Fairfax County officials have turned their attention to preserving affordability in high-rise buildings, a growing concern in a county that has become progressively more expensive and urban.
Officials do not expect to mandate developers to build affordable units into highrises, said Lee Rau, chairman of the Fairfax County High Rise Affordability Panel, which was created to examine the issue and recommend new policy. Instead, the panel is advocating creating incentives for a developer to do so, allowing more regular units to be built into a highrise in exchange for keeping some of the dwellings below market-rate and offering them to mid-income families.
The issue is of growing importance in Fairfax County, which has in recent decades transitioned from an undeveloped suburb of D.C. to an urban hub unto itself. Highrises have sprouted in some of the most built-up areas of the county, and more are expected with the addition of Metrorail along the Dulles corridor.
“Certainly the prospect of having more high-rise developments was a motivating factor for the formation of our task force,” Rau said. “In the past, residential units have tended to be low and mid-rise. I think it’s been anticipated that much of the development in transportation corridors along the Dulles Toll Road will be high-rise.”
The increased attention to highrises comes amid other efforts to salvage affordability in other types of residential units. A recent building craze sent home prices through the roof, and the county is hemorrhaging low- and middle-income professionals to outlying counties. Fairfax County is now spending millions to hold down rents in some buildings.
The high-rise panel is expected to recommend changes to county policy in February.
