Wesley Housing Development Corp.
New affordable housing will be under construction soon on King Street in Alexandria's West End.
Construction may start soon on 81 affordable housing units next to Fairlington Presbyterian Church.
The church has partnered with Wesley Housing and the City of Alexandria to build affordable housing on church property and add a bus stop on King Street to serve those residents.
The Waypoint at Fairlington will have three efficiency units, 12 one-bedroom, 49 two-bedroom and 17 three-bedroom units. Nine of the apartments will be ADA accessible.
The apartments will serve people whose income is 30 percent, 50 percent or 60 percent of the Area Median Income. Residents will also have free wifi, a community center and more.
Construction is slated to start this fall and complete in the spring of 2022.
Wesley Housing is hosting a community meeting on Thursday, July 23. If you’re interested in joining the July 23 meeting, send an email to APereira@whdc.org.
See a video of the design at wesleyhousing.org/property/the-waypoint-at-fairlington. (Note: The video is silent.)
As the price of housing rises in Northern Virginia, housing affordability has become an increasing concern. The average rent on even an efficiency apartment is out of reach for many working full time at minimum wage.
The City of Alexandria has taken multiple steps to increase the availability of affordable housing, including working with developers to include affordable housing in new developments. In an interview with Alexandria Living Magazine early this year, Mayor Justin Wilson said, "We have done a fair amount of creating affordable housing. One thing we haven't done is use our zoning authority to create more affordability. The Council of Governments made a regional commitment around creating additional housing to address affordability. All the jurisdictions are figuring out how to meet these housing goals to meet the job growth coming to this region."
Unfortunately, the need for affordable housing increased significantly in March and April when the coronavirus pandemic hit many Alexandrians in the wallet.
Earlier this spring, the City Council started considering allowing homeowners to create “accessory dwelling units,” which could be an apartment over a garage, a small cottage or an apartment with a separate entrance, as a way to increase housing options.
Fairlington Presbyterian Church
