ALEXANDRIA SOUTH–Fairfax County Board of Supervisors’ Chairman Jeffrey McKay declared before a crowd at The Arden groundbreaking ceremony, “We’re just getting started!”
Wesley Housing, the leading nonprofit affordable housing developer, broke ground on Monday on the new 126-unit multifamily development to be located a block from the Huntington Metro station.
The $59 million dollar project will provide quality homes for working families in Fairfax County and is being financed by a capital stack of 12 different sources including loan and equity proceeds from Truist ($47.5M), loans from Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority ($8.4M), and National and State Housing Trust Fund loans from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development ($2.3M).
“When complete, The Arden will be a shining example of transit oriented affordable housing in Fairfax County,” said Wesley Housing President/CEO, Shelley Murphy.
Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck spoke about the importance of the project and how it’s a much needed project for the neighborhood. “How do we help the people who live here now, stay here now?,” Storck asked. Going on he noted that 90% of affordable housing has been lost in Alexandria over the last 15 years and that, “No one should be left behind. The store clerks, the teachers, the police officers; we need to support what makes us a strong, proud, and diverse community.”
The Arden is one of the first year recipients of the Virginia Housing Development Authority‘s Amazon-related REACH Virginia funds for the production and preservation of affordable housing to support the economic development opportunity Amazon HQ2 brings to Northern Virginia. Construction is aimed to be completed by June 2022.
Located at 2317 Huntington Avenue, The Arden will be a seven-story building at the intersection of Huntington Avenue and Biscayne Drive. The building is designed to ensure the long-term sustainability of the property at standards comparable to other properties in the market area and will remain committed to affordability for 30 years for families.
The ground floor will host 7,500 sq. ft. of office space, which will allow Wesley Housing to relocate its main office to the property.
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