Historic Complex Is Preserved

Nonprofit Housing Agency to Buy Gunston Hall Apartments

After nearly four years of legal and political wrangling and a civic fight to stop Gunston Hall from being razed, the owner of the historic apartment complex has agreed to sell the property to a nonprofit housing agency to be preserved for its historic value and to be retained for affordable and workforce housing.

Krishnan Suthanthiran's decision to accept the Alexandria Housing Development Corp.'s offer to buy the 56-unit complex on South Washington Street for $12.3 million comes after the Supreme Court of Virginia decided last month not to hear his appeal of a lower court's decision in favor of the AHDC.

The AHDC has 60 days since signing the contract to put together financing and close on the property.

"We've got a lot of work ahead of us," said Daniel Abramson, chairman of the AHDC board.

The City Council had voted to loan the AHDC the money needed to buy the property. Abramson said board members need to come up with a repayment plan, hire a property management firm and begin renovating the complex, which was built in the late 1930s. Abramson said the agency hopes to apply for funding and tax credits through the Virginia Housing Development Authority's pool for 2009.

Abramson said AHDC counselors also will begin meeting with tenants to determine those who might meet the income eligibility requirement for workforce housing, which is 80 percent of the median income, or $45,000 to $55,000 a year. The eligibility requirement for affordable housing is 60 percent of the median income, or $35,000 to $45,000. The idea, he said, is to ensure that nurses, teachers, police officers and other municipal employees can afford to live in the city.

"This is a real historic preservation, affordable housing and open space project," Abramson said. "A lot of interests are coming together on this project, which is very exciting."

The battle over Gunston Hall began in 2004, when a developer, Basheer & Edgemore, contracted with Suthanthiran to demolish the apartment complex and build 60 luxury townhouses and condominiums. Their request was approved by the Board of Architectural Review.

Preservationists and civic activists began collecting signatures and organizing rallies to preserve the structure. They appealed to the Board of Zoning Appeals and the City Council, both of which sided with the residents. They put the plan on ice for a year to find a developer willing to preserve the structure and retain it as an affordable housing complex. Finally, the AHDC came forward and agreed to buy the property, with the city's help. But Suthanthiran rejected the offer and said it came too late.

He appealed to the Alexandria Circuit Court. When his case was dismissed, he appealed to the Supreme Court of Virginia. The legal argument centered on whether the city and AHDC's offer was made in good faith. Suthanthiran argued that it wasn't.

Shawn Weingast, vice president and general manager of Gunston Hall Realty, which represents Suthanthiran, said they signed the contract this month, shortly after the Supreme Court decision. He said they had to take the case as far as they could. "We were threatened with a lawsuit if we accepted the city's (initial) contract," he said, referring to Basheer & Edgemore.

"It's been a long process and, obviously, very frustrating. But we were doing what the neighbors wanted," he said. "We wish the city success and hope they definitely take the immediate neighbors into consideration."

Some neighbors had complained that the complex was run-down and trash-laden.

"That's just bad property management," said Charles Trozzo, chairman of the Alexandria Historical Restoration and Preservation Commission. Trozzo said civic leaders and preservationists felt they needed to save the complex because of its unique Colonial Revival brick architecture, which was designed to echo the stately Gunston Hall just south of the city in Mason Neck; because of the setbacks and open space; and because Alexandria was losing too much affordable housing.

"That whole area was cow pasture before. Gunston Hall was built as part of an expansion of the demand for housing because of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal," Trozzo said. "It's a unique piece of property."

Activist Linda Couture, who collected signatures for a petition to save the apartments, said she is elated that the complex will be saved.

"We were losing all of our affordable rentals and getting city block after city block of ugly, cookie-cutter townhouses," she said. "And here was this beautiful property, right across from historic Freedmen's Cemetery, with a lot of green, open space making a beautiful approach to the city. I live over on Duke. It doesn't affect me as far as property values or anything. I'm just someone who cares about how the city develops, who's concerned about tearing away at our historic fabric. We shouldn't just be saving our 18th-century homes. We should also be saving our 20th-century homes. And that's what Gunston Hall is."