Fairfax County supervisors moved forward Monday with a plan to turn over nine acres of county-owned land to a developer seeking to build hundreds of affordable apartments, despite questions over the project’s high-end amenities and lenient income requirements.
Supervisors, hoping to increase the county’s stock of reasonably priced living space, fought off efforts to kill the project — called “The Residences at the Government Center” — after a closed-door session.
Under the agreement, Jefferson Apartment Group LLC would build 270 moderately priced rental units on the parcel, which sits next to the massive government center in Fair Lakes. The units have a series of income limits, some for families making as little as $50,000 a year, and others as high as about $100,000.
Dissenters said that high limit runs counter to the board’s mission to target its affordable housing efforts to the poor and disabled. Adding to the rancor was a recent market report, commissioned by the county, that described the planned development as “a high end property with luxury amenities.”
“I couldn’t believe it, to me it’s truly government run amok,” said Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity.
That report, from Jones Lang LaSalle, was later revised to scrub out suggestions of opulence. Supporters of the development said the word “luxury” was used in error. The high income limits, said Dranesville District Supervisor John Foust, are necessary to provide the rents that “make the private sector’s bottom line work.”
“In order for Fairfax County to make this happen, we have to accept the fact that it’s going to take a mix of incomes,” Foust said.
The argument over the “Residences at the Government Center” is part of a larger debate on how, when and where the county should get involved in the housing market. After years of buying units outright, the board signaled it would shift more aid for those most in need.
The board, instead, is turning over government-owned land to help “those who make in the neighborhood of $100,000 a year,” said Braddock District Supervisor John Cook.
