housing | ARLnow.com

Planners Say D.C. Region Has Enough Room to Meet Amazon-Induced Housing Demands

Published February 14, 2019 at 3:30PM

Arlington and other localities around the D.C. region have enough room to add the housing necessary to keep pace with the Amazon-driven population influx expected over the coming years — but actually realizing that potential won’t be easy, regional planners say.

Researchers with the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, a coalition of local leaders, have warned in the past that the region needs to add about 100,000 more homes through 2045, or else risk seeing rent prices creep up even higher and more people pushed into the outer suburbs.

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GOP Ditches Proposal for More Affordable Housing Cash, Angering Advocates Concerned About Amazon

By Alex Koma

Published February 7, 2019 at 11:00AM | Updated February 7, 2019 at 10:52PM

Ballston Quarter/Liberty Center construction cranes - file photo

Republican lawmakers have scuttled Gov. Ralph Northam’s proposal to ramp up state funding for affordable housing, a move that’s irked advocates hoping for more state help as Amazon starts to move into Arlington.

GOP leaders in both the state Senate and House of Delegates have now put forward budget proposals without the $19.5 million spread across two years Northam had hoped to see flow into the Virginia Housing Trust Fund, a program offering low-interest loans for developers hoping to build reasonably priced housing.

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‘Never Let a Crisis Go to Waste’: Amazon Prompts Debate Over How to Make Arlington Homes Affordable

By Alex Koma

Published February 4, 2019 at 3:30PM | Updated October 17, 2022 at 11:27AM

Arlington leaders agree that Amazon’s impending arrival in the county demands urgent action to address housing affordability — but there’s a lot less agreement on what sort of policy response is necessary to hold down the area’s skyrocketing housing costs.

Some of the changes officials are envisioning are relatively modest ones, expanding on existing efforts that began long before the tech giant announced its plans to bring 25,000 workers to the area. After all, many have argued that the new headquarters set to pop up in Crystal City and Pentagon City won’t prompt the sort of explosion in gentrification that Amazon’s opponents fear.

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Nonprofit Opens New ‘Columbia Hills’ Affordable Housing Complex

By Alex Koma

Published February 1, 2019 at 1:30PM

County Board members Libby Garvey (left) and Christian Dorsey join a ribbon cutting for the Columbia Hills development (via @libbygarvey)

A new affordable housing complex off of Columbia Pike is now open to renters.

The Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing held a ribbon-cutting Wednesday (Jan. 30) for its Columbia Hills Apartments at 1010 S. Frederick Street. The new development includes two eight-story buildings with room for a total of 229 committed affordable homes.

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Arlington Must Open Up Single-Family Neighborhoods to Different Housing Options, Advocates Argue

By Alex Koma

Published January 31, 2019 at 1:30PM | Updated October 17, 2022 at 11:27AM

The vast majority of land in Arlington is reserved for the construction of single-family homes, and affordable housing advocates argue that’s going to have to change if the county wants to adequately handle the region’s looming, Amazon-inspired population influx.

A new report released by the Northern Virginia Affordable Housing Alliance last week argues that Amazon’s decision to bring 25,000 jobs to Arlington in the coming years “should create a regional sense of urgency and commitment to address our housing supply and affordability gap,” a sentiment broadly shared among local and state leaders following the company’s momentous announcement. But where the advocacy group strikes a starker tone than other observers is in its policy prescriptions for meeting that challenge.

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Queens Court Affordable Housing Redevelopment Project Wins More County Funding to Move Forward

By Alex Koma

Published January 28, 2019 at 11:00AM

Rendering of the Queens Court courtyard (via Arlington County)

Arlington officials are sending another $8.8 million in loan funds to support the redevelopment of Queens Court in Rosslyn, supplying a nonprofit with the cash it needs to move ahead with construction of the new affordable housing complex.

The County Board unanimously approved the loan at its meeting Saturday (Jan. 26), committing a total of $16.7 million to the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing’s effort construct two new buildings on the property at 1801 N. Quinn Street.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 24, 2019 at 9:00AM | Updated January 24, 2019 at 9:45AM

A Wall that Divided Arlington Still Stands — “The wall was erected in a section of Arlington County in the 1930s to separate black residents from white residents. And for decades, it did just that. It kept segregation intact by creating a physical barrier between an ‘us’ and a ‘them.'” [Washington Post]

Coming Soon: Happy Hour Advertising? — “A lawsuit filed against the state by a Northern Virginia restaurateur could be the motivation the General Assembly needs to change laws that restrict happy hour advertising.” [Virginia Mercury]

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Amazon Shouldn’t Spell ‘Doom’ for Most Local Renters, But Observers Still Fear Its South Arlington Impacts

By Alex Koma

Published January 23, 2019 at 1:45PM | Updated February 4, 2019 at 9:57AM

For people fearful about how Amazon will impact Arlington, a single question tends to rise above all others — will the company’s arrival price me out of my home?

There are certainly plenty of other concerns surrounding the company, and the 25,000 jobs it has promised to bring to its new home in Pentagon City and Crystal City, stemming from its highly criticized business practices to its potential impact on roads and transit in the region.

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Plans for New Apartments Along Washington Blvd in Virginia Square Take Shape

By Alex Koma

Published January 22, 2019 at 9:55AM

Rendering of an approved development on N. Kirkwood Road in Virginia Square (via Arlington County)

Plans to redevelop several small businesses in Virginia Square into a new apartment complex are coming into focus, in a section of the neighborhood long targeted by the county for a bit of revitalization.

A developer is firming up plans to build a seven-story apartment building on a 1.7-acre property at 1122 N. Kirkwood Road, near the road’s intersection with Washington Blvd. Documents submitted to county planners late last month show that Eleventh Street Development is angling to add 255 one- and two-bedroom apartments to the site, complete with two floors of underground parking totaling 190 spaces in all.

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County Leaders Don’t Expect to See Seattle’s Problems with Amazon Spring Up in Arlington

By Alex Koma

Published January 17, 2019 at 5:00PM | Updated January 17, 2019 at 8:24PM

County officials holding a panel discussion on Amazon (via Facebook)

(Updated at 8:25 p.m.) When many Arlingtonians take a look at the sort of impact Amazon has had on Seattle since setting up shop in the city, they can’t help but feel nervous about how the tech giant might transform the county when it arrives.

The city has seen everything from skyrocketing housing prices to nightmarish traffic congestion stemming from Amazon’s rapid growth into one of the largest companies in the world, and leaders there have felt compelled to take new steps to bridge the growing inequality between the city’s tech workers and the rest of its residents.

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As Amazon Looms, Lopez Pushes for More State Money to Fund Affordable Housing Development

By Alex Koma

Published January 16, 2019 at 10:45AM | Updated January 16, 2019 at 3:00PM

(Updated at 3 p.m.) With Amazon gearing up to move into his neck of the woods, Del. Alfonso Lopez (D-49th District) is angling to substantially beef up state spending on affordable housing development.

Lopez, who represents a variety of South Arlington neighborhoods surrounding the tech company’s planned headquarters in Crystal City and Pentagon City, is eyeing a two-pronged approach to the issue in this year’s General Assembly session.

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Published January 16, 2019 at 8:45AM | Updated January 16, 2019 at 10:05AM

Housing and the County Budget — A new Greater Greater Washington article explores ways to add new housing at a time when Arlington County is facing a serious budget gap. [GGW]

Trails Treacherous for Cyclists — Despite efforts to plow local trails, many stretches in Arlington were still icy or snow-covered yesterday. [Twitter]