The Falls Church City Council will hold public hearings tonight (Monday) on proposed housing and demographics guidelines as the city looks to offer more affordable housing.
The Comprehensive Plan’s chapters for both areas haven’t been updated since 2005, according to city staff.
The new demographics chapter would focus on three areas: trends, projections and how changes relate to community needs, especially for housing, economic development and public facilities.
“Demographics are a critical base of information for city planning; the city’s housing, transportation, economy, parks and recreation, and social framework rely on current and future population trends and need,” according to city documents.
Meanwhile, the revamped housing chapter would outline a vision for how the city can address diverse housing needs through nine focus points.
The city’s Planning Commission voted in favor of both updates at its meeting last Monday, Aug. 5.
The city council meeting is set to start at 7:30 p.m. at 300 Park Avenue.
The Falls Church City Council aims to revamp its approach to affordable housing as its population continues to grow — and the stock of affordable units quickly dwindles.
The City Council is considering refreshing its Comprehensive Plan’s housing guidelines with a focus on tackling what some councilmembers recently referred to as an “affordable housing crisis.”
Emphasis on Affordable Housing
At a joint work session on Monday (July 15), the council and the city’s Planning Commission reviewed a proposal that would revise the housing guidelines to adjust for demographic changes and the future impact of Amazon HQ2 on the region.
City documents at the meeting confirmed that the increasing demand for apartments cannot keep up with the influx of the population, which is growing at a rate of 2.6% each year.
Councilmember Letty Hardi fronted the discussion at the meeting when she brought up the expiration of affordable housing and the dilemmas facing recent graduates who can no longer afford to live in the area.
The large affordable housing project near the Spring Hill Metro station is on hold, according to the developer.
The Clemente Development Company is currently busy with The View, a 3 million-square-foot redevelopment project planning on being a new residential, retail and arts hub for Tysons. The project includes The Iconic, a 600-foot tall tower that has the potential to shape the Tysons skyline.
The Evolution, a residential development planned just south of The View, popped up again yesterday (Monday) in Fairfax County permitting, but Antonio Calabrese, a lawyer representing Clemente, said there have been no new plans submitted for the project since it was initially proposed in 2017.
The eventual plan is to include 1,400 multi-family units in a high-rise building that would replace the existing commercial building. All units would be workforce dwelling units.
Calabrese said The Evolution is a separate project from The View and is not part of a proffer related to that project.
Meanwhile, Calabrese said Clemente is moving forward with plans to resubmit The View to Fairfax County staff on Friday (June 14) with hopes to have final approval in the fall.
(Updated 10 a.m.) There’s no shortage of luxury housing coming into Tysons, but what about affordable housing?
According to Brian Worthy, a spokesman for Fairfax County, the limited number of affordable units in Tysons are near max occupancy. But with new mid- and high-rise developments required to devote a portion of the new units to affordable housing, Worthy said there are more units on the way:
As of May 15, 2019, there are approximately 536 rental Affordable and Workforce Dwelling Units (ADUs and WDUs) that have been constructed in Tysons. The average occupancy rate is 94 percent.
Currently, there are approximately 3,919 rental ADUs and WDUs that have been committed by developers through Board of Supervisors approved rezoning actions. We don’t currently track the total number of these units that have been proposed as part of unapproved developments in Tysons, but to date, the major, approved rezonings have all committed to provide affordable or workforce dwelling units.
Worthy noted that ADUs serve households with incomes of 50-70 percent of Area Median Income (AMI). Fairfax County documents show that range as $38,600-$54,050 for single-family households, increasing proportionally to the size of the household.
Tysons’ WDUs serve incomes ranging from 60-120 percent of AMI, reflecting the higher cost of living in Tysons as compared to the rest of Fairfax. The WDU program is designed to help working households find housing close to employment centers and transportation options.
Creating housing affordable to locals at all ranges of the income spectrum has been a countywide problem. According to the FY 2020 Fairfax County budget, a total of 3,016 affordable units — privately-owned homes that are not bound by rent restrictions — have been preserved in Fairfax County between 2004 and 2018, but the county fell 82 units short of its affordable housing goals for last year.
The county projects a growth of 62,184 households over the next 15 years, of which 18,622 are expected to earn 80 percent of AMI and below.
Chart via Fairfax County Government
The candidates running to become the next chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will debate each other on climate change, affordable housing, transportation and land use tonight (May 13).
Four Democrats and one Republican are vying for Sharon Bulova’s seat.
Republican Joe Galdo, a former Defense Department technology intelligence analyst who ran for Congress as a Green Party candidate, is the most recent addition. The Democratic candidates include Reston developer Timothy Chapman, Fairfax County School Board Member At-Large Ryan McElveen, Lee District Supervisor Jeffrey McKay and Georgetown Law Professor Alicia Edith Plerhoples.
Sharon Bulova announced her retirement decision back in December, adding to a growing list of supervisors who also decided not to seek re-election. In addition to the chairman, the seats for the Hunter Mill, Providence, Braddock and Lee districts are open to newcomers.
The Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions partnered with the Fairfax Healthy Communities Coalition for the debate ahead of the June 11 primaries. The upcoming election for the county’s Board of Supervisors will take place on Nov. 5.
The debate will be televised at 8 p.m. on Fairfax Public Access Channel 10’s Inside Scoop.
Photo via Facebook
The Fairfax County Planning Commission moved forward a plan for a new mixed-use residential and commercial development called Hanover Tysons in northern Tysons at its meeting last night (March 14).
The Hanover Company’s plan is to demolish the vacant seven-story office building that was built in 1983 and replace it with a new residential development.
The new residential building would be between five to seven stories with up to 420 dwelling units and include ground-level retail and nearby park space.
In keeping with Fairfax County’s efforts to promote more affordable housing around Tysons, workforce housing will make up 20 percent of the total units, according to the staff report.
Located just west of Jones Branch Park at 1500 Westbranch Drive, Hanover Tysons is a little under one mile from the Tysons Corner Station.
The county’s Board of Supervisors is set to take up the proposal with a public hearing next Tuesday (March 19).
Photo via The Hanover Company
It’s not as high profile as Clemente Development Company’s The View development planned for the Spring Hill Metro area, but the nearby Evolution development could be exciting for affordable housing advocates.
According to the application overview, the building would include 1,400 multi-family units in a high-rise building. All of the housing in the building would be workforce dwelling units — defined by Fairfax County as housing affordable to people making from 70 to 100 percent of the area median income.
The contact phone number listed for the project is inactive, but the housing is likely part of a requirement from Fairfax County that residential developments set aside 14 percent of units in a residential development as affordable, or 16 percent if the units are being constructed off-site.
According to Fairfax County Public School documents, the new building could add as many as 157 students to Spring Hill Elementary School.
Details on the project are still scarce. The application was submitted in late 2017, but staff at Fairfax County Planning and Zoning say little progress has been made since then, as the developer remains mostly focused on The View.
Photo via Fairfax County Planning and Zoning
Tysons Seminary Gets Board’s OK — “Reformed Theological Seminary on Jan. 22 received a special exception from the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors to operate a college out of an existing office building in Tysons. The three-story, approximately 32,400-square-foot edifice is located on 1.54 acres at 8227 Old Courthouse Road.” [InsideNova]
Applications Open for Rent Subsidies — “Low-income residents in Fairfax County, Va., have an opportunity to apply for a Housing Choice Voucher for the first time in more than a decade.” [Washington Post]
Praise for Local Student Newspaper — “The McLean High School newsmagazine – the Highlander – is quite good. So are some other student publications across the region, but the Highlander really stands out.” [Sun Gazette]
An outdated office building in northern Tysons could be replaced by a new mixed-use residential and commercial development called Hanover Tysons if its rezoning is approved early next year.
The new development would be located just west of Jones Branch Park at 1500 Westbranch Drive.
Currently, the site is occupied by a seven-story office building that was built in 1983 and is currently vacant. Redevelopment of the parcel would also require rezoning, and is scheduled for a Planning Commission hearing in February 2019, with a Board of Supervisors hearing in March.
The new residential building would be between 5-7 stories with 350-400 dwelling units. Portions of the ground level along Jones Branch Drive would be designed to accommodate retail and service uses. In keeping with Fairfax County’s efforts to promote more affordable housing around Tysons, 20 percent of the residential units, or 66 of the potential 400 units, would be workforce housing.
“Approval and construction of the proposed Hanover Tysons development will continue the implementation of the Tysons vision by converting a suburban-style office building into a lively residential community and help address the current imbalance between those who work and live in Tysons,” wrote Elizabeth Baker, senior land use planner for the law group filing on behalf of developer Hanover Co., in the application. “Provision of on-site workforce housing will promote Tysons as a community for all.”
The development would also bring street improvements to Jones Branch Drive and Westbranch Drive, widening them to allow parallel parking spaces, bike lanes, and streetscape improvements.
In addition to streetscape improvements, the application also includes new public and private parks for recreational use. The public park would add 1.12 acres of gardens, trees, walking paths and outdoor seating. The private amenity space would include a new swimming pool.
As we reported last week, senior housing can be hard to come by in Tysons.
Where it is available, outside of public-private partnerships like the recently opened The Fallstead, most of that housing is expensive. But there are senior living options around Tysons and planned for the area, and a few of them are on the affordable side of the spectrum.
One of the largest projects on the horizon is The Mather, a senior living facility projected to open in 2022 at 7901 Westpark Drive in Tysons. The Mather is a proposed facility from Mather LifeWays, a Chicago-based organization. The Mather would feature large floor-plans with one and two bedroom options, with pricing starting at $650,000.
Priority reservations are currently being accepted for the facility, with early reservations allowing priority in selecting apartments and securing pre-construction prices at the cost of a refundable $1,000 deposit.
The senior living units, meanwhile, are part of the larger Arbor Row development east of the Spring Hill Metro station approved by the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 2012.
On the more affordable side, there are a few options in the Tysons area with options for lower-income residents.
- Chesterbrook Residences — A not-for-profit senior living facility founded by three local religious communities. Chesterbrook Residences offers housing based on a sliding income scale, and residents who can no longer cover the cost of their housing are eligible to receive support from the Chesterbrook Continuing Care Fund. Apartment types vary in size and include apartments adapted for residents with disabilities.
- The Fallstead — A senior living facility recently opened at Lewinsville Center. The facility was built as a partnership between Fairfax County, affordable housing developer Wesley Housing Development Corporation and Hamel Builders.
- Vinson Hall Retirement Community — A retirement community offering independent living, assisted living, long term care and memory care options. Vinson Hall is open to commissioned military officers of all branches of service or their immediate families, or federal employees with intelligence of national security related departments rated GS-14 or above. A non-profit organization supporting the facility offers financial support for residents.
There are also a variety of more conventional for-profit senior facilities. Most of the housing prices are not available online and dependent on the level of care required.
- Larmax Homes McLean — Assisted living homes in McLean with services benefitting residents with dementia, Parkinson’s, and other chronic ailments. Larmax operates three homes along Lewinsville Road in McLean.
- Sunrise of McLean — An international senior living operator based out of McLean. Sunrise of McLean offers assisted living, memory care, hospice, and short-term care options.
- Tysons Towers Apartments — A senior living facility with apartments. The facility is full but a waiting list is available online.
- Tysons Woods — Assisted living homes with private bedrooms with shared bathrooms and common areas. Tysons Woods includes medical care like on-call nurses, therapy, and care specializing in dementia.
- Vienna Manor Assisted Living — Three assisted living facilities throughout the Vienna area, these are facilities with private bedrooms and shared common areas.
