A working group on affordable housing met last week to explore possible solutions to ever-spiraling costs for Arlington’s low- and moderate-income households.
Though the hour-long meeting on July 1 didn’t resolve any core issues, members suggested that pushing developers to provide more funding to the county’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund might be the best way to get more apartments built in Arlington.
“We’re getting to the crux” of the matter, said Joseph Ventrone, a member of the Housing Commission and appointee to the working group.
Developers seeking extra density in Arlington have three options: including committed-affordable units in their projects, creating them elsewhere in the county or paying into the housing fund. That fund provides loans to nonprofit groups that build and manage affordable-housing units.
Another panelist, Matthew Weinstein, said that advocates for affordable housing have a fundamental choice to make.
“We have to decide what we’re aiming to achieve: Is it more on-site [units], is it more AHIF?” he said.
Currently, most developers opt for a payment in lieu of building units. That is not necessarily a bad thing, said Bryan Coleman, a Housing Commission member who chairs the working group.
“It’s important to value off-site units as well as on-site,” he said. “There is a fairly clear path: Obtain more AHIF resources and you can fund more affordable-housing projects.”
Danny Ross, another panel member, agreed with that assessment.
“We can leverage the [AHIF] funds with tax credits and other sources,” he said. “You end up providing additional housing to the community than you’re going to get vs. the on-site committed-affordable units.”
Panelists left until future meetings the question of whether current AHIF contribution levels imposed by the county government on developers were too little, too much or just right.
For residential site plans, the current AHIF contribution expected of developers depends on the size of the overall development project. It ranges from $2.44 per square foot of development for the smallest projects to $13.11 per square foot for the largest, according to staff data.
Mary Hynes, a former County Board member serving on the task force, said any changes to that pricing structure need to take into account real-world implications.
“How we would settle on that price, is really what the question is,” Hynes said.
Task-force members have asked to see what other localities in the region charge developers. Demanding too much could put Arlington at a disadvantage, Hynes said.
“It’s a good thing for the county to have more affordable housing, but it’s dependent on folks being willing to build it,” she said.
Coleman agreed. “We should think about what is feasible,” he said.
The working group first met in March. Its next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 15.
Coleman said his desire is to have “concrete deliverables” for the Housing Commission by September.
The commission then will move forward with its own deliberations on potential changes to the county’s affordable housing ordinance. Recommendations coming out of that process would likely make the rounds of government staff and other advisory commissions before ending up in front of County Board members.
