The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority will convene a special board meeting on Wednesday, Aug. 27, at 8 a.m. to discuss a personnel matter in executive session.
The meeting will be held virtually only via Zoom, according to a public notice posted on the city’s calendar system. The session is scheduled to run until 10 a.m.
It’s been an intense week in Alexandria. Here’s a look at our top stories.
Our most-read story is on a woman found dead outside her apartment during an eviction process on Wednesday, Aug. 19. The Alexandria Sheriff’s Office reported on social media that deputies were conducting an eviction at an apartment at 400 Madison Street at around 9 a.m., when they found the adult woman dead outside the building. The woman’s identity and the circumstances surrounding her death have not been released.
A member of the Alexandria City Council has called for an immediate investigation into how Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) CEO Erik Johnson lived in a public housing property with his family in Old Town.
Johnson confirmed Wednesday that he moved into a property on Cook Street in July and is in the process of moving out. Johnson said that he was alerted that it was an issue by an ARHA Board member. Johnson was hired a year ago and started work in Sept. 2024.
More than a dozen current and former Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) tenants protested unfair treatment from their landlord at ARHA headquarters (401 Wythe Street) Wednesday, Aug. 20.
The protestors held signs and shouted at ARHA CEO Erik Johnson and his staff. Johnson, who made a statement addressing resident concerns last week, told ALXnow that he inherited the organization’s problems when he started the job 11 months ago. He also acknowledged that residents have faced challenges, including delayed rental payments from ARHA to landlords, paperwork backlogs, caseworker abandonment, and more.
Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority CEO Erik C. Johnson issued a lengthy statement Thursday morning acknowledging “valid” tenant concerns and detailing reforms implemented since he took the helm in September 2024.
The statement comes two days after ALXnow reported that tenants plan to protest on Wednesday, Aug. 20, at ARHA headquarters over delayed payments, service issues, and other problems.
Tenants from several Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority apartments will stage a protest next week at ARHA headquarters (401 Wythe Street) in Old Town.
The tenants are protesting “ongoing issues,” alleging delayed rental payments from ARHA to landlords, paperwork backlogs, caseworker abandonment, and more. The protest will take place at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 20.
The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority has completed its $56.8 million purchase of a senior living facility to house residents from a deteriorating high-rise, abandoning plans to demolish and rebuild the aging property.
ARHA closed Tuesday on The Alate Old Town Senior Living Facility at 1122 North First Street, which will house 110 age-eligible residents from the Ladrey Senior High-Rise at 300 Wythe Street. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development terminated operating support for Ladrey and issued vouchers to relocate its 168 residents.
The Alexandria City Council has mixed feelings about serving as a cosigner for the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority’s plan to keep its senior residents in the city.
Faced with a $40 million budget shortfall, ARHA abandoned plans to replace the aging 11-story, 170-unit Ladrey Senior High-Rise with a six-to-seven-story 270-unit L-shaped building. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development subsequently ended its operating support for building management and maintenance, issuing vouchers for the relocation of Ladrey’s residents by the end of the year.
With 167 senior residents and a police officer being forced out of the Ladrey Senior High-Rise by the end of the year, Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority CEO Erik C. Johnson says there’s actually an opportunity to capitalize on the situation.
“This comes down to whether or not the city is going to support seniors the way that we want to support seniors,” Johnson told ALXnow. “We’re not asking the city to finance it, nor is the city taking a first position loss in the event that something goes wrong.”
Plans to redevelop the Ladrey Senior Hi-Rise in Old Town have been deemed “infeasible” by the property owner, the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has “terminated operating support for building management and maintenance” due to delays in the redevelopment, and now ARHA plans on moving more than 150 residents out of the 1970s-era building by the end of the year. Consequently, ARHA wants the city to back loans to acquire The Alate (1122 First Street), a recently built senior housing apartment building in the Braddock neighborhood, for the relocation of Ladrey Senior Hi-Rise residents.
A 39-year-old Alexandria man is being held without bond and goes to court this month after allegedly firing a handgun at three people in a fleeing vehicle in the West End.
The chilling incident occurred on Jan. 6 – the same day as a snowstorm that shut down the city and closed the school system.
