Making an Affordable Home at the Frederick at Courthouse

The Frederick at Courthouse stands out in its Arlington neighborhood.

Physically, its nine stories tower over the nearby three-story Woodbury Park apartments and a new luxury townhouse development. But mostly what makes it different is that it offers new apartments to low- and moderate-income families in an increasingly expensive area.

The building is the newest of more than two dozen owned and run by AHC, a nonprofit local developer of affordable housing. Construction there began in 2005, and tenants began moving in when the first floor was ready last summer. The building was completed in December and full within months.

Many of the Frederick's residents came from Woodbury Park, an older AHC property. The move, in some cases, took them just across the sidewalk.

Joana Blanco had lived at Woodbury Park for 29 years. When she saw the Frederick going up and realized she could qualify, she wanted to make the jump.

"It's much better because here I have two bedrooms and two bathrooms and it's much bigger," she said.

Her son Victor Blanco, a Yorktown High School student, said, "I just like it because I got the bigger room this time."

Joe Morgan moved to the Frederick from Woodbury Park last fall. "I'm never going to take it for granted," he said. "I'm a lot healthier here. I breathe a lot better, and I have the fitness center," he said as he lifted weights on a Saturday afternoon.

Woodbury Park, a set of three-story brick apartment buildings, sits around courtyard areas with tasteful landscaping and benches. Over the years, it has attracted a mix of recent immigrants and other Arlingtonians who make 60 percent or less of the area's median income. Woodbury Park and the Frederick share a playground and a trellised walkway, as well as a leasing office.

Escarleth Torres-Shahin, a former Woodbury Park manager who now oversees seven AHC properties, is fluent in Spanish, which was essential for her job. She noted that the languages spoken at Woodbury Park and the Frederick are changing. "Before, it used to be mostly Spanish-speaking, but not anymore. Now it's such a mix -- Arabic, Mongolian, lots of others," she said.

For that reason, the English classes taught in the community room on the first floor of the Frederick are essential for residents. Shahnaz Begum and her daughter Aneela Mousan came to the United States from Kashmir nine years ago, but Begum could barely understand English when she moved into the Frederick last year. Aneela, a confident high school junior, often translates or answers for her.

Begum has been attending the English classes and can now understand conversations and answer in simple sentences. When asked what she likes about her new home, she responded with no hesitation: "Living room is very big. Nice kitchen."