I live in Fairlington, not far from where Smart Growth Boosters Scott Brodbeck (ArlNow) and Scott McCaffrey (Inside Nova) live.
What they, and apparently most in the neighborhood, haven't yet learned is the County Board made a secret deal a couple months ago to redevelop the Park Shirlington Apartments on South 31st Street, adjacent to Fairlington.
The former owner of Park Shirlington, Home Properties, sold Park Shirlington in September to Standard Property Company, Inc., an affiliate of Home Properties. Standard Property formed a joint venture with a housing non-profit, the National Foundation for Affordable Housing Solutions, jointly the "Project Sponsor". Park Shirlington contains 294 1, 2, and 3 bedroom market-rate apartments on 15.79 acres.
Arlington County proposes to include Park Shirlington in a Housing Conservation District (HCD). Housing Conservation Districts include zoning incentives, such as preservation, infill, and redevelopment options, aimed at preserving the affordability of market rate properties. County Board will take up HCD creation on November 27th. At its November 9th meeting the Housing Commission approved lending $6 million in Affordable Housing Investment Funds (AHIF) to the Project Sponsors ($20,408 per unit). Total acquisition costs of Park Shirlington would be $72.4 million or $246,341 per unit. Unknown at this point whether the Project Sponsor would be going to the County for more AHIF funds once construction commences. County Board will also take up approval of AHIF funds for Park Shirlington on November 27th.
But wait. There's more. According to comments made during this week's Housing Commission meeting the Project Sponsors want to build as many expensive townhomes as possible on-site when Park Shirlington is redeveloped. Number of townhomes most often mentioned was 154. The townhomes would sell for about $1 million each. Do the math.
Then there are the external costs. Abingdon School adjacent to Park Shirlington was recently renovated for $32 million and only 132 seats were added to the school's capacity. Fairlington residents who live near Abingdon School are already furious that so many use permit conditions were violated during Abingdon School construction and are apprehensive that another phase of building construction will take the remaining open space for a larger building and more parking and student drop-offs.
Then there are the workforce housing activists, who are angry about the exclusionary practices related to "affordable housing", which excludes people who are in desperate need of housing that's actually affordable and who work close to where so-called affordable housing is being constructed (e.g., Shirlington Village). They see low-wage worker and other low-income residents being forced out of the County while the County Board enriches real estate trusts, developers, law firms, financial institutions, and various consultants, to the point that the activists complained to the Housing and Urban Development Inspector General that the County's affordable housing program is de facto fraud.
County Board meetings later this month should be interesting. Stay tuned.
H.J., 22206
17 comments:
Yes, I agree the County's long-time "affordable housing" program is a complete fraud. If you are a recent college graduate (like me) who majored in Liberal Arts, and is earning $23,000 / year working for a non-profit as an intern, you don't even qualify for an affordable apartment. But if you are earning $85,000 / year managing a BroHoe bar and restaurant in the BroHoe Corridor you do qualify. Time for to bring in the FBI to clean out the 1-party rat's nest Arlington has become.
Yes, contact the FBI. Jeff Sessions WILL prosecute the stinking corrupt PlutoCrats who have run Arlington for the past 35 years to benefit themselves and their for-profit and non-profit cronies.
Contact Federal Law Enforcement about this. Arlington's Commonwealth's Attorney specializes in locking up homeless veterans who steal a loaf of bread from a convenience store.
Their Media cronies also get to earn hundreds of thousands from publishing ads for Smart Growth redevelopments.
County is run by a bunch of stinking Elitists who make secret deals with their corporate and non-profit cronies over lunch in upscale restaurants We learn about the deals years later and, at that point, there is little we can do to say or do to effect the outcome.
Neighborhood residents in a number of neighborhoods are apprehensive about the County being gridlocked during rush hours in 3-5 years.
Dumb question: If the developers are going to make $150 million from building and selling expensive in-fill townhouses in-site, why do they need any money from the County?
Yes. If this "affordable housing" deal is going to use public funds to remove residents who work in low wage jobs in Shirlington from their market rate apartments so upscale Millennials who earn $80,000 / year can live there the Feds should take a hard look at the deal.
Class action lawsuit by everyone denied an "affordable" apartment because they earn less than $30,000 / year?
Like law students attending Antonin Scalia Law School at GMU who are banned from "affordable housing" because they have little or no income?
Something like 20 "affordable" apartments have been constructed in Shirlington Village over the past 20 years.
County is becoming unlivable as a suburb.
Retired County Board members who started the County's gentrification 30 years ago are spending their retirement years attending banquets sponsored by various limousine liberal organizations where they are the Guests of Honor.
Neighbors have an attorney and have filed FOIA requests with the County. They don't want another construction fiasco at Abingdon School like the construction fiasco they've endured for the past 18 months.
The de facto living wage inside-the-beltway is $30 per hour or about $60,000 per year. The housing non-profits can't make a profit building affordable workforce apartments for workers earning $30,000 / year. So no alternatives to the present system can be discussed. The housing non-profits need a steady stream of old market rate apartment buildings to convert into entry-level Millennial housing.
APAH and AHC are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars every year on activities that have nothing to do with affordable housing.
Turns out that the pre-approved (by the County Board) plan for Park-Shirlington is committed subsidized moderate income upscale housing and market rate upscale in-fill housing.
Post a Comment