No racial or ethnic group in Arlington comes close to earning enough household income to afford median priced single-family homes in Arlington, and some groups struggle to afford median-priced condominiums, according to new data.
Even the county’s white population, which has by far the largest median household income, is “nowhere near” being able to afford median priced single-family housing, said Keith Waters of the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University.
Efforts to create deeply affordable housing to meet the needs of Arlington’s lowest-earning residents face significant headwinds, according to a recent presentation to the Arlington Planning Commission.
Most current efforts around affordable housing focus on households with incomes of at least 60% of the area median income (AMI) — leaving out a large swath of people earning less.
The Missing Middle lawsuit has finally arrived on the desk of the Virginia Supreme Court.
Plaintiffs in the suit against Arlington County’s contentious zoning change submitted a petition for appeal to the commonwealth’s highest court yesterday (Monday). They’re trying to reverse a recent Virginia Court of Appeals ruling that would create big obstacles for their case, if upheld.
The Goodwill on S. Glebe Road is closing this month to redevelop as a mixed-use affordable housing project.
The donation center, retail store and career center at 10 S. Glebe Road is set to close for about two years beginning on Monday, Oct. 27. Goodwill expects to begin demolition this winter, making way for a six-story building with 128 units of affordable housing, a 3,000-square-foot child care, and a modernized retail and donation center.
A major office building in Ballston may be next in line for conversion to residential use.
Property owner Red Fox DC LLC is expected to come to the County Board later this month, seeking approval to convert a 13-story office building at 4100 Fairfax Drive — above Bronson Bierhall — to 296 residential units.
County Board candidates largely expressed interest in efforts to convert aging office buildings to residential and hotel uses at a recent candidate forum.
“There are huge opportunities,” Board Chair Takis Karantonis said during the Sept. 30 event sponsored by Arlingtonians for Our Sustainable Future.
The median rental cost for an Arlington apartment is down 0.9% year-over-year, according to new data, paralleling a slight nationwide decrease.
The county’s apartments remain among the most expensive in major urban areas outside California.
Arlington’s Housing Commission is seeking more local leeway in addressing affordable housing and new formulas for determining the number of affordable units in new projects.
Commission Chair Kellen MacBeth included these recommendations in a letter to the County Board following a review of policies by the Affordable Housing Ordinance working group established earlier this year. County leaders are currently developing legislative priorities for the 2026 General Assembly session.
Candidates for Falls Church City Council seem to agree it’s time to pause and take stock of a recent spurt of new construction before moving forward on bigger projects.
The city’s skyline has changed dramatically over the past decade with the arrival of several new mixed-use projects. Contenders participating in a Sept. 25 forum said growth has brought both positives and negatives.
A major affordable housing provider plans to transition near-all of its Arlington properties to new management firms by the end of the year.
Affordable Homes & Communities (AHC) has hired two new management groups to oversee its D.C.-area properties, including 23 apartment buildings in Arlington. The nonprofit, which has faced complaints of poor living conditions at some of its Arlington communities, says it hopes to improve residents’ experiences.
Arlington’s “Missing Middle” ordinance may make a comeback after a new ruling in the Virginia Court of Appeals.
In a Friday decision, a panel of three judges returned to the court’s original stance that effectively put the zoning change back on the books in June, creating big obstacles for plaintiffs.
For the first time in months, the median rental cost for a two-bedroom Arlington apartment has dipped below $3,000.
That’s according to Apartment List, whose August report pegged the median cost of an Arlington one-bedroom unit at $2,473, a two-bedroom unit at $2,989 and the median for all sizes at $2,627.
