Blog posts are the personal views of Letty Hardi and not official statements or records on behalf of the Falls Church City Council

Dear Friends,

Lots to share this week – updates on the housing front (accessory dwellings and affordable homeownership), touring the newly opened Broad & Washington building, and updates on capital projects underway across the city and coming soon.

And shout out to the new readers from the 455 Tinner Hill building! I enjoyed my visit with you earlier this week and the opportunity to hear what’s on your minds. I’m happy to do “town hall” meetings with your building, neighborhood, HOA, scout troop, etc – just reach out.

Look forward to hearing your thoughts this week.

Best,
Letty

PS – Since next week is a 5th Monday, there will be no City Council meeting, so my posts will be on a brief break too. We’ll resume meeting on August 5 and August 12 before our summer recess.

What Happened This Week:

(1) Housing Updates

Affordable Homeownership

First, some fantastic news to share: a 5th family just purchased a home through the Affordable Homeownership Program. As a quick reminder, the AHP is a relatively new program where the city and our non profit partner buys housing in the city at market prices and then prices down the cost of the home so it can be affordable to buyers earning between 50% to 120% of AMI (Area Median Income)*. That home is also placed in a restrictive convenient so the home remains affordable forever. What is unique about the program is a shared equity model – when the home is re-sold, the owner retains 75% of the equity and the city gets 25% to replenish the fund for future buyers. With homeownership increasingly out of reach for so many, this is an exciting program that opens that door.

If you are interested in joining the waitlist (check out the homes available right now) or perhaps selling your home (and leave a legacy that it will be part of the city’s affordable housing stock forever) – please reach out to inquiries@fallschurchahp.org.

Accessory Dwelling Info Sessions

The community engagement for accessory dwellings (ADs) has begun with a well-attended first meeting this week. If you missed it, here is the presentation and there will be another open house again on Sunday afternoon at 230 pm in the library (see public engagement schedule below) and you can always share your thoughts with us via email.

Letty’s Thoughts: I’ve been a long proponent of housing diversity – apartments and condos in mixed use, cottages, “gentle density” housing in our Transition Zones, and now accessory dwellings. And I believe modernizing our code to allow ADs will offer another housing type to current and future residents. Whether that’s multi-generational living and allowing seniors to age in place, adult children returning home, or providing supplemental income, ADs are a smaller, less expensive housing option.

The details will matter. And in the coming months, there will be ample opportunities to hear from the community and how this might work in Falls Church. And the good news is that we have plenty of experiences to learn from in nearby jurisdictions where we have seen ADs to be an incremental, but important, boost in housing choice that has fit into existing neighborhoods.

(2) Project Updates

We had the opportunity to tour the new Broad and Washington project at the corner of N. Washington and E. Broad, the future homes of a new Whole Foods and Creative Cauldron. Demand for housing in Falls Church continues to be strong – with the building already 30% leased. And they just opened their doors this week! (Most of that was pre-leasing, ie prospective tenants signed leases without the building open for an in-person visit.) We look forward to welcoming our new neighbors, the amenities, and new retail – Whole Foods and likely two restaurants – opening on the ground floor spaces this fall.

And the garage is open for public use, which replaces the public spaces in the city parking lot that was part of that site pre-development.

Also – there are 33 units of committed affordable housing units inside this building (we’re adding 99 in total coming in the next year with this project plus West Falls and Founders Row 2). Within these 33, 9 are 1 bedroom units at 40% AMI, 9 are 2 bedroom units at 60% AMI, and 15 units are studios at 80% AMI -this is one of the most most diverse mixes and deepest levels of affordability to date. In addition, these will stay affordable for the life of the building. Learn more here about our affordable rental program.

(3) Capital Projects

A primer and Letty’s thoughts: One of my favorite recurring topics in our City Council agendas is the update on the capital projects (CIP – Capital Improvements Program). For new readers, CIP projects are the big investments we make in the city (officially, CIP projects are defined as costing $150K+ and having a useful life of 5+ years) and we approve the rolling CIP every year as part of the budget process in the spring. We fund the CIP with a combination of state and federal grants + local dollars in the form of cash or debt. I love these updates because I often field questions and update requests for these projects, they’re very visible investments of taxpayer dollars, and they creating lasting change and improvement in the community.

Based on the priorities we’ve heard from you, the majority of our CIP projects are transportation ones to continue investing in the evolution of Falls Church with more walkable, bikeable, safe streets. We also have projects in utilities (stormwater and sewer), facilities, and parks. When I was new on City Council, the big lift in our CIP was funding and building a new high school, Library, and City Hall so we have stayed very busy on the capital front for the past 8 years.

This report has a good, complete snapshot of the CIP projects underway, and a few I’ll pull out based on community interest I’ve heard:

• Community Center HVAC upgrade to geothermal will get underway this fall. See my June post about potential changes to the Farmers Market and rec programming locations.
• Three new parklets in the S. Washington area are underway. With the success of Mr Brown’s Park opening a few years ago, we want to bring more small gathering spaces to other areas of the city.
• Many stormwater projects underway, including the Big Six, that were part of the recommendations from the Stormwater Task Force we commissioned in 2019.
• Conversion to LED streetlights continue across the city, pending materials and Dominion’s work
• Street projects that are underway right now: Broad St HAWK signals, Mustang Alley/Hayock/Rt 7 improvements, and new crossings at W&OD trail (where you’ll see some new 4-way stops)
• Street projects coming in the next year: S Maple/Annandale traffic circle, N. Washington/Columbia intersection improvement, Greenway Downs traffic calming, Berman Park crossings.

What’s Coming Up:

Monday, August 5 – City Council Work Session*

Wednesday, August 7 – Ask the Council Office Hours (9 am, City Hall)

Monday, August 12 – City Council Meeting*

*Mondays (except 5th Mondays and holidays) at 7:30 pm. You can access the agenda and livestream here, including recordings of past meetings