City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: NOVEMBER 6, 2013
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: RASHAD M. YOUNG, CITY MANAGER/s/
DOCKET TITLE:
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Consideration of a Resolution Giving Guidance in Regard to Replacing Foregone Voluntary Affordable Housing Contributions Deriving from the Development of the National Science Foundation Headquarters Building. [ROLL-CALL VOTE]
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ISSUE: Consideration of giving guidance in relation to replacing foregone affordable housing contributions.
RECOMMENDATION: That Council consider adopting the attached resolution providing guidance to the City Manager to consider, as a priority for funding in future proposed operating budgets, a cumulative increase in the General Fund contribution to the City's Housing Trust Fund of no less than $500,000 by FY 2017.
BACKGROUND: In order to help drive down the rental price of the NSF building to the federal government and to win the regional competition for NSF's new headquarters, an incentive package was developed by the City as part of the negotiations with the developers of the National Science Foundation (NSF) building. This incentive package included a partial real estate tax abatement ($28.2 million) over the 15-years of the NSF lease, as well as permitting the foregoing by the developer of the NSF building of its planned voluntary affordable housing contribution ($1.0 million), as well as a contribution to the East Eisenhower Avenue improvement fund ($0.8 million). These three financial incentives were included in the developer's office lease proposal to the federal government and were key to the decision by NSF to relocate its headquarters to Alexandria. The net benefit to the City over 15 years would be about $99 million annually added to the City economy including projected net new tax revenues for the City of more than $55 million ov...
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