Plans Change for Housing Near Bridge

Because of the high-rises, the plan remains controversial. Zoning regulations for the area call for the 50-foot height limit to be exceeded only when an "extraordinary" contribution is made to affordable housing. So Cecchi still has a number of hoops to jump through.

Cecchi said the new plan removes much of the uncertainty and skepticism that residents had about their future. "It was justified skepticism," Cecchi said in an interview from his high-rise offices in Rosslyn. "With the Towers, we cannot guarantee anything. But with the Terrace, we own it, we control it. And we are making an exceptional contribution to workforce housing right there."

At the meeting last week, some stakeholders were indeed concerned about the height. But Cecchi, who had rolled out his plan to residents at a barbecue the previous evening, received qualified support from many of them. Some elderly residents have lived in the apartments for decades. The complexes date to the 1940s.

"I hope he makes a bunch of money and we have a place to stay and nobody gets upset by what they put up," said Towers resident Chuck Benagh, head of a new tenant group, Alexandria Coalition for Hunting Towers. "I would trade the height for affordable housing, but I know there's going to be a lot of opposition. But if some plan doesn't go through, what we might end up with is nothing across the street and nothing here, too, and seeing our places turned into million-dollar condos."

Lewis Simon, who lives at the Terrace, said he and others are disappointed that the number of affordable units has dropped from more than 500 to 116. "We think VDOT is responsible for that," he said. But he said he and others are concerned that no one has defined what "affordable" means. Current Terrace residents pay $900 to $1,100 a month for rent, utilities included. And although Cecchi's plan calls for the new affordable condos to be offered for sale first to Terrace residents, Lewis is concerned that some elderly residents won't be able to afford them. "I'm worried they're still going to be displaced," he said.

Ardith Dentzer, who for years has fought for affordable housing as head of the Hunting Towers Residents' Association, said residents are weary of the fight. After opposition to Cecchi's new project was voiced at the meeting last week, she said she worried that residents would have a difficult time convincing others that the Cecchi plan is "an amazing deal."

The proposal now goes to the city's Planning Commission, whose staff has begun to review it.

Cecchi said that when the Towers property comes up for sale again, he will attempt to acquire it and preserve at least one of the two boxy Towers as affordable housing, even though others have derided them as ugly.

"Sometimes the beautiful things are not the good thing," he said. "First responders should live close to where they work. I am very concerned about the depletion of urban workforce housing. Normally, I'm like every other developer -- develop a beautiful property and make money. But here we have an opportunity to do something different. I live here. This is something for everyone's quality of life."