Since the city council approved the building of Accessory Dwelling Units, the owners of 40 properties in Alexandria have built or are in the process of building an ADU.
ADUs are mostly either tiny homes in the yard of a larger home (complete with electricity and plumbing) or a small garden apartment in a home. All but one are east of Quaker Lane, and most are in and around Del Ray.
City officials decided to allow ADUs to help increase the availability of low-cost housing. They can only be short-term rentals for up to 120 days per year, but they are designed meant to be long-term rentals or a space for seniors to live independently close to family.
Of the ADUs approved in Alexandria, 27 are separate structures and 13 are garden-style apartments.
On Facebook, in response to a resident noting that 40 units seemed low, Mayor Justin Wilson wrote:
"As a point of comparison, Arlington County approved 57 between May 2019 and January 2021, and they are quite a bit larger than we are. For a new program, 40 is pretty good. That being said, over time, we will make further changes to expand the program. For example, if we can get to a "pre-approved plan" framework, that will make it quite a bit easier for property owners to pursue this kind of structure. But we always said that this was a modest approach. Even the most successful ADU programs around the country generate fairly small numbers of units."
