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.
A 32-year-old man was shot multiple times in Old Town Sunday night, and soon afterward the Alexandria Police Department arrested a person of interest and found a handgun hidden in bushes.
APD was called just after 8 p.m. for the report of a man shot multiple times in the area of the Ladrey Senior Hi-Rise at 300 Wythe Street.
The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) is asking for help in making the holidays special for some local kids this weekend.
ARHA is collecting toys for its 15th annual Santa’s Winter Wonderland this weekend, in which children 17 and under who are members of ARHA households receive gifts from Santa.
The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) — now with a new CEO — will be going public with ambitious expansion plans next month.
There’s a lot in ARHA’s FY 2025 Five-Year Plan. A lot of it is vague statements about reaffirming the organization’s commitment to providing public housing and continuing mixed-income partnerships, but the plan also provides details about some specific plans to expand the public housing authority’s footprint in the city.
A veteran of housing development in Connecticut will take the reins of the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) next month as the new CEO.
Erik Johnson comes to Alexandria from Hamden, Connecticut, where he served as Director of Economic and Community Development. Before that, Johnson oversaw the housing department for the City of Hartford.
