[Archived] City Council and ARHA Announce Possible Sites for Location of Off-Site Replacement Housing Units

City Press Release


	City of Alexandria, Virginia Office of the City Manager Alexandria City Hall 301 King Street, Suite 3500 Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3211 www.alexandriava.gov Telephone: 703.838.4300 Fax : 703.838.6343

ALEXANDRIA CITY COUNCIL AND THE ARHA BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS ANNOUNCE POSSIBLE SITES FOR THE LOCATION
OF 48 OFF-SITE REPLACEMENT UNITS
FOR SAMUEL MADDEN HOMES (DOWNTOWN)

On Monday, May 20, 2002, the Alexandria City Council and the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) Board of Commissioners announced that they have identified three possible sites for the location of the 48 off-site replacement units that are a part of the Samuel Madden Homes (Downtown) Redevelopment project. The addresses of the sites are: 423 South Reynolds St., 1706 West Braddock Road and 325 South Whiting St.

The City Council and the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners have scheduled two community meetings on the proposed sites. The meeting first will be held June 10, 7 pm, at Minnie Howard School, 3801 W. Braddock Road, to discuss the Braddock Road plans. The second meeting will be held on June 12, at 7 pm, at Samuel Tucker School, 435 Ferdinand Day Drive, to discuss the South Reynolds and Whiting Street plans. A joint public hearing will be held on June 24 at 6 pm at the Ladrey Highrise, 300 Wythe St., to receive comments from the public on the use of these properties for scattered site housing. The City Council and the ARHA Board of Commissioners will make a decision on whether to proceed with these sites on or after the June 24 public hearing.

The City owns 423 South Reynolds St., having purchased it in 1998 as a possible site. It is estimated that 18 scattered site units can be built on the Reynolds Street site. The Housing Authority and the City each own a portion of the site at 1706 West Braddock Road, and the plan is to build six new townhouse units to add to the 10 existing scattered site townhouses that were built as part of the redevelopment of the Cameron Valley public housing development. The Whiting Street site is privately owned, and the Housing Authority has entered into discussions with the owner. The proposal for Whiting Street is to construct 24 units in three, eight-plex buildings.

Samuel Madden Homes (Downtown) is a 100-unit public housing development owned by the Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority, and is located in the North Old Town section of the City within the area bounded by Pendleton Street on the north, Princess Street on the south, North Royal Street on the east and North Pitt Street on the west. It was originally built as military housing during World War II. The entire site will be demolished and replaced with up to 118 units of private market housing and 52 of the 100 public housing units, all proportionately distributed within the new community. This leaves the 48 replacement public housing units for off-site development at various locations in the City.

ARHA’s intention is to sell the Samuel Madden Homes (Downtown) site to a Development Team selected through a competitive process. The Development Team would transfer the 52 newly built public housing units to a limited Partnership of which ARHA will be a member if ARHA is successful in a tax credit application to the State. ARHA is in the process of receiving proposals from two short-listed Development Teams; these two were selected from a group of five who submitted proposals on Feb. 8, 2002, in response to a Dec. 5, 2001, Solicitation for Proposals.