County Manager: Affordable Housing Under Threat in Arlington

Redevelopment and rising rents threaten to shove affordable housing out the door in Arlington County, the county manager warned in the latest budget proposal.

In a “summary of housing programs” section in the fiscal 2017 budget, released over the weekend, County Manager Mark Schwartz noted that he is proposing spending $56 million next fiscal year for preserving affordable housing.

“Although a sizable amount, indications are that Arlington continues to experience losses in its market rate affordable housing units, due to redevelopment and increased rents,” Schwartz wrote. “And County residents continue to struggle to meet rising housing costs, especially in difficult economic times.”

Rent increases are putting a significant amount of pressure on the supply of affordable housing units, and more development projected in the Rosslyn-Ballston corridor, on Columbia Pike and along Jefferson Davis Highway is only going to pile on the pressure, meaning the county must take action now to allocate resources to protect affordable housing, Schwartz argued.

Toward that end, the budget proposal includes $12.56 million for the Affordable Housing Investment Fund (AHIF), of which $8.2 million is one-time funding.