Road Map to Affordability

City of Alexandria

“It’s been years in the making, but City Hall finally has a plan for tackling one of Alexandria’s most daunting challenges: the dramatic loss of affordable housing in recent years.

The city saw more than 12,500 homes deemed affordable for those making 60 percent of the area’s median income disappear in a 12-year span. And hardest hit was Alexandria’s stock of housing for its most vulnerable: Homes attainable by those making just 30 percent of the region’s median wage dropped from 10,374 to just 454.

At the same time, the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment shot up 71 percent, while the average assessed value for residential property more than doubled, from $191,341 to $449,411. The area median income jumped as well, up to $106,100 in 2011.

The sudden crunch has put city leaders on edge. During the run-up to the 2012 election, affordable housing — and how to save it from near-extinction in Alexandria — came up time and again.”
~Writes Derrick Perkins of the Alexandria Times

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ARHA Offers Seven Sites For Redevelopment

City of Alexandria

“The Alexandria Redevelopment & Housing Authority today offered seven of its properties for redevelopment, beginning a process that will change Alexandria’s landscape. These seven sites include 546 of ARHA’s 1,150 assisted housing units, which are guaranteed by Alexandria City Council Resolution 830…

ARHA, in partnership with its affiliated development corporation, Virginia Housing Development, LLC, published part 1 of a 2-part Request for Proposals seeking responses from highly-qualified development partners to assist in the redevelopment of seven of these sites. Redevelopment of each site shall include all activities meant to deliver a built project that is the highest and best use of ARHA’s land assets and could include mixed-income, mixed-finance and/or mixed-use components.”
~Writes Carla Branch of Alexandria News

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Weighing the Costs and Benefits of Affordable Housing Funding

City of Alexandria

“The city council tag team of Paul Smedberg and Justin Wilson recently weighed in yet again with their grave concerns about the runaway train that is advocacy for affordable and workforce housing in Alexandria — how it’s endangering vital programs and services, and prudent fiscal management, as well as the “divisiveness” it’s causing.

Being one of those unreasonable malcontents, I checked the city’s fiscal 2014 operating budget to see what I was missing. The three largest categories with their respective percentage shares of the total budget are as follows:

• Transportation and environmental services: 43.9 percent
• Education: 32.3 percent
• Government (legislative, executive, courts, general, etc.): 12.4 percent

 And the housing department’s share? That would be 0.4 percent. What a budget hog indeed.”

~Writes Jim Mercury in a letter to the Alexandria Times

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