affordable housing | ARLnow.com

Morning Notes

Published May 18, 2012 at 8:50AM

Artomatic Starts Tonight — Artomatic, described as “the D.C. area’s biggest unjuried arts extravaganza,” will kick off in Crystal City tonight. The five-week event is being held in a former Department of Defense office building at 1851 S. Bell Street, and will feature 10 floors of work by local artists. Artomatic was last held in the District in 2009. [Express]

Affordable Housing Push — A coalition of Arlington affordable housing advocates are preparing a public relations push to make the case for more affordable housing in Arlington. Supporters will be attending community events over the next six month to educate residents about the loss of affordable housing in the county. Currently, affordable housing initiatives are about 5 percent of Arlington County’s $1 billion budget. [Sun Gazette]

News

Board Approves Loans for Buckingham Homebuyers

By Katie Pyzyk

Published April 23, 2012 at 3:15PM | Updated April 23, 2012 at 3:53PM

The board’s unanimous approval will make $500,000 in Moderate Income Purchase Assistance Program (MIPAP) funds available to seven or eight first-time homebuyers who qualify. The loans will be made available to residents at Buckingham Village 3, and other Buckingham neighborhood families, to help with down payments and closing costs on homes.

County Board Chair Mary Hynes explained that there has been a plan in place to help Buckingham residents who had been displaced by development.

Feature

Mixed-Income Apartment Complex Opens in Clarendon

By Katie Pyzyk

Published April 13, 2012 at 2:30PM

The eight-story complex, developed with financial assistance from Arlington County and the Virginia Housing Development Authority, sits above the Church at Clarendon, which recently celebrated its re-opening. An adjoining building houses the county’s largest daycare center.

The development contains 46 market rate apartments, and 70 affordable housing units. The units, which the developer calls “boutique apartments,” range from studios to three bedrooms. According to the complex’s website, prices run from $2,125 per month to $3,170 per month, with affordable units going for 60 percent of the cost to those who qualify.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published March 26, 2012 at 8:35AM | Updated March 26, 2012 at 10:11AM

Faith-Based Advocates Seek More Affordable Housing — A coalition of local churches and community advocates is asking Arlington County to quadruple the amount of tax support it devotes to affordable housing. At a large gathering on Saturday, Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement (VOICE) also expressed support for Arlington refocusing its affordable housing efforts to benefit those in the lowest income brackets. [Sun Gazette]

New Metrobus Service Coming — To help make up for a forthcoming service change that will mean six additional minutes of waiting time for trains between the Pentagon and Rosslyn, Metro is expanding bus service between Crystal City and Rosslyn. [Dr. Gridlock]

Opinion

Morning Poll: Use County Land for Affordable Housing?

By ARLnow.com

Published March 23, 2012 at 10:04AM

“‘Public land for public good’ is a battle cry making its way up the Arlington agenda,” writes Charlie Clark in his Our Man in Arlington column for the Falls Church News-Press.

The idea, Clark reports, is that existing county-owned land should be used to create affordable housing, reducing the cost of affordable developments by eliminating the need to purchase land from private landholders. Advocates say both unused and already-developed county-owned parcels could be utilized for affordable housing. For instance, an affordable apartment building could be built atop a surface parking lot or a fire station.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published March 15, 2012 at 8:50AM

‘Housing 4 Hipsters’ Attracts a Crowd — Arlington’s inaugural “Housing 4 Hipsters” event attracted a crowd of about 100 young people Monday night, though it seems unlikely that any of the attendees were actually “hipsters” in the literal sense. [Washington City Paper]

ShoeFly to Close — Clarendon shoe store ShoeFly is closing up shop after 10 years in business. The store is planning on holding a going-out-of-business sale. [Washington Business Journal]

News

County Nixes Condo Plan for Buckingham Village

By ARLnow.com

Published March 14, 2012 at 1:59PM | Updated March 14, 2012 at 2:20PM

Buckingham Village 3, a series of 16 low-rise apartment buildings along the 300 block of block of N. George Mason Drive, was purchased by the county for $34.5 million in March 2009 as part of its ongoing effort to increase the supply of committed affordable housing in Arlington.

The initial goal for the community was to renovate the buildings, lease 92 apartments to households earning below 60 percent of Area Median Income (AMI), and sell the remaining 48 units to households making 60 to 80 percent AMI. The condo component was part of a county initiative to increase home ownership among moderate income households.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published March 12, 2012 at 8:29AM

Lyon Park Community House Plan Approved — A permit to expand and renovate the historic Lyon Park Community Center was approved on Saturday by the Arlington County Board. The planned changes to the house, owned by the private Lyon Park Citizens Association, includes an updated kitchen and a new sunroom. [Arlington County]

Pike Affordable Housing Project Approved — Also on Saturday, the County Board approved up to $6 million worth of lending to local nonprofit developer AHC Inc. to build a new 83-unit affordable housing complex. The building will replace a Shell gas station along Arlington’s western end of Columbia Pike. [Arlington County]

Events

Affordable Housing Tips at “Housing 4 Hipsters” Event

By Katie Pyzyk

Published March 5, 2012 at 12:16PM | Updated March 6, 2012 at 8:35AM

This event is aimed at young professionals and those who employ young professionals. According to Doug Myrick with the county’s Housing Division, the goal is to show young people the many forms of housing assistance that are available. He stresses it’s not reserved just for those in low income brackets.

“We want people to understand there is housing assistance available across a wide range of incomes,” Myrick said. “When people see government assistance, they often think it must be for low income or they won’t qualify.”

News

Church at Clarendon Prepares for ‘Homecoming’

By ARLnow.com

Published February 22, 2012 at 3:59PM

After two nomadic years, the congregation of The Church at Clarendon (1210 N. Highland Street) is getting ready to return to their newly-renovated church sanctuary.

Since construction began in late 2009, the congregation has been meeting in venues like Rosslyn’s Top of the Town conference facility and at the First Baptist Church of Ballston. Starting on March 4, they’ll be back home.

News

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published February 17, 2012 at 8:33AM | Updated January 16, 2018 at 2:47PM

Management Change at Hotel Palomar — After being sold for some $45 million, Rosslyn’s upscale Hotel Palomar (1121 19th Street N.) will be changing management companies. Effective Feb. 22, Kimpton Hotels will no longer manage the property. Instead, it will be managed in partnership with Starwood Hotels and Le Meridien. [Hotel Palomar]

Legal Advertising Bill Fails in Richmond — A bill that would have lifted the requirement that Virginia localities place legal notices in newspapers has failed in the General Assembly. The bill could have saved localities thousands of dollars per year. Most of Arlington County’s legal advertising is placed in the Washington Times. [Sun Gazette]

News

Budget Proposal Includes Small Tax Hike

By ARLnow.com

Published February 9, 2012 at 9:57AM

Donnellan outlined her proposed FY 2013 budget at a work session with the County Board last night.

While the budget largely seeks to maintain existing services at current levels, it includes four key areas of increased spending: affordable housing, county employee compensation, restoration of branch library hours and Arlington Public Schools.