Rezoning granted for new construction slated for Langston Park

City of Hopewell:

“An amendment to the zoning of the Langston Park Public Housing Development was granted by City Council Tuesday, amid questions and hesitations from some councilors about a plan to revitalize the development. Community Housing Partners, plans to demolish the 52-year-old development in favor of building energy efficient mixed-income units. CHP is a nonprofit organization that works with public and private partners to provide energy efficient and quality affordable housing.

The current 30-unit development will be replaced by 56 units, 26 of which will be rented at market rate. Thirty of the units will be under the Section 8 voucher program. Construction of the apartments is slated to cost about $9.5 million. CHP has acquired all of the funding for the project, which includes state and federal tax credits, grants and private investment.

The area is currently zoned R-4, but is slated to become a Planned Unit Development following Tuesday's decision. During a Council work session last month, developers stated that the new designation would allow more open space, and be landscaped into a safer, more well lit environment.”

~Writes Leah Small of Progress-Index

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Affordable senior housing proposal meets opposition from residents

Shenandoah County:

“A proposal to build low-income senior citizen housing in downtown Woodstock has many town and Shenandoah County residents upset. At a public hearing during last Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting, at least a dozen people criticized or defended the proposal to transfer county land to People Inc. for a senior citizen housing development.

Previously, the Shenandoah Area Agency on Aging had planned to build affordable housing for senior citizens on a small tract of land across the street from the old Woodstock School on Court Street. SAAA had also planned to renovate the old school and use part of it for office space. The organization started encountering severe financial difficulties in 2011 and did not move forward with the project even with a large federal grant from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. About $1.3 million in grant money was transferred from SAAA to People Inc., which dropped the plans to renovate the old school.

Many Woodstock residents who live close to the school said on Tuesday that they don’t want to see the building go to waste, and they do not support a project that would not put it to good use. People Inc.’s Vice President for Development, Bryan Phipps, said the organization is not in a position to use the school. It does not need it for office space and was told by HUD that it could not use the funds to renovate the school. The grant money is only designated for new construction.

‘Those funds can’t be used to do anything with the school,’ Phipps said. The $1.3 million in grant funds would be used to build 11 housing units for low-income seniors. To qualify for the housing, families or individuals must meet income requirements and have at least one household member age 62 or older.

County residents who spoke at Tuesday’s public hearing said they didn’t feel there was a large need for affordable senior housing in Shenandoah County. Many Court Street residents who can see the old, deteriorating school from their windows also said they didn’t want to see any such project move forward in that area if the school wouldn’t be renovated.”

~ Writes Kassondra Cloos of The Shenandoah Valley-Herald

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Region III HUDLine News

HUD:

“An e-briefing from Region III featuring news and information about housing and community development efforts in Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.”

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County Board Members OK Redevelopment of Ballston Apartment Complex

Arlington County:

“County Board members on Jan. 26 gave approval to the redevelopment of the Carlyn Springs Apartments, being sought by the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH). As part of the proposal, the existing 27-unit apartment complex near the Ballston Metro station will be replaced by a five-story, 104-unit property with underground parking, a community center, tot lot and headquarters for APAH.

Under the plan approved by the County Board, 98 of the units will be guaranteed to remain affordable to families earning less than 60 percent of the area median income for the next 60 years. Other units will be rented at market rates. To help fund the project, APAH plans to apply for housing tax credits from the Virginia Housing Development Authority. If the request wins approval, construction is expected to start in late 2014, with completion in 2016. APAH also plans to use $7.8 million from the county government’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund to help finance the project.”

~Writes the Sun Gazette

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Fairfax County considers expanded use of developer fees for housing

Fairfax County:

“Fairfax County is considering using developer contributions to further expand affordable housing options, particularly in transit centers. The proposal builds on a concept pioneered in Tysons Corner, where the developers of commercial properties near the four new Metro stations are expected to contribute $3 per square foot to the county’s housing trust fund.

However, some supervisors expressed concern that such fees could hamper commercial development in other parts of the county. The so-called '3-2-1' concept developed by county staff would encourage $3 per square foot contributions from commercial development in areas within a quarter-mile of a transit station, $2 per square foot for properties between a quarter and half mile, and $1 per square foot for any other commercial development.

It would apply only to rezoning cases that include an increase in density, said Marianne Gardner, director of the planning division of the county’s Department of Planning and Zoning. Property owners could also take multiple years to pay the fee, for example paying 25 cents per square foot per year, Gardner said.

The Housing Trust Fund would focus on creating affordable housing in the $3 and $2 per square foot tier areas, under the proposal. Affordable housing options would be targeted at people making less than 80 percent of area median income, or about $80,000 for a family of four.”

~Writes Kali Schumitz of the Fairfax Times

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Age-restricted apartments proposed in Bealeton

Fauquier County

“Fauquier’s planning commission last week recommended approval of a rezoning for construction of 100 age-restricted apartments in Bealeton. The commissioners Jan. 30 voted, 5-0, to support amendment of the April 2012 rezoning for Mintbrook, a mixed-use development along Routes 17 and 28.

The board of supervisors almost two years ago voted, 3-2, to approve the development of 475 dwellings and 220,000 square feet of commercial space on the 332-acre site. That original approval contemplated multifamily housing at Mintbrook. But, it required separate review of what would happen on the 8.6-acre parcel where Chantilly-based Mintbrook Developers LLC and the South-Carolina-based Humanities Foundation propose the apartments. The developer also needed separate approval for as much as 125,000 square feet of “future” commercial development.

Mintbook has reduced that total to 39,000 square feet, a proposal the planning commission also endorsed last week. With the changes, Mintbrook would have approval for 575 dwellings and 265,000 square feet of commercial space.”

~Writes Fauquier Now

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Complicated Real Estate Deal Designed to Preserve Affordable Housing in Ballston

Arlington County:

“County Board members on Jan. 28 agreed in principle to move forward with a complicated, three-way real estate deal involving affordable housing in Ballston. If it goes through, the deal will result in the county government taking title to the 513-unit Ballston Park Apartments, then turning around and leasing the site to AHC Inc., a nonprofit housing developer, for 75 years.

The complex is bounded by North Glebe Road, 5th Street North, North Oakland Street and 2nd Street North. The approval, which was unanimous, came at the end of the board’s January meeting without prior public notice. ‘We believe that through this transaction, the county can preserve long-term affordability and acquire a historically valuable asset for less than an estimated $70,000 per unit,’ county officials said in a statement to the Sun Gazette.

The agreement, which could take another six months to complete, would involve AHC exercising its existing authority to purchase the property from Pershing Drive Associates Limited Partnership. An AHC affiliate already is a partner in that venture. The title to the property would pass directly to the county government, rather than AHC.”

~Writes Scott McCaffrey of the Sun Gazette

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Nonprofit pilots program to purchase proffered affordable units

Albemarle County

“When the Albemarle Board of Supervisors rezones land for a new residential development, county policy requires developers to designate a portion of the units as affordable. Since 2000, the policy has created a potential of more than 1,200 homes that are restricted to families or individuals with an annual income less than 80 percent of the area’s median. However, very few actually have been purchased by qualified buyers, nor have many been built. ‘Developers don’t really like to build those units,’ said Mark Watson, director of development for the Piedmont Housing Alliance.

Instead, builders have the option to pay cash to avoid the requirement, with the proceeds going to affordable housing programs, such as down payment assistance, run by the county. Watson said many developers prefer to contribute cash because they cannot make as much of a profit for selling a smaller house. However, one developer is working with Watson on a pilot project that could lead to more such units being built, increasing the county’s stock of affordable housing.”

~Writes Sean Tubbs of Charlottesville Tomorrow

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