[Archived] City of Alexandria Receives Urban Land Institute’s Housing Policy Leadership Award

­­For Immediate Release: October 27, 2021

The Urban Land Institute (ULI), a global nonprofit education and research institute, has presented the City of Alexandria with its Robert C. Larson Housing Policy Leadership Award. This annual award recognizes exemplary state and local programs, policies and practices that support the production, rehabilitation, or preservation of workforce and affordable housing. Alexandria is a co-winner of this year’s award, sharing the honor with the City of Minneapolis. 

“The award validates Alexandria’s nearly two decades of focusing housing decisions on “what’s needed” for affordable and mixed income projects to succeed; that is, to be built and to remain over the long term,” said City Manager Mark Jinks. 

Alexandria was recognized for its 2019 amendment to its Zoning Ordinance to include a residential multifamily (RMF) zone, which allows substantial density to create an incentive for either producing or preserving deeply affordable housing. The RMF zone was developed to support the 2018 South Patrick Street Housing Affordability Strategy, a community planning process undertaken to identify potential tools, strategies and resources to be used to preserve 215 existing units of deeply affordable housing at risk of being lost to market pressures. The RMF zone allows the owner to develop three to five market-rate units to subsidize each deeply affordable unit provided. In addition, the zone requires assistance and protections for existing residents who are temporarily relocated—including the right to return after new development has been completed. 

The community planning initiative that resulted in the development of the RMF zone began in 2018, under joint leadership of the City’s Department of Planning and Zoning and Office of Housing. With Community Impact Grant (CIG) funding provided by Virginia Housing, the Commonwealth’s housing finance agency, the City launched a culturally competent engagement process with a diverse group of stakeholders, including residents, neighbors and owners of the existing properties. Over the 10-month process, community members came to understand the need for housing affordability, development economics involved in either producing or preserving deeply affordable housing, and the potential tradeoffs with various development scenarios. 

In February 2020, City Council approved The Heritage at Old Town, located in the South Patrick Street neighborhood, for redevelopment. By using the RMF zone, The Heritage will be able to preserve all 140 existing deeply affordable units as well as provide an additional net-new 60 committed units affordable to households with incomes ranging from 40 to 60% of the area median income ($51,600–77,400 for a family of 4). Regular engagement with tenants is ongoing to mitigate effects of their temporary relocation. To maximize affordable housing development, RMF zoning has been recommended for two additional projects as part of Alexandria’s development review process. 

Visit alexandriava.gov/Housing for more information.

For inquiries from the news media only, contact Andrea Blackford, Senior Communications Officer, at andrea.blackford@alexandriava.gov or 703.746.3959.