City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: MAY 7, 2014
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: RASHAD M. YOUNG, CITY MANAGER/s/
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Consideration of an Alternative Affordable Housing Plan for the Southern Towers Neighborhood of the Beauregard Small Area Plan.
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ISSUE: Preservation of 105 units of affordable housing in the Beauregard Small Area Plan Southern Towers Neighborhood
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council:
1. Approve the attached alternative affordable housing plan (Attachment 1) for the Southern Towers neighborhood that includes 105 units of dedicated affordable housing for a period of 10 years, at no cost to the City.
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute all necessary documents to implement this proposed plan.
BACKGROUND: Southern Towers was one of the property owners included in the Beauregard Small Area Plan and subsequent CDD rezoning. As part of the overall affordable housing solution in the Beauregard planning process, Southern Towers had initially agreed in 2012 to allow the City to buy down rents on ten percent (46) of the units located within the Berkley Building of the Southern Towers property for a period of 40 years. At the time this was negotiated, the cost for the City to buy down the 46 Southern Towers units was estimated to be approximately $3.5 million, with the exact purchase amount to be determined at the time the actual buydown occurred.
As the Beauregard rezoning process was being finalized, Southern Towers' owners proposed an alternative plan to reduce the long term encumbrance of affordable units on their property while potentially providing 60 to 70 or more additional affordable units (beyond the 46) to the City in the early years of the Beauregard redevelopment for a ten-year term. The units were proposed to be provided at no cost to the City. As a result of...
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