Main Components

• Conversion of Existing Office Building
  • Conversion of the now-vacant and existing office building for 378+/- rent-controlled housing units including affordable and workforce housing units
  • Includes a City-operated community space
• Future Development
  • Construction of 450+/- new market-rate dwelling units
    • Includes associated open spaces, day care space, and retail space on the remainder of the site

• Financial Overview 
  • Construction improvements cost: $105 million+/-
  • Estimated total development budget: $150 million+/-
• Rent-Controlled Unit Commitments
  • 378+/- dwelling units rented at affordable and workforce rates for 40 years:
    • Affordable Units:
      • 41 units at 50% AMI – exclusively available to income-qualified residents
        • These units shall contain:
          • 20 junior 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom units
          • 21 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom (1 interior bedroom) units
      • 41 units at 60% AMI – exclusively available to income-qualified residents
        • These units shall contain:
          • 20 junior 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom units
          • 20 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom (1 interior bedroom) units
          • 1 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, plus den (1 interior bedroom and den) unit
    • Workforce Units:
      • 190 units at 80% AMI
      • 106 units at 100% AMI
  • The 80% and 100% AMI units will be available to income-qualified residents for 75 days after each unit is vacated and may be leased at the restricted rent to tenants whose incomes are higher after 75 days
  • The City’s Office of Housing will enforce its standard conditions, ensuring rent-controlled units are leased in accordance with City policies
    • The City’s financial participation described below (partial real estate taax abatement) will be terminated if rent-control requirements are not met
• City Space Provision
  • The Developer will construct a 2,000+/- sq. ft. community space for City use at no cost to the City, which will be initially built out to a “warm lit shell” condition
  • Space to be leased to the City for $1/year for 40 years
  • The Developer will provide the City with an additional $50,000 allowance to complete build-out when a user is identified
• Open Space
  • The Development Approvals provides for public open space areas to be privately maintained in perpetuity subject to an easement

• 50+/- townhomes rented at market rate
• 400+/- multifamily dwelling units rented at market rate
  • Day Care Space
    • 10,000+/- sq. ft. of space reserved for a daycare facility
    • Discounted rent ($10 per sq. ft.) for 40 years
    • If daycare use is not ultimately feasible, the City and Developer may mutually agree upon another use with discounted rent for community benefit
  • Retail Space
    • 5,000+/- sq. ft. of space for retail uses
    • If retail is not viable after a reasonable period of marketing space, to be detailed in the agreement, space may be converted to building amenities
  • Open Space
    • The CDD Concept Plan provides for additional public open space areas to be privately maintained in perpetuity subject to an easement
• Development to be consistent with Coordinated Development District (CDD) and Development Special Use Permit (DSUP) as well as other City land use requirements

• Conversion Building (Phase I)
  • Commence construction within 2 years
  • Complete construction within 4.5 years
  • If timelines are not met, the agreement may be terminated and waivers revoked
• Future Development 
  • First 50 units (townhomes): complete construction within 6 years (Phase II) 
  • Units 51-450 (multifamily): complete construction within 15 years (Phase III)
    • Includes open space, day care, and retail
    • This period will be extended to 16 years if timeline for Phase II is met 
    • If Phase II and Phase III construction timelines are not met, the time period for providing rent-controlled units will be extended to 45 or 50 total years
• The City Manager may extend the construction timelines up to 12 months if the Developer is making good-faith progress

• If approved by City Council, the City will provide a partial real estate tax exemption on the improvement value of the Conversion Building for 25 years estimated between $13.6M and $16.4M in net present value (NPV) dollars
• Abatement Years:
  • Years 1-5: 90% abatement
  • Years 6-10: 80% abatement
  • Years 11-15: 70% abatement
  • Years 16-20: 60% abatement
  • Years 21-25: 50% abatement 
• The partial real estate tax abatement will not exceed a maximum of $1.5 million annually
  • Cumulative cap will not exceed $31.25 million unless certain atypical real estate tax rate conditions are met, and in no case will exceed $34.375 million
• If approved by City Council, the City will waive the Affordable Housing Trust Fund fee for the Conversion Building, estimated at $797,551.00 in 2024 dollars.

A tax abatement reduces the taxable value of a property for a prescribed period usually as an incentive to conduct significant repair, rehabilitation, or construction. The taxable amount is locked into a pre-improvement value for a period of time, as established by an ordinance. This temporarily reduces the tax burden, helping the property owner finance needed upgrades to a structure, or in some cases, a total replacement. 

Virginia State Code Sec. 58.1-3219.4 allows localities to partially exempt from taxation improvements to real estate when located in a rehabilitation district for up to 30 years. The exemption is an amount equal to the increase in assessed value or a percentage of such increase resulting from the improvement to real estate. There is no tax exemption to the existing improvements, only the improvement value. 

Affordability categories are based on how a household’s income compares to the average median income (AMI) for the same size household within a geographic or statistical area.  

This table shows 2024 income levels for households of varying sizes. The U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) typically updates area rent and income limits each year, in the spring. The 2024 Median Family Income (MFI – or Area Median Income/AMI) for the Washington Metropolitan Area is $154,700 for a four-person household.  

Below are the 2024 rent levels established as “affordable” by the state low-income housing tax credit program (Virginia Housing) for different unit types based on household income levels, inclusive of projected utility adjustments. 

Committed affordable units: Housing units with rents affordable to households with gross incomes up to 60% of AMI. Typically, the government has intervened to make these lower rents possible by providing tax credits, funding and/or through land use tools requiring onsite affordable housing. 

Market affordable units: Housing units that are also affordable to households with gross yearly incomes up to 60% of AMI. Absent government intervention, market affordable housing usually occurs because of a building’s age, condition, location (non-transit oriented), and/or lack of amenities. 

Workforce affordable: Units with rents at levels affordable to households with incomes between 61%-80% AMI. These may be “market” (naturally occurring) or “committed.” 

Market rate: Units with no controls on rents – rents and associated fees are set based on what the market will bear.  They typically serve households with incomes at 81% AMI and greater.  

The proposed rezoning and office-to-residential conversion are consistent with many of the objectives of both the plan-wide and neighborhood-specific elements of the EWSAP (including transportation and street connectivity, parks and open spaces, environmental sustainability and stormwater management) and City policies (Affordable Housing Policy, Green Building Policy, Public Art). In particular, the rezoning would enable the redevelopment of the surface parking lot on the western side of the building, complementing the ongoing construction of the Eisenhower Pointe townhome community on the former eastern parking lot. The proposal also provides committed affordable housing, a new street grid, improved Eisenhower Avenue streetscape, open spaces, and advances environmental sustainability goals consistent with the EWSAP. The plan had envisioned office at the site, but numerous prior proposals to reuse the existing building and construct new offices have failed to advance due to changing office needs and the economic climate. So, the applicant is seeking a change in the land use designation from office/institutional to mixed-use to accommodate the office-to-residential conversion of the existing building and future mixed-uses on the site. The multifamily development planned will likely increase use of public transit, including bus and metro, in the Eisenhower Avenue corridor. 

The project has been presented at two meetings of the Eisenhower West/Landmark Van Dorn Implementation Advisory Group, first by City staff in September 2023 and subsequently by the applicant in November 2023 and will be presented at the upcoming Advisory Group meeting on November 21, 2024. The applicant has presented to The Eisenhower Partnership last winter. The applicant will also present its affordable housing plan at the November 18, 2024, meeting of the Alexandria Housing Affordability Advisory Committee. City staff will discuss the project at the Environmental Policy Commission meeting on November 18, 2024.  In addition, the applicant is hosting a virtual community meeting on November 20, 2024. 

For the current planning process, the applicant first submitted plans in October 2023 to convert the Victory Center building from office to residential and to rezone the site, including the adjacent parking lot, to allow for future mixed-use redevelopment. Staff have subsequently deemed their preliminary plan submission complete and have docketed the case for the December 3 hearing of the Planning Commission.