Amazon's $55M Gift Adds 500 Units, Community Center To Tysons Affordable Housing Project

FAIRFAX, VA — Thanks to a $55 million contribution from the Amazon Housing Equity Fund, Fairfax County will be able to add a second high-rise and more than 500 units to the Dominion Square West affordable housing project planned for Tysons. In addition, the project will now include a 300,000-square-foot community center located on the property.

"Any investment in affordable housing is much more than an investment in buildings," said Jeff McKay, chairman of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, during a Tuesday afternoon ceremony at the government center. "We believe it's an investment in people, an investment in our economy, an investment in equity and opportunity."

In January, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors authorized the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority to make available Housing Blueprint loans of $33,051,534 to help finance the development of 175 affordable multifamily housing units as part of the Dominion Square West Phase 1 project.

The project will consist of a nine-story, concrete and steel, high-rise building located on 2 acres of land at 1592 Spring Hill Road in Tysons. It will serve residents at a variety of income levels from below 30 percent to 60 percent of the affordable median income, according to McKay.

In recent years, the Board of Supervisors has made expanding the county's affordable housing stock a priority. This led to its decision in March to commit to building 10,000 affordable housing units by 2034.

"If you look at the workforce challenges that everyone is facing and that we're acutely aware of in Fairfax County, we know that availability of affordable housing is one of those challenges that people face when wanting to come here to fill those jobs," McKay said.

Currently, Fairfax County has more than 2,000 affordable housing units in development. With the 500 new units announced on Tuesday, McKay said that would mean the county's affordable housing inventory would have over 3,000 units in two years.

In April, the county board approved more than $43 million to purchase the land and help finance the development of Dominion Square West. The investment package included the first major allocation from the Tysons Housing Trust Fund, which was established through proffered contributions by Tysons commercial developers.

"This is a prime example of how smart investment of public funding can leverage hundreds of millions and private capital and expertise to bring projects like this to reality," said FCRHA Chair Melissa McKenna, during Tuesday's announcement ceremony.

As the owner of the Dominion Square West property, Fairfax County will lease it to the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing, which has specialized in finding new solutions to developing affordable housing in Arlington County.

Last June, APAH cut the ribbon on a 12-story, 249-unit apartment complex in Rosslyn. The $107 million project was financed through a combination of state and local financing and tax credits

Carmen Romero, APAH president and CEO, said on Tuesday her organization had been looking for years to find a site in Tysons to build affordable housing. In 2021, APAH gained control of the Dominion Square West property.

"With the help of county staff, we pursued an aggressive timeline towards a final development plan approval earlier this year, and concurrently, we worked on a financing plan," she said.

APAH approached the Amazon Housing Equity Fund to see if it could secure financing for phase two of the Dominion Square West, so that both phases could be developed in two years rather than 10. Not only was APAH able to accomplish that with AHEF's help, it also secured funding to build a county community center on the same property.

"APAH is committed to the Tysons community for the long haul," Romero said. "Our mix of rents, income restrictions, bedroom composition will serve many individuals and families making from 30 percent of the area median income to 60 percent of the area median income. ... This is what we need for economic vitality and diversity in Fairfax County in the Tysons area."

One of the factors that made the Dominion Square West property such an appealing site for the development was its proximity to amenities and mass transit, according to Romero. The project is located just a quarter mile of the Spring Hill Metro Station.

"This is truly a unique project not just in location — that it's in the urban center near transit close to the job centers — but it also provides new onsite resources for the community to empower and enrich their lives," said Brian Stout, Amazon's senior manager for public policy.

The $55 million the Amazon Housing Equity Fund is donating to the project in Tysons is part of the company's $2 billion commitment to create and preserve 20,000 affordable housing units in its hometown communities, according to Stout.

"It's founded upon the principles that we believe that all people should have access to quality, affordable housing, and that in order to accomplish this goal, the public and the private sector must work together," he said. "We're proud to do that here. We're proud to be a member of this community, and we want to make sure that housing affordability remains a viable and accessible option for residents of the region."