Posted by Jill Norcross on December 01, 2009 at 11:51:02:
Affordability on the Pike
Michael Lee Pope
Arlington Connection
November 19, 2009
The weakened real-estate market has created a $100-million budget shortfall for the county, but it
has also created an opportunity for County Board members to move forward with preserving
affordable housing. Last weekend, the board approved a $7.1-million loan to a nonprofit
organization to purchase a 111-unit garden apartment on Columbia Pike. The move comes after
years of concern about market pressures eroding the stock of affordable housing along the pike,
which currently has the greatest stock of affordable housing in the county.
"This is an area that has retained a lot of market-rate affordable housing," said Kenneth
Aughenbaugh, the county’s director of housing. "The county is interested in preserving as much of it
as possible."
The board’s action allocates money from the county’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund as a
loan to the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing to assist with the acquisition of Buchanan
Gardens. In March, the nonprofit organization executed a purchase contract on the 1940s-era brick
garden apartments. Under the conditions of the loan approved Saturday, the nonprofit would
restrict 66 units to households with incomes at or below 60 percent of the area median income.
"Now is the time for us to capture as much affordable housing as we can," said County Board
member Chris Zimmerman. "This is a property that would likely be lost in the next few years if we
didn’t take action."
The property consists of 11 colonial-style, walk-up garden apartment buildings on Buchanan Street,
which is a half-block north of Columbia Pike. The garden apartments currently include 81 onebedroom
units, 29 two-bedroom units and one three-bedroom unit. Monthly rents are
affordable to households at 50 percent to 60 percent of the area median income, ranging from $835
to $1,395. But neighbors say the property hasn’t been kept well.
"The perception in the neighborhood is that this property hasn’t been maintained as well as we’d
like it to be," said Bryant Monroe, president of the Barcroft School and Civic League. "That’s one of
the reasons we’ve been supportive of a place for an affordable housing in our community with a
responsible owner that maintains the property."
The nonprofit anticipates closing on the property in December, and the loan from the county will
have a 35-year term at a 3-percent interest rate. Once financing has been secured for renovating the
property, the nonprofit organization intends to create more family size-units in a series of additions
known as "bump-out." The additions will include 55 one-bedroom units, 49 two-bedroom units and
seven three-bedroom units.
"In recent years, the county has been doing so well with bike paths and pedestrian access and
accessibility and desirability," said Zimmerman. "But affordable housing is the one area that has
been the biggest challenge, and I feel that this loan will make significant inroads to working toward a
solution."