A new 234-unit affordable housing building near Rosslyn was honored with a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday (Monday).
The 12-story building at 1300 N. Pierce Street, in the Radnor-Fort Myer Heights neighborhood, comes with 110 below-ground parking spaces and a mix of apartment sizes: 84 one-bedroom units, 100 two-bedroom units and 50 three-bedroom units, according to a press release.
Located a 15-minute walk from the Rosslyn Metro station, Wholey Legacy Homes is named after the family of Joe Wholey, a former County Board member who was an early supporter of Arlington’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund (AHIF) and “smart growth” approach to development.
Wholey was also a founding member of True Ground Housing Partners (previously the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing), the developer for the site that was previously home to 31 garden apartments.
“Think about where we are heading,” County Board Chair Takis Karantonis said in remarks. “We are heading [toward] giving radical, proper solutions. We are defending smart growth today because we are defending our communities continually thriving as a whole — not only as a charity for some.”
The 148,500-square-foot building comes with free WiFi for residents, an outdoor courtyard and “tot lot,” a fitness center and a rooftop terrace with views of Arlington and D.C. It provides homes for residents earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income, which translates to around $49,000 to $98,000 for a family of four.
Twenty of the building’s apartments are set aside for people who have been at risk of homelessness.
The project cost was approximately $136 million, the majority of which was financed through loans from Virginia Housing, AHIF and Capital One.
State Sen. Barbara Favola (D-40) celebrated the project as carrying on Wholey’s legacy of investing in affordable housing to improve residents’ financial stability, fend off homelessness and build resilient communities that ultimately depend less on other social services.
“Kudos to the County Board for doing the right thing, for continuing to do the right thing,” Favola said.
True Ground President and CEO Carmen Romero emphasized the economic opportunities created through a transit-accessible project located so close to D.C. in a Metro corridor.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for those of us who work at True Ground to experience this, to be brought into history and to see it manifest with all of you,” she said.
