Bonus Height

As part of the 'Zoning for Housing' initiative, the City is proposing a text amendment to the Zoning Ordinance that expands the applicability of Section 7-700 as incentive for the provision of low- and moderate-income housing.
Page updated on March 7, 2023 at 9:33 AM

Updates

  • Spring 2023 Update: Work will continue through the Zoning for Housing/Housing for All initiative. More information can be found on the main project website.
  • Fall 2022 Project Status:  At the Tuesday, November 22, 2022 City Council Legislative Meeting, City staff updated City Council on next steps for the Zoning for Housing Program and the companion Housing for All Equity Program.
  • Summer 2022 Project Status:  On June 23, 2022 the Planning Commission deferred action on the draft Bonus Height Text Amendment. Staff is currently reviewing community and Planning Commission input regarding future work and goals for the overall Zoning for Housing initiative. Robust outreach for community participation and input will be a centerpiece for future efforts around Zoning for Housing initiatives.   

Purpose of the Proposed Text Amendment

The City is proposing a Draft Text Amendment for the community’s and policy makers’ review to the Bonus Height provisions of Section 7-700 of the Zoning Ordinance to allow bonus height to be utilized in zones with 45 foot height limits.

This proposed text amendment is part of the City’s Zoning for Housing initiative, a tool that has been added to the City’s Housing Master Plan toolbox to expand housing production and affordability in Alexandria.

Community Engagement

Meetings and Materials

Housing Need in Alexandria and the Region

Approximately 15,000 low- to moderate-income Alexandria renter households are estimated to pay more than 30 percent of their income on housing costs in the city (American Community Survey 2016-2020 5 Year Estimates).  Approximately 7,200 of these households with incomes up to $50,000 were acutely housing cost burdened defined as spending 50 percent or more of their combined income on housing. There is a need for additional market-rate and affordable housing in Alexandria, and in the region as a whole, to expand housing supply and help bring housing costs down. The demand for housing in this region is  driven by strong employment growth and other factors such as stagnant wages in some fields. The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) estimates the need for 75,000 additional new housing units over the 320,000 which the region is estimated to produce over the next 10 years. Recognizing that this is an area with a high Median Area Income, 75 percent of those units are to be affordable to households of low- and moderate-incomes.

In response to the overall need, the MWCOG adopted the 2020-2030 Regional Housing Initiative in 2019-2020, with participating jurisdictions sharing in the production of the additional units. Alexandria joined the effort and is seeking to increase its annual housing production from approximately 800 units to approximately 1100 units per year. Alexandria’s effort will raise both market rate and affordable production, using a variety of tools in the City’s Housing Master Plan toolbox, including Zoning for Housing, to accomplish that. Of the approximate 800 units currently produced in Alexandria per year the City has averaged approximately 200 affordable units.

Section 7-700 of the Zoning Ordinance

Section 7-700 of the Zoning Ordinance allows for increases in floor area ratio, density and height and reductions in required off-street parking as incentive for provision of low- and moderate-income housing. Section 7-703 specifically addresses increases in floor area ratio, density and height:

  • 7-703 - (A) “Floor area ratio and density may not be increased pursuant to this section 7-700 by more than 30 percent of the floor area ratio and density otherwise permitted by this ordinance, unless a greater percentage increase is specifically designated in a small area plan chapter of the Master Plan. The increase permitted under this section 7-700 is exclusive of any other floor area ratio and density increases allowable under any other section of this ordinance.”
  • 7-703 – (B) “Height may not be increased pursuant to this section by more than 25 feet beyond the height otherwise permitted by this ordinance; provided, however, that no building located in any zone or height district where the maximum allowable height is 50 feet or less may be allowed to exceed such height limits.”

Zoning for Housing and Housing for All

Summary

In FY 2021, the City of Alexandria joined other jurisdictions in the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (MWCOG) to expand efforts around housing production and affordability by engaging in a 2020-2030 Regional Housing Initiative to increase housing by 75,000 units over a 10-year period to help address the imbalance between housing and jobs. The 75,000 units would be above the 320,000 new units currently estimated for the same period in the region. Seventy-five percent of the 75,000 units are to be affordable to households of low- and moderate-incomes and located near transit and activity centers, thereby placing them close to jobs, services and amenities.

Not expanding housing and affordability could further strain the region’s transportation system, the environment, and housing costs. The 2021 Median Area Income for Alexandria is $129,000.  Eighty percent (the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s low-income ceiling for a family of four) is $82,300. 

As a participant in the Regional Housing Initiative, Alexandria established a goal of approximately 1100 new housing units each year over the 10-year period.  Alexandria currently averages approximately 800 units (market rate and affordable) per year with approximately 200 of those units categorized as affordable.

To help meet Alexandria’s increased goal of 1100 units per year, the City has created a new tool called Zoning for Housing to augment those tools in its Housing Master Plan tool box of programs to promote housing, and affordable housing opportunities in particular, through mixed income  and non-profit production and preservation. 

Phase I of Zoning for Housing resulted in several new City policies: (1) an Accessory Dwelling Unit Policy; (2) a Co-living Initiative; (3) several practical updates to the Zoning Ordinance designed to add more clarity and to reduce duplicative and superfluous text; (4) a Zoning Text Amendment related to Auxiliary Dwellings in Commercial Zones; and (5) the beginning work for a proposed Zoning Text Amendment related to Bonus Density and Height under Section 7-700 of the Zoning Ordinance.

In March 2023, the City is beginning work on the remaining components of the Zoning for Housing initiative including its equity piece, Housing for All. Visit the Zoning for Housing website for more information.

Related Information

Questions?

Contact the interdepartmental Zoning for Housing team at ZoningforHousing@alexandriava.gov.