eviction | ALXnow

JUST IN: Mayor Gaskins rallies Alexandria church to settle $1M in ARHA back rent

Published March 19, 2026 at 2:45PM | Updated March 20, 2026 at 4:35PM

Mayor Alyia Gaskins speaks at the No Kings Rally at Market Square in Old Town, June 14, 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)

Mayor Alyia Gaskins launched the “Fresh Start Initiative” today (Thursday), rallying the city’s faith and nonprofit leaders to pay approximately $1 million in back rent for nearly 450 residents living in the city’s public housing properties.

The initiative brings together the city, the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority, the Department of Community and Human Services and nonprofit fundraiser ACT for Alexandria to create a temporary charitable fund to “connect residents to financial empowerment resources, and to ensure improved systems at ARHA,” according to the city. Alfred Street Baptist Church has pledged to raise more than $1 million to cover the back rent. The initiative is solely funded through private donations.

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Alexandria’s public housing authority suspends evictions amid reorganization

By James Cullum

Published November 25, 2025 at 3:45PM

ARHA properties in Old Town, Alexandria. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

In the wake of the restructuring of Alexandria’s public housing authority and its board of commissioners, the organization has temporarily halted eviction proceedings against its tenants.

Mark Jinks, the new chair of the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority‘s board of commissioners, made the announcement at the board’s monthly meeting in Old Town last night (Monday). Jinks and five other board members were installed last month by City Council to reverse a “system failure,” as described by Mayor Alyia Gaskins.

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Systems Planning and Analysis expansion into Alexandria leads this week’s top stories

By James Cullum

Published September 12, 2025 at 3:47PM

Officials cut a ribbon at Systems Planning & Analysis announcement on Sept. 11, 2025 (staff photo by Ryan Belmore)

Here’s a rundown of our top stories.

Our top story this week is on the Thursday, Sept. 11, announcement that Systems Planning and Analysis (SPA) will expand its Alexandria headquarters and create 1,200 new jobs over the next five years as part of a $46.9 million investment across Northern Virginia. The defense contractor bought, and will renovate, a 239,000-square-foot office building at 2001 N. Beauregard Street. Attendees at the announcement included Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins and Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay.

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Alexandria housing authority tenants protest poor conditions, delayed repairs

By James Cullum

Published August 20, 2025 at 1:50PM | Updated August 21, 2025 at 4:37AM

Former City Council Member and Congressional candidate Mo Seifeldein shouts at ARHA CEO Erik Johnson at a protest outside the public housing authority's headquarters, Aug. 20, 2025 (staff photo by James Cullum)

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.

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Rents on the rise in Alexandria and evictions returning to pre-pandemic levels

By Vernon Miles

Published October 24, 2024 at 4:05PM

Eviction trends in Alexandria (image via Office of Housing)

It’s only getting more and more expensive to rent in Alexandria.

In a webinar this afternoon, Alexandria’s Office of Housing spelled out the current state of evictions. Given that the vast majority of those evictions are caused by non-payment of rent, Mary Horner, division chief of the Landlord Tenant Division, noted that rental costs are continuing to rise.

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Alexandria hosting webinar this week on ‘eviction landscape’ in Alexandria

By Vernon Miles

Published October 21, 2024 at 4:10PM

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)

Alexandria’s Office of Housing is hosting a meeting Thursday (Oct. 24) afternoon to discuss the “Eviction Landscape in Alexandria.”

In the wake of the Covid pandemic, there was a sharp uptick in evictions in Alexandria as previous protections established at the start of the pandemic expired. The meeting on Thursday will look at eviction trends in the City and how eviction trends have continued over the last few years.

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Senators Warner and Kaine task Southern Towers owners to resolve eviction conflict with residents

By James Cullum

Published June 27, 2023 at 3:30PM | Updated June 29, 2023 at 12:15PM

The Sherwood apartment building at Southern Towers in Alexandria's West End. (Staff photo by James Cullum)

(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.

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Southern Towers gets a visit from the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency

By James Cullum

Published June 9, 2023 at 2:30PM | Updated June 12, 2023 at 3:03PM

A protest at Southern Towers in the West End on Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020 (Staff photo by James Cullum)

The Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency visited Southern Towers in the West End this week, signalling to housing advocates that years of protests against rent hikes and evictions are finally paying off.

On Wednesday, FHFA Director Sandra Thompson toured the 2,261-unit Southern Towers complex at 4901 Seminary Road. The tour was hosted by the People’s Actions Homes Guarantee campaign and African Communities Together (ACT), and the groups say that affordable housing residents are at the mercy of a major private equity landlord that only cares about profit. The groups say that since buying the property at the height of the pandemic in 2020, California-based owner CIM Group has evicted more than 250 residents, and that many of them endured uninhabitable conditions and rent increases.

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Alexandria officials say some property owners discriminating over eviction assistance

By Vernon Miles

Published April 26, 2023 at 1:45PM

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)

During a City Council meeting last night, discussion of a new report shed light on property owners discriminating against residents who received eviction protection aid — a move the city says is illegal.

Helen McIlvaine, director of the Office of Housing, and housing analyst Kim Cadena shared a report on the specifics of where the city’s housing investments are going.

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Legislative discussion highlights Alexandrians’ struggle with rising rents

By Vernon Miles

Published December 20, 2022 at 1:30PM

Organizers outside Southern Towers lead residents in a protest against CIM Group (staff photo by Vernon Miles)

As the City of Alexandria gets ready to kick off its advocacy for the upcoming general assembly session, one of the main talking points is how the city could use more help from the state in handling affordable housing.

Meronne Teklu, speaking on behalf of the Economic Opportunities Commission, the Landlord-Tenant Relations Board and the Alexandria Housing Affordability Advisory Committee, told the City Council this weekend that each of the groups expressed concerns about the rising rate of evictions.

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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.