A plan to build new affordable housing in the expensive Arlington County rental market took a step forward this week.
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A partnership between Northern Virginia-based Wesley Housing and Melwood, one of the nation’s largest employers of people with disabilities, submitted a site plan application for a 105-unit apartment building in the county's Aurora Highlands neighborhood, the companies announced Monday.
The project would replace a building Melwood owns at 750 23rd St. S. In addition to the residences, the proposed development would create an 18K SF space on-site for the organization to operate programs and services, including job skills training for people with disabilities.
“Redeveloping our Arlington Campus into an affordable, inclusive housing community enables Melwood to further our mission and support the people and community we serve, most of whom face hurdles to live independently in affordable housing with meaningful inclusion,” Melwood President and CEO Larysa Kautz said in a release.
The development would add crucial affordable housing to an area of Northern Virginia that is one of the priciest rental markets in the country.
The average one-bedroom rent in Arlington this month was $2,410, the seventh-highest rate in the nation and more than major markets like Los Angeles and D.C., according to Zumper.
The site is just under a mile from the Crystal City Metro station and the National Landing neighborhood, an area that has seen a boom in development coinciding with the opening of Amazon HQ2, as well as a variety of new residential projects and retail from JBG Smith.
The development partners entered into an agreement in January and have been working through pre-development initiatives, according to the release. Before development can be approved, the county must change the parcel’s designation from public to residential. In May, the Arlington County Board adopted a study on the land use plan for the site.
But the plans have faced another hiccup. A civic group argues that the property, built as a schoolhouse in the 1920s, should be a historic landmark, ARLnow reported. Aurora Highlands Civic Association says the structure should remain part of a smaller-scale development. It presented its case to the Historic Affairs and Landmark Review Board last week.
In December, a spokesperson for Melwood told ARLnow that the plan would be to seek tax credit financing in 2025 and “break ground shortly thereafter.”
The project received $500K in congressionally directed funding, according to the release, championed by Rep. Don Beyer and Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine of Virginia.
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