The Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance recognized Fairfax County at their annual Housing Leaders Awards Ceremony for “their public land policy for affordable housing.” The award, accepted by Supervisor John Foust, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Housing Committee, was presented at their annual ceremony in Tysons just days after the county’s announcement of a new partnership with APAH and Amazon that will bring the largest fully committed-affordable community, Dominion Square, to the heart of the urban center.
In high-cost Northern Virginia, providing public land for housing has significantly lower development costs and created over 1,200 new affordable rental homes to date in Fairfax County. Through their innovative strategy to address housing costs and achieve their housing goals, Fairfax County has provided a model for the rest of the region to follow.
The high cost of land in Northern Virginia is often a barrier to affordable housing development. It’s simple math. In delivering a housing community that will be charging lower rents to serve households with lower income, those communities do not receive the rent revenue that market or luxury rental housing communities get – and where there’s less income there’s less money to spend on pricey real estate. Fairfax County’s practice of dedicating public land through the use of the Public-Private Education Facilities and Infrastructure Act of 2002 (PPEA) has effectively taken the cost of land out of the “affordable housing” equation for a number of projects and will lead to the delivery of hundreds of new homes currently in development.
“By making room for affordability in communities all across the county, we’ve opened the doors to thousands of affordable housing opportunities to serve our workforce,” said Supervisor John Foust, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors Housing Committee. “We’re proud to contribute these examples of how a local government, with the will and fortitude to commit public lands for affordable housing, can remove barriers, strengthen economies, build equitable communities, and provide support and stability for individuals and families across the region.”
Recent public-private projects include:
- Complete:
- The Fallstead (Dranesville District)
- The Residences at Government Center (Braddock District)
- Under Construction:
- The Residences at North Hill (Mount Vernon District)
- Oakwood Senior Housing (Lee District)
- One University (Braddock District)
- In Development Pipeline:
- Autumn Willow (Springfield District)
- Supportive Housing at West Ox and Route 50 (Sully District)
- Franconia Governmental Center (Lee District)
- Residences at the Government Center II (Braddock District)
- Dominion Square (Hunter Mill District)
- Bowman Towne Center (Hunter Mill District)