file photo)

(Updated 4/21/22) Alexandria’s City Council has finalized a list of priorities with some inclusions that could shape city policy in the coming years.

The city announced the adoption of the priorities yesterday (April 19), though their origin goes back to the Council retreat in January and the vote to approve them took place in March.

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New ordinance could take Arlandria and Old Town developments to new heights

By Vernon Miles

Published April 13, 2022 at 3:00PM

A map of where in Alexandria additional height is likely to be traded for affordable housing units, image via City of Alexandria

The city government could be opening up new swaths of Alexandria to taller buildings and more affordable housing.

Currently, the city trades bonus density in developments for more affordable housing, but only in areas with a height limit of 50 feet or above. Developers are allowed to exceed established height limits to a degree in exchange for affordable housing units or an equivalent contribution to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.

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City grapples with potentially competing affordable housing and arts needs in Old Town North

By Vernon Miles

Published April 5, 2022 at 3:45PM | Updated April 5, 2022 at 7:19PM

(Updated 7:15 p.m.) For a while now, there’s been a fairly straightforward trade between the City of Alexandria and developers: if you want more density, you need to build affordable residential units.

New development in Old Town North, however, has thrown a wrinkle into that system by opening up a second option. Now, developers can also get bonus density by opening up sections of new development to arts use — part of the city’s efforts to establish Old Town North as an arts district.

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City to host public meeting on new density and affordable housing options

By Vernon Miles

Published April 4, 2022 at 10:00AM

The City of Alexandria is hosting a community meeting for a plan to allow additional bonus height in new zones in exchange for affordable housing.

Currently, developers can only apply for bonus height in zones with height limits of 50 feet. The new ordinance would take that down to allow developers to apply for bonus height in zones with 45 foot high limits. It’s a relatively minor change on paper, but it opens new density options across the city as well as more opportunities for affordable housing.

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Nonprofit looks to triple affordable housing units at Arlandria apartment complex

By Vernon Miles

Published March 10, 2022 at 10:45AM

Elbert Avenue Apartments (via Google Maps)

Alexandria non-profit Community Lodging has announced plans to significantly expand affordable housing in Arlandria-Chirilagua with the redevelopment of a 1940s apartment complex.

Elbert Avenue Apartments, a set of three three-story buildings constructed in the 1940s, currently has 28 units affordable for renters making 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI) — the standard applied for evaluating affordable housing. But these buildings are in rough shape after what Community Lodging called years of “Band-Aid fixes”.

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Climate and affordable housing take centerstage in Alexandria’s first budget hearing of 2022

By Vernon Miles

Published March 8, 2022 at 2:50PM

Nathaly Zelaya from Tenants at a City Council meeting on March 7, image via City of Alexandriaand Workers United

Alexandria kicked off a discussion of the FY 2023 budget with a public hearing last night (Monday), where climate and housing advocates pushed for the city’s budget to do more to address these issues.

There was little feedback from the City Council in the 45-minute session as the floor was mostly turned over to public speakers.