affordable housing | ALXnow

Morning Notes

Published January 13, 2020 at 6:00AM

APD Investigates Friday Night Robbery — “The Alexandria Police Department is investigating a commercial robbery in the 3100 block of Duke Street. Merchandise was taken and one minor Injury. Expect police activity in the area.” [Twitter]

Appointment for Former Fire Chief — “Former Alexandria, Va Fire Chief Robert Dubé has been appointed Deputy Director of the Virginia Department of Fire Programs, according to a press release issued Friday, January 10, 2020 from Governor Ralph Northam’s office.” [Zebra]

News

Affordable Housing Taking Center Stage at First-Ever Alexandria Housing Summit

By James Cullum

Published January 8, 2020 at 11:45AM

Affordable housing is the focus of the first-ever Alexandria Housing Summit this weekend.

The full day of activities, which will be held Saturday from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Nanny J. Lee Recreation Center (1108 Jefferson St.), will feature bus tours of potential development areas, panel discussions with experts and city leadership and a keynote speech by Andrea Brennan, the director of Housing Policy & Development in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

News

Planning Commission To Consider More Affordable Housing in Eisenhower East

By James Cullum

Published January 7, 2020 at 3:00PM

Map of the Eisenhower East neighborhood (image via City of Alexandria)

The Alexandria Planning Commission is scheduled to consider a plan update to increase the number of affordable housing units in Eisenhower East.

Under the proposal, 10% of additional residential rental development will be devoted to affordable rental units. At full buildout, the plan anticipates up to 400-450 affordable units in Eisenhower East, versus the 66 affordable housing units that currently exist in the area.

News

New Affordable Rental Apartments Open Up in Eisenhower

By Vernon Miles

Published December 11, 2019 at 1:15PM

Concept rendering for The Foundry (image via The Foundry)

A new apartment community in the Eisenhower neighborhood is offering a “limited-number” of affordable units to income-eligible households, according to a press release.

The city’s housing site says only five affordable units are available at The Foundry (2470 Mandeville Lane), a new apartment building adjacent to the Hoffman Town Center slated to open next year.

News

City to Consider Purchase to Keep West End Apartments Affordable

By Vernon Miles

Published December 10, 2019 at 2:05PM | Updated December 10, 2019 at 2:25PM

(Updated at 2:25 p.m.) Alexandria is hoping to buy an apartment complex in the West End to maintain it as affordable housing.

The City Council is scheduled to consider a $8 million loan to the Alexandria Housing Development Corporation (AHDC), an affordable housing non-profit established by the city in 2004, at a meeting tonight (Tuesday).

News

Officials: ‘Snob Factor’ in City Zoning Makes Creating Affordable Housing in Eisenhower Harder

By Vernon Miles

Published December 5, 2019 at 11:45AM

The city is hoping to bring new affordable housing to the Eisenhower Valley, but some on the Planning Commission said the city is shooting itself in the foot with snobby development guidelines.

The plans to reshape Eisenhower — a topic that came up several times this week — went to the Planning Commission on Tuesday, Dec. 3. While the commission mostly praised the vision presented in the plans, Commissioner Mindy Lyle pointed out that efforts to create more affordable housing in the area are inadvertently hamstrung by the city’s own zoning and design practices.

News

Morning Notes

By ALXnow.com

Published November 22, 2019 at 8:00AM

Fox 5: No Additional Delays on Seminary — Alexandria’s Seminary Road controversy has taken another turn in the local TV news spotlight. This time, Fox 5 looked at the lane reduction issue and concluded that the brief periods of gridlock on the road during peak times are not, in fact, worse than it was when the Seminary was two lanes in both directions. [Fox 5, Twitter]

Population, Housing Continue to Grow — “Alexandria’s housing inventory is barely keeping up with its population growth. That’s a key takeaway from Alexandria’s recently released fiscal 2019 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report… The city added an estimated 2,300 residents in the last year, climbing to 156,800, and roughly 2,900 total residential units, ending fiscal 2019 with 82,310.” [Washington Business Journal]

News

City Announces Housing Summit to Review Affordable Housing Progress

By Vernon Miles

Published November 12, 2019 at 11:45AM

Andrew Adkins, an affordable housing neighborhood in Braddock (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

Alexandria’s Office of Housing has announced the 2020 Housing Summit to examine the current status of affordable housing in the city.

The event is scheduled for Jan. 11 at the Lee Center (1108 Jefferson Street) from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. The main goal of the event is to review the progress of the 2013 Housing Master Plan.

News

Buy a Two Bedroom Condo in Alexandria for Under $200k

By Vernon Miles

Published November 1, 2019 at 10:30AM

14 Canterbury Square (photo courtesy McEnearney Associates)

As part of Alexandria’s program to help first-time homebuyers who live or work in Alexandria, two properties near Landmark Mall are now on the market for around $200,000.

One of the homes is a two-bedroom, one-bathroom unit at 14 Canterbury Square, part of the Canterbury Square Condominiums. The home is being offered through the Alexandria Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which acquires and fully renovates distressed properties then sells them to income-eligible, first-time homebuyers. The unit is priced at $197,877.

News

City Grants An Additional $1.4 Million to Ramsey Homes Development

By Airey

Published October 23, 2019 at 3:30PM

The Ramsey Homes affordable housing project will loaned an additional $1.4 million thanks to a vote by the Alexandria City Council.

Council members voted to grant the additional funding to the redevelopment last night (Tuesday), bringing the total amount Alexandria has loaned to $5 million.

News

City Council Spars Over “Symbolic” Rent Cap Rates

By Airey

Published October 23, 2019 at 10:30AM

The Alexandria City Council reaffirmed longstanding rent increase guidelines after debating the value of the unenforceable rules.

Last night (Tuesday), City Council members voted in favor of keeping guidelines capping rent increases at 5%, but not before arguing over the point of the “symbolic” guidelines, with one member jokingly offering to lower the cap to 1%.