Are you on the hunt for affordable student housing options in Alexandria, Virginia? You've come to the right place! Alexandria has a wide selection of rental options near your campus, with 1,236 budget-friendly and convenient choices available. The City Council has granted a special use permit for construction and the Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA) has given the green light to a tax request. The Carpenter's Shelter remodeling project is also helping to meet several key objectives of the Housing Master Plan, such as fostering partnerships between nonprofit organizations, providing accessible family-sized units, and locating affordable housing close to public transportation, jobs, and services. The Alexandria Housing Development Corporation (AHDC) and Carpenter's Shelter have joined forces to construct a modern hostel and 97 new affordable rental units.
This was made possible by an inventive partnership between AHDC, the Impact Pool group of the JBG SMITH Washington Housing Initiative, Virginia Housing and the City of Alexandria. This purchase helps to preserve and expand an essential resource of affordable and workforce housing to support the growing workforce in the city and region. It also represented the first use of a new funding tool offered by Virginia Housing as part of its commitment to invest in housing infrastructure in response to Amazon's decision to locate HQ2 in Northern Virginia. Community Lodgings Inc (CLI), in collaboration with HomeAid Northern Virginia and four local home builders, recently finished the renovation of seven housing units that provide critical transitional and affordable housing for families emerging from homelessness. Friends of Guest House has been aiding more than 4,000 women since its founding in 1974 through an intensive, supportive six-month program to break the cycle of incarceration, be reunited with their families and reintegrate into their communities and the workforce. The refinancing and renovation of Lynhaven Apartments is one of three Virginia success stories listed in the annual report of the National Low-Income Housing Coalition released in early March.
A loan from the Municipal Housing Development Fund without interest funded by the CDBG, along with short-term funding from the Virginia Housing Development Authority and permanent funding from BB&T, had substantial support from HomeAid and its partners, who provided discounted services and materials. In line with the Housing Master Plan's recommendation to provide greater contributions to density above the density envisaged in the underlying plan for small areas, the project will provide 12 rental units removed from affordable land for households with incomes of 50% of the AMI. This is the city's first project to combine affordable housing bonuses (Section 7-700) and arts bonuses (Section 6-900). In addition, 10 of the units will serve as permanent supportive housing with very affordable rents and case management services to help shelter residents transition to permanent housing. The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) remodeled the 15 existing public housing units at Ramsey Homes to a new four-story, 52-unit mixed-income community through its development entity, Virginia Housing Development LLC.
