Arlington County has received two state awards for its efforts to preserve affordable housing and meet housing needs along Columbia Pike. The Columbia Pike Planning Initiative, a joint effort with the Pike Planning Plenary Group, was named “Best In My Backyard ‘IMBY’” at the 2014 Governor’s Housing Conference. Arlington Mill Residences, a joint effort with Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH), was named “Best Housing Development.”
The awards recognize statewide excellence and innovation in meeting housing needs.
Arlington County and the Pike Planning Plenary Group collaborated with residents, property owners, developers and consultants to complete a community-based planning effort to preserve the existing 6,200 affordable rental units along the Pike. To implement plan goals, the county adopted a Neighborhoods Form Based Code zoning tool that incorporates affordable housing requirements and design regulations. It added new financial tools, including the Transit Oriented Affordable Housing Fund and the Columbia Pike Tax Increment Financing Area.
Arlington Mill Residences, completed by APAH in February 2014, is the first new affordable housing development of the Columbia Pike corridor revitalization effort. Its development on county-owned land is one of the features that helped it win this year’s award. The 122-unit, four-story building includes 98 two- and three-bedroom units to support larger families and has increased housing along the Pike for extremely low-income households, including 13 units designated for formerly homeless individuals and families.