On April 13, 2021, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved a $3 million Housing Blueprint loan to finance the acquisition of new affordable housing near Fort Belvoir in the Mount Vernon District. The action ratifies the authorization for the loan granted by the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA) at its March 18 meeting. Funds will be used to support the acquisition and renovation of existing “market affordable” housing at The Landings II Fort Belvoir and its transition to becoming “committed affordable” to households earning no more than 60 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI).
“The Richmond Highway corridor is a growing center of opportunity, and affordable housing is a fundamental cornerstone to achieving our communitywide vision,” said Mt. Vernon Supervisor Dan Storck. “We want to be sure that our housing opportunities enable our middle- and low-income workers to do more than just ‘make a living’ in the Mount Vernon District – we want them to be able to make a home here as well.”
The Landings II Fort Belvoir Apartments consists of 76 housing units originally constructed in 1964. The property was purchased in February 2021 by AHC, Inc., a not-for-profit, Community-based Housing Development Organization with a two-phased plan to include the rehabilitation and transition to committed affordability over a period of five years, followed by substantial renovations in approximately 10 years to secure long-term affordability through the possible use of low-income housing tax credits.
The initial rehabilitation of the nearly 60-year-old property at Landings II will include repairs and upgrades including sidewalk repair, tree trimming, storm drain work, construction of a new entrance sign, structural repairs, windowpane work, replacing certain gas furnaces and water heaters and other work within the units. These initial repairs are expected to be completed within the first year of acquisition.
“AHC has been an excellent partner with us in aggressively pursuing affordable housing in this area,” said FCRHA Chair Melissa McKenna. “The Landings II joins the Landings I Mt. Vernon Apartments which were also acquired by AHC to rehabilitate and transition current market affordable housing to being affordable to low- and moderate-income households. Altogether, this will bring a total of 292 units of affordable housing to the Mount Vernon District – which is just extraordinary.”
Both Landings I and Landings II Apartments will implement a phased conversion to committed affordable housing through natural attrition. This means that as tenant households move out of the property, they will be replaced by residents that meet the new affordability criteria at 60 percent AMI. Any households currently residing at the property who meet the affordability criteria will be eligible to remain in place.
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