The Alexandria Housing Development Corporation (AHDC) is working on plans to build 31 townhomes designed for purchase — a new model for the organization that works to develop affordable housing in Alexandria.
The townhomes will be aimed at those making 80 percent the area median income (AMI), which is generally $70,000 to $100,000 per year depending on the size of the family.
AHDC is working on figuring out both how to make — and keep — the townhomes affordable, including putting restrictions into place that allow families to build equity but ensure affordability into the future. ADHC is looking at a variety of models to do this.
“It’s a bit of a new model for AHDC,” said AHDC’s John Frederick. “We think this project gives us the opportunity to serve an unmet need.”
If the plans go forward, construction could start in mid-2022, with units for sale in 2023 or 2024.
Alexandria Housing Development Corp.
Seminary Road development.
The townhomes — and an additional building with six flats for accessibility and for use by the non-profit Sheltered Homes of Alexandria — would be built on Seminary Road next to the fire station and across from Hammond Middle School.
Each townhome will include 2 garage parking spaces (62 total spaces). There will be an additional 18 surface parking spaces (including 3 wheelchair accessible spaces), which will provide parking for the homeownership and SHA flats, as well as for guest parking.
Residents voiced concerns at the AHDC virtual community meeting this week about added traffic on an already-congested portion of Seminary Road near I-395, the affect of nearby home values and the topography of the site.
The topography of the site raised questions by residents, who were concerned that the slope, grading and wetlands should make building there difficult at best. There have already been flooding issues reported on properties nearby.
AHDC has worked with Wetland Studies and Solutions, Inc. and determined there is a “wetland of minimal ecological value” on the property, and will put a buffer around that site. (On the image above, the wetland is in dark green and the buffer is the black circle around it.)
