Hey, Yupette,
I and other Arlington residents have become exasperated with Arlington's so-called 'Affordable Housing Program'. This program has completely failed to construct and renovate workforce housing to serve the needs of Arlington's workforce. The County's AHIF and other housing funds have been used to gentrify the workforce out of Arlington, while approximately a thousand new jobs which pay below the 'living wage' of $15 / hour are created in the County annually. The 'affordable housing' being constructed and renovated is actually expensive middle class and upper-middle class housing for persons and families with incomes from $55,000 to $85,000 / year.
How expensive? Consider that the housing non-profit which owns The Carlin Retirement Home on Carlin Springs Road is seeking $42 million in financing to renovate a 161-unit 20 year-old building with almost all the apartments 1-bedroom, or more than $260,000 per unit. Hard construction costs are $10.6 million or $66,000 per apartment and soft costs of $9.1 million, or $56,000 per apartment. The County Board will vote whether to loan the Carlin's owner and developer $3 million at the next County Board meeting and the Staff Report for the Consent Agenda item can be viewed on-line.
A renovated Carlin Retirement Home would include every possible residential amenity. The Staff Report is unclear about whether very low income seniors would continue to live at The Carlin or whether The Carlin would gradually transition to moderate income senior housing. Housing Commission member and County Board candidate Matt DeFerranti constantly states he wants the County Board to break with the past but he constantly votes on the Housing Commission for the same old same old extravagant deals that enrich the Democratic Party's Old Guard -- when he bothers attending Housing Commission meetings.
Time for Matt DeFerranti to resign from the Housing Commission and for the County Board to appoint housing activists who won't just rubber stamp every extravagant housing deal the Housing Commission takes up.
L.K. 22201
