Kaine Gives Housing Initiative a Hand

Legislation Supports County Efforts to Stem Recent Losses of Affordable Units

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine speaks during ceremonial bill signing in Arlington. (By Dayna Smith -- The Washington Post)

Seated amid the concrete blocks and girders of a residential building going up in Arlington, Virginia Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) yesterday signed legislation that officials say will help the county preserve and increase its shrinking stock of affordable housing.

Between 2000 and 2005, Arlington County lost nearly 10,000 units -- or about half -- of its affordable housing because of rising property values, officials said.

Efforts to reverse that trend were stalled in 2004 when an Arlington judge ruled that it was illegal for the county to ask developers to reserve 10 percent of floor space in projects built near Metro stations for affordable housing and to solicit cash contributions from commercial developers.

The county's planning department had long allowed developers more density or height in their projects in exchange for cash contributions for affordable housing for low-income residents.

The new state law secures Arlington's authority to implement a unanimously approved compromise plan that will determine how much developers contribute to the county's affordable housing efforts. That plan was drafted after six months of discussions among county political and business leaders, housing advocates and other stakeholders.

"This is not just Arlington's challenge," Kaine said, suggesting that the county could serve as a role model for other jurisdictions trying to boost the number of affordable housing units. "This challenge is significant all over the state."

Under the compromise, developers who want to build projects larger than zoning rules allow have several options to contribute to affordable housing in the county. Those are providing affordable apartments or townhouses on the site or nearby; providing a slightly higher number of units anywhere else in the county; and making a cash contribution to Arlington's affordable housing investment fund.

Contributions to affordable housing, through construction of units and funding from developers, are projected to double under the new ordinance, officials said.

"Arlington has become an enormously desirable locus of real estate development," County Board Chairman Chris Zimmerman (D) said. "An unfortunate byproduct of this success has been the erosion of our supply of housing affordable to people of low and moderate incomes. The new policy . . . provides a vital new tool in the struggle to maintain an adequate supply of affordable housing."

Yesterday's ceremonial bill signing took place at One Metropolitan Park in Pentagon City, a residential apartment project under construction by KSI Services Inc. of Vienna. Although the project was started before the compromise agreement was drafted, it is an example, officials said, of how affordable housing can be created with the new law. When completed, the 399-unit development will include 20 units that KSI has agreed to maintain as "affordable" for at least 30 years.

"Had this new law been in effect over the last 20 years, we would be a lot further along in meeting our housing goals," Zimmerman said. "Fortunately, in the future, it will be of great help as we seek to make up so much lost ground."