(Updated at 4 p.m. on Oct. 18) For at least five weeks, Loren DePina and her family will be forced live in a one-bedroom apartment until flooding damage in her three-bedroom Southern Towers apartment is fixed.
DePina’s and 13 other apartments at Southern Towers’ Sherwood building (5001 Seminary Road) were significantly damaged early Sunday morning by a water leak that worked its way from the eighth floor of the 15-story building all the way to the first floor. Video of the damage showed residents wading through inches of water in apartments and hallways and flooded elevators.
“I’m not paying rent for November,” DePina said. “That’s not happening. Five weeks is putting us right before Thanksgiving.”
On Monday, DePina got keys to a one-bedroom apartment where her family of four will have to live for an estimated five weeks. She said that building management were not responsive for a full day after flooding started.
CIM Group emailed residents Monday morning at 8 a.m. that the flooding was caused by air conditioning pipes that date back to when the building was constructed in the 1960s, and that residents will be relocated.
“To address this issue, we allocate substantial financial resources, amounting to tens of thousands of dollars on a weekly basis, toward the ongoing repair and maintenance of these risers,” CIM Group recently wrote in a letter to City Council. “This often involves the necessity to access and open walls within resident units for repair purposes and can take as long as four weeks.”
CIM Group bought Southern Towers in 2020, and residents have protested living conditions and evictions for years, especially throughout the pandemic. This year alone, Southern Towers was also visited by the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and CIM Group was asked to resolve its eviction fight by Virginia Senators Tim Kaine and Mark Warner.
African Communities Together sent an email to CIM Group asking for the following:
- Immediately relocate tenants to habitable units on the property. At a minimum, tenants must be moved into units that are comparable. If tenants are moved into bigger or renovated units (when they previously were in smaller or unrenovated units), tenants should not be charged higher rent or higher utility bills.
- Residents who had to move into a hotel, Air BnB, or other lodging to escape the flooding should be fully reimbursed by CIM.
- Rent for the month of November should be waived for all affected tenants to accommodate the financial impact of the flooding.
- Water and electricity bills should be totally comped in next month’s utility bill for all tenants to accommodate the instability in charges brought on by the flooding.
- Management must be transparent with the tenants at all stages of this process. Tenants must be given consistent and clear notice about: what caused the problem; what CIM is doing to fix it; how long repairs will take; and any other relevant updates. “Consistent and clear” notice shall also include translated messages for tenants in need.
Last month, Vice Mayor Amy Jackson and Council Members Alyia Gaskins, Canek Aguirre, Sarah Bagley, Kirk McPike and John Taylor Chapman toured the property. Gaskins wrote CIM Group that she toured the buildings with her two young children, and that one of them had a coughing fit due to mold.
“What we observed is unacceptable,” Gaskins wrote. “We also observed holes in walls and a major flood in the elevator. As a councilmember and mother, I do not want anyone living in conditions that compromise their health, safety and stability.”
Bethany Chang is a principal at CIM Group, and said in a statement that the incident was “incredibly inconvenient.”
“As any homeowner or renter knows, sometimes maintenance issues happen like pipes bursting, and it is always incredibly inconvenient and unpleasant when it happens,” Chang said. “Our team at Southern Towers is working diligently to ensure that all impacted residents are provided with timely repairs and, if needed, temporary housing. When this leak occurred, our team was in touch with the residents that day and began mitigation and repairs immediately. They have not ceased working since, and they will continue to work until the job is complete.”
Gaskins said residents have contacted her about subpar resolution to maintenance requests, inconsistent heating and cooling systems and high utility rates.
CIM Group wrote a lengthy response to Gaskins and said that they bought a derelict property and are the victim of disinformation from advocacy groups.
The full response from CIM Group to Gaskins is below.
It’s becoming increasingly common in Alexandria to live alone.
A new study from the investment firm SmartAsset examined census data from 2016 to 2021 and found, in a study of 342 U.S. cities, Alexandria has the second most growth in people living alone. The number one spot — discrepancy about calling it a city aside — goes to neighboring Arlington.
There was a nearly 3x increase in people living alone with 46.5% of households in Alexandria consisting of one person.
According to SmartAsset, the largest proportional increase was for single women living alone.
“Single-woman households are most prominent in Richmond, VA (28.00%); Washington, D.C. (26.74%); and Alexandria, VA (26.23%),” the report said. “These areas also saw the largest increases in the proportion of single women living alone over five years, with greater than 15% of households added to this cohort.”
Efficiencies — apartments intended for single occupants — make up a large part of many new developments. A study of apartment sizes in the 100 largest U.S. cities found that while 1-bedroom apartments and studio apartments made up only 50% of the apartments in developments back in 2013, in 2022, they made up 57%.
The end of the report, 2021, was in the second year of the Covid pandemic, which may have impacted some of those figures.
Residents of an Arlandria affordable apartment complex say the new owner is drastically, and illegally, raising rent and not notifying tenants within 60 days.
Potomac West Apartments LLC bought the four-building, 60-unit apartment complex in June. Last month, residents with expiring leases were notified via letter of a rent increase.
“We just wanted to say thank you for being a wonderful resident of Potomac West Apartments,” begins an Aug. 1 letter to a resident. “We are planning on upgrading the property to include new washing and drying machines, renovated laundry rooms, landscaping upgrades and much more.”
The property manager then reminded residents in the letter that they must provide a 60-day notice if they are going to vacate.
Residents protested the action on Tuesday afternoon with a rally organized by Tenants and Workers United (TWU). The property is directly across the street from Housing Alexandria’s massive affordable apartment complex development at the corner of Mount Vernon Avenue and Glebe Road.
Jose Coca saw his rent increase by more than $500. The 85-year-old custodian at the Pentagon has lived on the property for more than 30 years and said that no improvements have been made to the property.
“When we go to the leasing office about a maintenance issue, they don’t pay attention to us,” Coca said.
Medical assistant Soraida Cruz has lived in her two-bedroom apartment for 18 years. She said her rent is being increased from $1,498 to $1,725 per month, and that Potomac West Apartments and property manager Chapman Management are not responsive.
“It hurts,” Cruz said. “It really does. I’m the only one working. If we had better conditions, paying less than what they are raising right now, I would continue living here, but it’s tough.”
Cruz also said that the buildings have rodent and maintenance issues that residents pay out of pocket to fix.
Larisa Zehr, an attorney from Legal Aid Justice Center, said that the new apartment building owners are breaking the law by not giving tenants at least 60 days notice of a rent increase.
“This makes common sense and it’s a basic protection for tenants,” Zehr said. “That did not happen here. As this area sees increased economic interest, we’re seeing this pattern developers are hiking rents and driving out long term stable families. This is purely profit-driven. We see rents increase without any improvement to living conditions.”
Zehr continued, “Potomac West Apartments is intended to be long-term affordable housing, which is subsidized by the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program. That means the owner has to cap rent at 60% of area median income. In Northern Virginia, as low income people are pushed out and displaced by wealthier households, that number keeps going up. The cap is not low enough to protect working class families like the families in this neighborhood.”
TWU mailed two letters to the property manager and owners asking for a sit-down to discuss rent increases and tenant needs. They did not receive a response.
“I know it’s not easy to be here after you work two jobs, after you cook for your family,” TWU Executive Director Evelyn Urritria told the protestors. “You are here because you care about your housing situation. It’s unfair what’s happening, it’s unjust what’s happening.”
Potomac West Apartments LLC and Chapman Management did not return calls for comment.
After years of battling between residents at Southern Towers and building management, a program next week aims to help renters get a better understanding of their rights.
The Tenant’s Rights workshop, presented by Mary Horner of Legal Services of Northern Virginia, is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 17, at 1 p.m. at the Workforce Development Center (4850 Mark Center Drive).
The program is specifically aimed at helping Southern Towers residents and residents at Morgan Property locations in the West End, like Stoneridge at Mark Center Apartment Homes.
The free workshop is in English, but translation into Spanish and Dari will be available.
Join us on Thursday, August 17 starting at 1 p.m. in person at the Workforce Development Center with Mary Horner from Legal Services of Northern Virginia for Tenant's Rights: "Know Your Lease." To learn more and register, go to https://t.co/KtZxGp8x4p pic.twitter.com/klrGVlnDAf
— WDC Alexandria VA (@WDCAlexVA) August 7, 2023
Get your favorite Italian dish while you can, because A La Lucia will likely close by the end of the year, the restaurant’s owner tells ALXnow.
After more than 20 years in business, the popular Italian restaurant at 315 Madison Street will not relocate when Carr Companies starts construction on two acres of redevelopment for their Montgomery Center property in Old Town North.
Owner Mehran Nayeri was supposed to close by the end of this month, but shopping center management recently told him that they, The Art League and other tenants can stay in business at least until the end of the year.
“We’ve had a great ride over here,” Nayeri said. “But it’s time to move on. We had great customers, the best, and they supported us through the pandemic, which was amazing.”
Carr Companies bought Montgomery Center for $35 million from MRW Properties Inc. in 2021. The 1970s-era shopping center will eventually be replaced by an eight-story, 350,000-square-foot apartment building with 327 residential units, more than 25,000 square feet of retail and a 13,300-square-foot performance venue.
The intimate, 60-seat restaurant in Old Town North won’t relocate, Nayeri said.
“Now is the time to come and get some Italian food,” Nayeri said. “We’ll be here until we can’t be here anymore.”
Nayeri said that he and his wife are retiring from the restaurant business and likely moving from the area. He also said that the restaurant will have a number of events during the last three months to sell all of its art, furniture and wine.
“The paintings on the walls are by local artists, and we’ll be having an auction this fall to sell them,” Nayeri said. “We’ve had great memories here. It’s been so good.”
Image via Facebook
(Updated at 11 a.m. on June 29) U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine sent a letter to CIM Group highlighting the concerns of residents regarding evictions, increased rents and living conditions at their Southern Towers Apartments complex.
In a letter Monday, the Virginia Democrats urged the building owner to resolve long standing disputes with residents. Since buying the property at the height of the pandemic in 2020, residents have protested against evictions, claiming that CIM Group has raised rents and evicted hundreds of residents from deteriorating properties.
“Tenants have shared with our offices that, under CIM ownership, they have been subjected to eviction filings during the eviction moratorium, changes in how utilities are billed combined with rent increases that have led to substantial price hikes, and unaddressed maintenance issues that pose health and safety risks,” the senators wrote. “Further, tenants have voiced that CIM issued unclear eviction notices indicating that tenants who were late on their rent payments had only five days to ‘pay rent or, alternatively, to terminate lease and vacate premises’ – only mentioning later in the notice that tenants located on a ‘covered property’ as defined by the CARES Act were entitled to a 30-day notice before vacating.”
Protests against CIM Group have been led by the People’s Actions Homes Guarantee campaign and African Communities Together (ACT), which say that Southern Towers residents are at the mercy of a major private equity landlord that only cares about profit.
Consequently, last month Southern Towers also got a visit from the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency.
CIM Group says that they only 31 residents have been evicted due to non-payment, and that living conditions have improved under their ownership.
CIM Group sent ALXnow the following statement:
CIM Group has long been a proud member of the Alexandria, VA community as the owner and operator of several properties, including Southern Towers where the firm took over operations in 2020. It was immediately clear to Southern Towers Management that they needed to address years of deferred maintenance and make important quality-of-life improvements to the development including long-overdue roof replacements; renovation of apartments, corridors, and common areas; resurfacing parking areas and tennis courts; new playgrounds and much more.
While Southern Towers is not an affordable housing community, CIM Group has worked diligently to keep rent 20% below comparable properties in Alexandria, while at the same time, making significant improvements to the habitability of Southern Towers. Residents have always paid a portion of their utilities and continue to be responsible for the costs they incur.
Southern Towers Management has never violated the CARES Act or any local, state or Federal laws. In fact, CIM Group is legally required to utilize a form provided by the State of Virginia–referred to as a 5-Day Notice–to notify residents when they are in arrears. CIM Group has no control over the language used in the form and any call for modifications should be directed to the State of Virginia.
Despite much disinformation, Southern Towers Management will not be deterred from their commitment to the community they serve, their legal obligation and the fiduciary duty the company has to investors who have also helped improve the living conditions at Southern Towers from what existed prior to CIM Group’s ownership.
CIM Group has made significant improvements for the overall wellbeing of the residents at Southern Towers, including:
- Providing assistance during the pandemic to residents who suffered financial setbacks that resulted in more than $5 million in rental assistance secured for hundreds of families.
- Increasing the level of regular maintenance well beyond what was the norm under the prior owner by 96%, which is more than $8.2M to address significant deferred maintenance issues.
- Instituting an online resident portal that provides transparent and open communication, as well as a seamless way for residents to submit work orders, which expedites necessary repair and maintenance.
- Prioritizing community involvement by organizing farmers markets, job fairs, food drives, and vaccination clinics.
- Engaging residents in a transparent and ongoing way by holding monthly meetings and appreciation events, as well as communicating important dates and information in the resident portal, as well as the weekly and monthly newsletters.
Fostering a secure and healthy environment by:
- Installing security cameras in each elevator landing in each tower and upgrading cameras on the lobby level in each tower. The entire project is anticipated to be completed by the end of July 2024.
- Upgrading all smoke detectors and replacing every unit on the campus with smoke detector/CO2 combo units.
- Repairing the retaining wall near the Ashlawn.
- Installing Flock Security – license plate reading cameras installed at each entrance to the property.
- Upgrading the fire alarm panel at Sherwood.
- Purchasing a new Jeep for patrolling the campus.
- Performing a thorough Pest Control inspection and preventative treatments of all common areas and every apartment home as well as sealing of any holes found during the inspection.
Making material upgrades to improve the quality of living at Southern Towers:
- Making significant laundry room upgrades, including purchasing new washer and dryer equipment for each floor at every building. The new equipment also included upgraded payment panel allowing residents the option to use cash, credit/debit cards or an app to pay for service.
- Enhancing and upgrading the dog park.
- Tennis Court resurfacing, striping and new nets. Upgrade also included replacing the solo player wall.
- Resurfacing the overflow parking area.
- Asphalt resurfacing at Beauregard entrance near The Graham and Monticello.
- Replacing all of the playground equipment.
- Beautifying the property including removing 26 dead or rotting trees from the campus and pruned trees in the community park to raise tree canopy by 3 feet, allowing better sight lines.
- Replacing 4 outdoor gas grills at Graham.
- Installing new grilling areas throughout the community park.
- Expanding concrete pads at grilling areas which include new accessible seating.
- Installing a new pergola over the grilling area closest to the Monticello pool.
- Complete resurfacing of the Monticello main and small pools.
- HVAC convector project completed at the Sherwood.
- HVAC system inspections completed across the campus.
- Window and Balcony door mock-ups completed at Ashlawn and Monticello. Each building scheduled for full window replacement byQ4 2023.
The full letter from Warner and Kaine is below. Read More
Three West End neighborhood associations say that a proposed residential development at 1900 N. Beauregard Street will create too much density.
The Seminary West Civic Association (SWCA), Seminary Heights Condominium Association and the Seminary Park Home Owners Association wrote City Council discouraging the proposal by Monday Properties.
The developer wants to replace a three-story 1970’s-era medical office building with a six-to-seven-story multifamily residential building with 340-to-350 apartments, a parking garage and a swimming pool.
“The Seminary West Civic Association (SWCA), a community of approximately 600 townhouses and detached homes in the immediately adjacent neighborhood, urges the City to reject this proposal,” wrote Owen Curtis, SWCA president. “Trying to turn North Beauregard into something that resembles Crystal City or the Carlyle or any other dense urban neighborhood is wholly inappropriate.”
Monday Properties submitted a concept plan last month for an apartment complex with 343 apartments — 36 studios, 180 one-bedroom apartments, 121 two-bedroom apartments and six three-bedroom apartments. The company also wants a 110-foot height allowance (10 stories) and construction of a public roadway between the property and its neighbors. That new parallel roadway is drawing the ire of neighbors, who are calling it a dealbreaker after residents successfully lobbied for its removal from the Beauregard Small Area Plan.
Seminary Heights Condominium Board President Dodi Baker said that his community “vehemently opposes the newly proposed redevelopment,” and Seminary Park President Les Jackson wrote that his neighborhood’s board of directors voted against it.
“This proposal seeks to break promises made to our community by inserting a parallel road we fought to have removed from future city planning,” Baker said.
Monday Properties wants to remove the existing 57,600-square-foot office building, which is the home of the Alexandria Workforce Development Center. The development is also next door to The Blake, a 300-unit residential apartment complex that Monday Properties opened last year. Neighbors say that, if the plan is approved, the area would be too crowded with more than 600 residential units within two blocks.
According to the three citizen groups:
In addition, across the street from The Blake and 1900 North Beauregard developments on Seminary Road, more than 95 additional residential units have been approved to be built in the “Upland Park” development. Nearly directly across from North Beauregard Street and adjacent to the Alexandria Hilton, 367 more residential units have been approved for construction as part of “The Rutherford” building. And only a few more blocks away on Seminary Road, an office building was recently converted from office space to 212 residential units. When combined these developments total over 1300 new residential units within several short blocks and developed within a shared compressed time period.
The neighborhood associations are also supported by Bud Jackson, a member of the Beauregard Urban Design Advisory Committee, which reviews many land use applications in the West End. Jackson says the development goes against Alexandria’s Beauregard Small Area Plan, which calls for less density and more roadway development.
“This proposed development seeks to avoid key provisions established by the Beauregard Small Area Plan (BSAP) and, if allowed to proceed, goes back on promises made to the Seminary Heights community – including promises made that are now memorialized within the BSAP,” Jackson wrote in a letter to City Manager Jim Parajon. “For me, this plan is dead on arrival and should not even be presented to BDAC in its current form. It asks our city to hand out special use permits like candy without regard to the neighborhood, abutting neighbors, and the loss of benefits our city should expect in return for the privileges being granted.”
A public meeting on the proposal is scheduled for Thursday, March 23, at 6:30 p.m. at 1800 N. Beauregard Street.
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.
“We’re starting to look at opportunities in Prince George’s County in Maryland, but not really beyond the DMV proper,” McAfee told ALXnow.
Wesley’s portfolio has grown to 2,800 affordable rental units throughout the region, and McAfee is credited by Wesley for leading the organization in a five year period of unprecedented growth.
“I want to challenge ourselves to do more in areas pertaining to diversity and equity and inclusion for our staff as well as the communities that we serve… We’re running out of emergency assistance funding from the federal government coming off the pandemic, so we’ve been working with right-sizing our rents to make sure people can stay housed.”
This year, Wesley will finish construction on seven affordable communities that will house more than 1,500 people. In Alexandria, Wesley is developing the 200-unit ParcView II apartments (5380 Holmes Run Parkway) in the West End, as well as the 66-unit Parc Square Apartments in Arlandria.
“I’m committed, I’m energized, I’m here,” McAfee told ALXnow. “Expect it to be for the long haul. I’m hoping that I will continue to honor Shelley’s leadership and commitment and respond to our board of directors a vision for opportunities in the future for Wesley and our relationship in what we’re doing in the City of Alexandria.”
The nonprofit was founded in 1974 by Virginia Peters,
A new Jersey native, she moved to the D.C. area to attend Georgetown University, where she earned a degree in finance and new and small business development. She also has a master’s degree in business administration from American University. Her career includes five years as director of public finance for the District of Columbia Housing Finance Agency, as well as two years as a project manager for Forest City Enterprises.
Alexandria is currently experiencing an affordable housing crisis, and lost 90% of its affordable housing stock between 2000 and 2017. Consequently, the city has pledged to produce or develop thousands of units to meet 2030 regional housing goal set by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments.
The four-story, three part development at 1300 King Street is running a little behind schedule, but should be finished by late December, The Holladay Corporation tells us.
The final touches are being made to the four-story, 31-unit apartment complex with 6,000 square feet of new street-front retail.
The development — located at the former homes to Pines of Florence and Aftertime Comics (1300 and 1304 King Street) — was supposed to be finished this month by Holladay Corp. and The Foundry Companies.
“We were running into some supply chain issues,” Rita Bamberger, senior vice president at The Holladay Corp. told ALXnow. “It’s been a lot of work, and we’re hoping to be finished by the end of the year.”
Rumors are swirling about the potential tenants that will inhabit the retail spaces, but the partners in the joint venture haven’t made any announcements.
The Holladay Corporation’s last project in Alexandria was in 2012, with the Printer’s Row townhouse project in Old Town North.
Developer Bonaventure broke ground last week on a six-story senior housing project just a few blocks away from the Braddock Road Metro station.
The project at 1112 First Street was formerly known as Aspire Alexandria, and was approved by the City in February 2020. It includes 133 one- and two-bedroom units, a 4,500-square-foot restaurant, underground parking and other “resort-style” amenities.
“Our housing portfolio may span multiple demographics, but our Bonaventure standard of excellence is the same — every property is purposely designed with excellence and the needs of the community in mind,” Dwight Dunton, Bonaventure’s CEO, said in a statement. “The future residents of this community will enjoy top-of-the-line and have unparalleled access to the best of Alexandria, helping to create a highly attractive destination that appeals to our target demographic.”
Bonaventure doesn’t have a name for the Old Town West property, which was previously home to Tony’s Auto Service for seven decades.
“The unnamed property will be situated within walking distance of the Braddock Road Metro Station, as well as I-495, King Street and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport,” Bonaventure said.
Bonaventure received a $50 million construction loan for the project in March, and said it expects apartments available to rent in late 2023. Units will only be available to residents who are 62 and older.
Photo via Bonaventure
