Updated Sept. 9, 2020
The Alexandria Housing Development Corporation went before City Council to ask for approval of pre-development loans for two major new affordable housing projects.
A project in Arlandria will put hundreds of new affordable housing units at the intersection of Mount Vernon Avenue and West Glebe Road.
The other project ads a few dozen affordable housing residences on Seminary Road near Francis Hammond Middle School. (City Council in early September 2020 delayed funding this pre-development loan to allow city staff more time to understand geographic and topographic limitations on the land.)
The Arlandria project takes the land of two parking lots and buildings near the intersection of Mount Vernon and West Glebe Road. AHDC has signed a letter of intent with the owner of 221 West Glebe Rd. and 3610-3612 Mt. Vernon Ave. 3700 Mt. Vernon Ave., a city-owned property, is also involved. These properties include Sherwin Williams (formerly Safeway) and El Cuscatleco restaurant.
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 construction 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.”
Construction would be completed in 2024. Learn more about this project here.
The following is a map of the area under consideration.
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AHDA
The West End project, on Seminary Road, would replace two single-family properties and an undeveloped lot with 40 residential units and 15 townhome-style homes. The three properties in the 4500 block of Seminary Road just east of the fire station and Francis Hammond Middle School, are owned by Sheltered Homes of Alexandria (which operates a group home for intellectually or developmentally disabled clients), a private owner and the City of Alexandria, respectively.
SHA would be conveyed ownership of multiple units in the new project, allowing the organization to continue to serve residents with developmental challenges.
The project would use approximately 2.7 acres of land. Construction for this project is also set to be completed sometime in 2024 and would serve residents at 80 percent AMI. Learn more about this project here.
The area under consideration is in the image below from the ADHA request. 4555 Seminary Road is highlighted in red. The other two parcels are 4547 Seminary Road and 4575 Seminary Road, to the left and right of 4555.
Both pre-devleopment loan requests are on the Sept. 8 City Council docket. The meeting will be hosted virtually due to coronavirus concerns. More information is in the docket here.
