Culpepper Garden Apartments Renovation Approved
The County Board approved a $9.9 million loan at its Nov. 9 meeting to the Affordable Housing Investment Fund to renovate Culpepper Garden Apartments.
“This planned renovation meets so many of our goals as a community,” said Arlington County Board Chair Libby Garvey. “The Culpepper Garden apartments provide safe, comfortable homes to low-income seniors. They allow our seniors to age in place at a rent they can afford and now, in homes that will be more energy efficient, more comfortable and with more accessible features.”
The renovation will replace all major systems, upgrade the interior spaces, and convert the building to add six additional units. All 210 units at the site will be committed affordable units and are restricted to rents at 60 percent of area median income, though more than 90 percent of the property residents are at incomes below 40 percent of the area median income. In 2016, the average rent of residents at Culpepper Garden Apartments was $18,600.
Temporary Hotel Precedent?
The County Board unanimously approved advertisement of a change to the site plan for The Bartlett building in Pentagon City. According to the staff report, 50 apartment units in the building that are currently unleased will temporarily be converted into hotel rooms.
County Board Member John Vihstadt noted that the change was unusual.
“Is this the new economic paradigm, that you construct a building intended for residential and decide to add short-term hospitality or commercial use?” Vihstadt asked. “Are there implications on the building codes?”
County Staff confirmed that the approval would set precedent for future buildings to be able to undergo similar conversions.