A project in Arlandria that promises to put hundreds of new affordable housing units at the intersection of Mount Vernon Avenue and West Glebe Road is moving forward.
Tuesday evening, the City Council may approve another pre-development loan to the Alexandria Housing Development Corp., which is working on plans for the 460 to 480-unit project.
The Arlandria project takes the land of two parking lots and buildings near the intersection of Mount Vernon and West Glebe Road. AHDC signed a letter of intent with the owner of 221 West Glebe Rd. and 3610-3612 Mt. Vernon Ave. last year. A city-owned property at 3700 Mt. Vernon Ave. is also involved. These properties include Sherwin Williams (formerly Safeway) and El Cuscatleco restaurant.
The "strategic objectives" of the project, according to an AHDC community presentation, are to focus on several units affordable at 40 percent of the area median income (AMI), address housing needs in the Arlandria-Chirilagua neighborhood, and create community-serving spaces. The buildings will provide larger units designed for families with children, with 65 percent of units with two or three bedrooms.
Now, AHDC is back in front of City Council for more money, and City Manager Mark Jinks has recommended to the council that they approve the request. (See the complete memo from Jinks here.)
"Feedback regarding the proposed project has been generally very positive, with community members urging AHDC and the City to create as much deeply affordable housing as feasible, as well as encouraging the proposed use of commercial space for community-serving retail, healthcare, childcare and other City and nonprofit social services," Jinks wrote. "... A second predevelopment loan of $500,000 will increase the City’s total predevelopment investment to $1 million. Staff believes this is consistent with the recommendations of the Housing Master Plan, and appropriate to the size, scope and complexity of the project."
Construction on the project could start by 2024.
The following slides come from community meetings that AHDC hosted earlier this year. (See the full slide deck here.)
Alexandria Housing Development Corp.
Building design for an affordable housing complex proposed for the Arlandria/Chirilagua neighborhood.
