Housing Alexandria is pleased to announce that the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) awarded Housing Alexandria $10.9 million in Affordable and Special Needs Housing (ASNH) funds from its Fall 2023 award cycle. Housing Alexandria’s Sansé and Naja project received a total of $8.1 million in ASNH funding including $2.1 million in Virginia Housing Trust Fund (VHTF) debt financing and $6.0 million in Housing Innovations in Energy Efficiency (HIEE) funding. Housing Alexandria’s Seminary Road affordable homeownership development also received approximately $2.8 million in HIEE funding, which is in addition to $2.4 million of VHTF grant financing previously awarded to the project.
ASNH funds, including the VHTF and HIEE, are awarded through a competitive application process. In the last funding round, 87 applications were received, requesting more than $149 million in total funding. Housing Alexandria previously received $1.6 million in ASNH funds for the Bloom at Braddock, a 97-unit affordable housing project delivered in late-2020. The current ASNH award is Housing Alexandria’s single highest amount received in any ASNH funding cycle and brings the total ASNH funds awarded to Housing Alexandria to nearly $15 million.
The ASNH program is an increasingly valuable funding source for Housing Alexandria. It is utilized alongside programs such as the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) and the City of Alexandria’s Housing Opportunities Fund to create quality affordable housing and community-focused spaces to empower our residents and Alexandria’s neighborhoods. HIEE funding has proven to be an especially important tool for Housing Alexandria as it helps us improve the energy efficiency of our new construction projects, which is a benefit to our property sustainability, our residents, and the community at large. Housing Alexandria will continue to rely on this valuable resource in our future developments as we strive to meet more impactful green building targets.
The Sansé and Naja project will bring 474 units of affordable housing and 36,000 square footage of community focused commercial space to the Arlandria neighborhood of Alexandria. All units will be available to households making up to 80% of the area median income (AMI), with 105 deeply affordable units available to households at 40% AMI.
The Seminary Road affordable homeownership development is Housing Alexandria’s first homeownership community. It will include 36 affordable for-sale homes intended first-time homebuyers with incomes up to 80% of AMI along with 3 flats owned and operated by Sheltered Homes of Alexandria.
Both projects are currently under construction and will be ready for occupancy in 2025 and 2026.
