AHDA
The new, affordable housing development that the Alexandria Housing Development Corp. is planning in Arlandria may be bigger than originally proposed. And it may include market-rate apartments.
In the fall, AHDC asked the City of Alexandria for a $500,000 pre-development loan to work on plans to develop land near the intersection of Mount Vernon Avenue and Glebe Road.
At the time, in a letter to City Council, ADHA wrote, “While we are very early in our design process, we are currently anticipating the construction of two buildings that combined will allow us to [construct] approximately 375 units. Our current vision is to deliver all those units at affordable levels under 80 percent AMI [Area Median Income] with the majority under 60 percent AMI. As you will see in the project description, we are also anticipating several units at 40 percent AMI which we know are in high demand in the neighborhood. In addition, we are exploring various options for the any ground floor commercial space that will allow that will best serve the community.”
But in late December, the Washington Business Journal reported that AHDC sent an application to Alexandria officials that includes 530 apartments — 41 percent more than originally planned — and some of those units would be market rate.
According to a City of Alexandria Database, the “Weissberg Project” (CDSP2020-00031) was updated on Dec. 11, 2020, but details are lacking on the larger proposed project.
After learning about the Washington Business Journal article, several residents immediately brought up concerns online about density around the West Glebe Road and Mount Vernon Avenue intersection, which was often backed up with traffic before the pandemic hit. Other residents are concerned about where children living in those apartments might go to school, as local elementary schools are already at or over capacity.
Contruction could start as early as the spring of 2022 according to construction bid requests. The original bid request estimate was $17 million for construction for the smaller complex; a bigger residential development will come with added costs.
