The Buckingham Herald Tribblog

As crews rip out trees and prepare to knock down buildings along Henderson Road, the time is right for a recap of the plans for Buckingham Village 1. (Plus, inquiries have made it to me, and I realized I do not have a post that ties it all up in the way I hope this one will. –ST)

First, a layout of the land is in order. Take a look at this map:

Village 1 is the home of current tree removal across from Barrett Elementary School. It’s the largest of the three villages, and when completed will have over 500 rental units in two large buildings, about 70 townhouses along N. George Mason Drive, and a small county park.

Village 2 is the only divided village. The road down the middle of the village along with the red rectangle showing the approximate placement of the George Mason Apartment complex (which is not part of the original Village 2), separate the other two thirds of the block. The blue dot shows where the townhouses have been built and are under construction. The green dot locates the fenced-in field along Thomas Street. Dozens more townhouses are planned for both sides of Village 2. This village is developed “by right” meaning that Paradigm Construction need not seek county approval for changes, so long they stay within current zoning rules.

Bought by Telesis Corporation just months ago, Village 3 will change little on the outside, preserving the two-storey buildings and the garden-style setting. Some additions will be added to the backs of buildings, and a building of some sort will cover the entrance to an underground community center. This village is protected as a county historic area and falls under the oversight of the Historical Affairs and Landmark Review Board, which will regulate any external changes to the property. All of the units (about 140) will be affordable to people of various levels of income. Some of the units along N. Pershing Drive will be part of a condominium.

Village 1 will undergo the most changes, and for more details on that, peruse the illustration:

Although future plans can change, Paradigm is locked into the current arrangement of buildings in Village 1, given contracts signed with the county. Here are a few details:

Project Manager Micheline Castan-Smith reports via email that the next step in the Buckingham Village 1 redevelopment is to prepare what will be the county’s property on the site. Now that the Madison at Ballston Station apartment complex is completed and is being leased, Paradigm Development Company will focus on space for the extension of N. 3rd Street and the county park just north of the Madison (see the image).

The third street extension will replace what had been a cut-through alley and parking lot between the Culpepper Garden and Buckingham Villages apartments. The change will make the new road an official county street and will be close to, but not exactly where, the alley is.

At the recessed board meeting next Tuesday the county is expected to OK an extension of the Tenant Assistance Fund. Set-up in 2007, this fund was designed to help low-income residents of various Buckingham Village apartments to stay in the neighborhood, according to the county manager’s report.

As buildings were torn down and replaced, this fund has helped 11 families who were already in the neighborhood, stay in the neighborhood, the report states. The fund, with $125,000 taken from the Affordable Housing Investment Fund two years ago, is still in the black and does not require additional money. Nine families are still receiving the help, the report states.

Finally, the board will discuss and vote on major elements of the Buckingham Village 3 redevelopment.

In preparation for this meeting, last month the board met with Telesis Corp. the owners and managers of the property to determine the best mix of home rental and ownership and what type of ownership should be involved. The final decision came down to 92 rentals and a condominium of 48 units. All of the units will be rented or purchased at below market rates.

The question that will remain even after Tuesday’s meeting is how the condominium units will be resold when a purchaser decides to sell. All the units are to remain affordable, almost in perpetuity, so the owner who bought at affordable rates and wishes to sell, cannot do so at market rates. The conventional wisdom says that the owner should be able to reap some reward on his or her investment, but should sell at an affordable price as well. The details of this have yet to be worked out. (More on this story after the meeting next week.)

County and Telesis Prep for June Meeting (May 2009).

County Board OKs Leasing and Financing of BV3 (March 2009).

Arlington to Enter Deal with Telesis (February 2009).

Labels: buckingham villages, BV1, BV3, redevelopment

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 10:35 AM 0 comments

I live in Arlington Oaks and I'm a big fan of your blog (I particularly liked your article about Ballston Station, even though I think it's ridiculous they didn't call it Buckingham Station). I just started blogging again after something like a seven-year break, and was wondering if you wouldn't mind taking a look and giving me some feedback? I'd like to trade links as well if you're interested.

The URL for my site is http://www.bewealthygethappy.com

Thanks!

Keith McClellan
Buckingham

Labels: blogging, Buckingham, BV1, letter

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 10:20 AM 1 comments

One hundred of the 234-units in this building are priced affordable, that is, within range of people making less than 60 percent of the area median income (about $60,000 for a family of four). People can rent 1, 2, and 3 bedroom apartments (there’s one efficiency at market rate).

I’m sure part of what impresses me is that the building is new; everything inside is clean, the paint is fresh. More than that, though, they feel roomy, especially for apartments in Buckingham. Each has a walk-in closet attached to the main bedroom (the closet is about as big as the kitchen in my Buckingham townhouse. How often do you find that?.) The two bedroom that I toured had some unexpected angles, but they were used well. I really enjoyed the walk-through.

All of the three-bedroom, and some of the two-bedroom units have two bathrooms, another rarity in this just-barely-north Arlington neighborhood. Lots of windows, some balconies; there’s a lot to love.

What’s more, the apartments are the same for both the people who rent at market and those who rent affordably save for the countertops: granite in the market-rate units, laminate for the affordable ones.

"That's the only difference," said Micheline Castan-Smith, the manager of the project for Paradigm Development Corp., the developer of the site.

The countertop choice was a decision made with the county government which loaned the developer about $7 million to be put toward the affordable units. They each have microwave ovens, laundry and dishwashers in the units.

The carpets are a light tan, and the ovens are electric, what had been two sore points for some of the residents of Gates of Ballston after that property went under renovation. The Latino population in Gates complained that the electric was not as good as gas for cooking slowly with large pots over long periods of time. The carpets in some units were quickly soiled, especially by children and by the bicycles that many of the residents use to commute.

Ms. Castan-Smith said “People really struggle with how to decorate,” and the neutral color of the carpet makes that easier. Plus, she said, with 80-some bike racks secured in the basement, “They don’t really need to bring their bikes into the units.”

During the site planning, they decided to go all electric with the appliances because gas at the time was so high, she said.

About 20 apartments have been rented so far. And quite a few people are in the application process. For people wishing to rent affordable units, especially, the process is a long one, requiring renters to prove that they make less than the income limit per household, which shifts depending on the number of adults and children living in the household, according to HUD and Fannie Mae.

This is all part of the large redevelopment plan worked out between Paradigm and the county over the course of a year that ended during the summer of 2007. The redevelopment of Buckingham Village 3 (on the northeast corner of N. George Mason and Pershing drives) is a part of that process as well.

Next up for the project is to move all the people out of the buildings along N. George Mason Drive and N. Henderson Road so that those buildings can be razed to be replaced by another large apartment building, a small county park, and a couple lines of townhouses.

The relocation process is ongoing, with some of the people who live in those buildings taking units in the new building, Ms. Castan-Smith said. People who rent the affordable units must complete a lengthy application process.

The Madison at Ballston Station was built by Paradigm Development Company and is managed by their management arm.

Board Votes on Villages, March 2007

BV Vote (click then scroll down), June 2007

Bham Villages to Begin Relocation (this one is good for a couple design images), June 2007.

Many of these stories have "tags" and other links that would connect you to yet more stories dealing with this very long process. --ST

Labels: affordable housing, buckingham villages, BV1, paradigm

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 7:28 AM 3 comments

Members of Leadership Arlington, a training and networking program, visited Buckingham on Thursday, May 1, as part of a lesson on consensus building.

They were scouting locations for a ficticious affordable housing complex to be built somewhere in the county. The rest of the Leadership Arlington class of 2008 visited other neighborhoods, and later in the day they got together to come to a consensus on which location to choose.

The group met for a free lunch at Tuto Bene on N. Glebe Road and then went on a walking tour of the neighborhood including a stop in a Gates of Ballston apartment.

Jennifer Endo, of AHC, Inc., which owns the Gates, and I took part in the free lunch. We met with Ubaldo Sanchez, an artist who lives in Buckingham Villages Apartments, and Connie Freeman of the Buckingham Community Outreach Center along the way.

According to Suzanne Grant, a participant who helped organize the day, ultimately, two groups in Leadership Arlington chose the Columbia Heights West neighborhood for the housing complex, and three groups had Buckingham in the running. Ultimately, they could not get a consensus, Ms. Grant said in a subsequent interview.

"The purpose was to experience the process of consensus building," she said, adding, "and how unrealistic it would be to do something like this in one day."

According to their web site, "Leadership Arlington is a 10-month, tuition-based program that provides a forum for the business, nonprofit and public sectors to discuss the issues and opportunities facing Arlington, Virginia while enhancing personal and professional leadership skills."

Leadership Arlington

Labels: ahc, arlington, BV1, BV3, leadership, tour

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 9:15 AM 0 comments

Students at K.W. Barrett Elementary School, at the north end of the block, were kept inside as Dr. Robert Smith the schools’ superintendent, toured the site.

The children are expected to be dismissed at the normal time, 3:05 p.m.; however, bus drivers may be asked to take different routes from the school, depending on what the Arlington County Police Department suggests, said Frank Bellavia, a spokesperson for Arlington Public Schools.

The accident cut gas service to a portion of the Buckingham Village apartments, but no one was evacuated, a police officer said. Staff at the Buckingham Village Apartments could not verify the number of apartments.

The break occurred before 12:30 p.m., and one side of N. George Mason Drive was reopened to traffic, with police direction, just after 2:00 p.m.

This section of N. George Mason Drive has seen many delays in recent months as crews work on new townhouses on the southeast corner of N. George Mason at N. Henderson, on a large apartment building near N. Fourth, and on the street itself.

[Updates from Washington Gas are pending. –ST]

Labels: aps, BV1

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 1:42 PM 0 comments

Demolition at the Buckingham Village 1 site is completed for now, and Paradigm Construction Companies are working to build “Building A” along N. Pershing Drive, just west of N. George Mason Drive.

Five-and-one-half buildings (a total of eight-and-one-half building sections, or 21 addresses) have been torn down to make room for the 234 unit, 4-storey apartment building. One hundred of the units will be affordable at 60 percent of Area Median Income, about $57,000 for a family of four in this area.

Along with Building A, Paradigm will be installing some street-level landscaping, especially roads, said Micheline Castan-Smith, the project leader. The roads at this early stage are a fire department requirement, she said.

Then on Sunday, I came down with something that kept me in bed Monday, and on Tuesday afternoon I was shooting photos of the big trees coming down in Village 1:

Commuters on their way home this evening along Pershing Drive will see a drastically different landscape than they did this morning. The building in the 4300 block of the street is coming down as this is being posted.

The building is one of five-and-one-half buildings that will be destroyed in the first phase of demolition to make way for a four-storey, 234 unit apartment building. One hundred of the units will be rented at affordable rates. (For a recent story on this, click here.)

View Larger Map

The building itself was demolished either late last week or earlier this week, and crews have been working to remove the debris since then.

(This video was shot with a cell phone video camera, so the quality is very low.)

More stories, video and photos will be coming,though readers may have to be patient and wait until after Thanksgiving. Editing the sound and higher-quality video together will be time consuming.

Labels: buckingham villages, BV1, redevelopment, renovation

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 9:02 AM 1 comments

It’s a bad day to be a witch, at least this witch in Arlington Forest!

Of course, it’s Halloween, and the kids at K.W. Barrett Elementary School had their annual walk through the neighborhood. I’ll have something up on that tomorrow—a lot of pictures to run through.

The bigger news: I posted endorsements for Walter Tejada and Mike McMenamin yesterday. Elections are Tuesday. Coverage: Tejada story; Tejada interview; Hynes story; Hynes Interview; McMenamin story; McMenamin Interview; Ruebner story; Ruebner Interview. (I was unable to reach Mr. Warren, the fifth candidate in the board race, for an interview.)

Still potentially bigger news: Buckingham Village 1, on the northwest corner of N. George Mason and N. Pershing drives, will see demolition in the near future. Read the full story below.

A number of people asked me what the shed-like structure attached to a Village 1 building is. It is attached to the back of the building at 418 N. George Mason Drive, but it’s the shed anyone can see from N. Henderson Road near Barrett. Turns out it’s an addition to the complex’s maintenance shed, Micheline Castan-Smith told me. Now you know.

Another writer/blogger/columnist lives in Buckingham. He is Vic Socotra and lives in The Chatham, or, as he calls it, “The Big Pink” or even “The Island of Misfit Toys.” He’s been writing a number of pieces on the Buckingham redevelopment. If you email him, he’ll put you on his list, no doubt.

For the past two weeks I had been meaning to write that it was about time for Paradigm Development Corp., which owns the large dirtsward at the intersection of N. Thomas Street and N. Henderson Road, to cut down the brush that had grown up over the summer. Then, voila, I saw they mowed and planted grass. Excellent! Now, let’s just get rid of that large pipe/trough, and get the street lights working again, and I’ll be happy as a clam.

As always, you can scroll down to see all the recent stories, or simply click the links below (if the link doesn't work, scroll down to find the story, and email to tell me what's busted: heraldtrib@gmail.com--Steve Thurston).

Today's Headlines:

Headline's from Earlier in the Week:

Labels: BV1, Crime, halloween, mcmenamin, politics, tejada

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 11:09 AM 1 comments

“If closing [on the documents] occurs this week, demolition will begin” this week, said Micheline Castan-Smith, the project manager for Paradigm. “There are no issues” for the lawyers to contend with, she said.

Construction crews are expected to park on-site, not on the street, and the trucks that haul away the debris will run along N. Pershing Drive, N. George Mason Drive, Arlington Boulevard and Interstate-66, avoiding the intersections near K.W. Barrett Elementary School, Ms. Castan-Smith said.

HeraldTrib: Tell us why you’re running.
Mary Hynes: ….There are three things that I think we’re going to have to work on, regardless…The first one is how are we dealing with our aging infrastructure, our sewers, our water, our streets, our sidewalks….The second thing is affordable housing….I do want us to keep having places that work well for the folks that have been living in garden apartments and are of lesser means. But I also see this huge hole in our housing stock of garden apartments that people rent, and then when you want to buy there’s really nothing in that starter category anymore….The third thing that I think we have to keep our eye on is what’s happening in human services.….We partner with a lot of non-profits. Some of those non-profits deliver essential services to folks. Some of them are not as economically healthy as I would like to see; they’re not able to offer their employees benefits sometimes, and yet they’re providing essential services.

Community Member: How do we maintain housing “mixed” by ethnicity and socio-economic class?
MH: …It is the greatest challenge that we have. And the tools that we have, I think, as a county are pretty limited. There’s no way, for instance, when you’re talking with folks to say, as other places do, you know if you redevelop in this way, so that we have a mixture of affordabilities and a mixture of sizes, we can give you a tax break up front. There’s no way for us to do that right now in Virginia, and yet that’s a tool that works in a lot of other places to hold housing in a mixed environment. Some of this we’re going to have to keep working very closely with the legislature and the governor on.

CM: I am a little curious as to where you stood with the Paradigm development. Was it something you’re in favor of, or, perhaps, may have had a different opinion? [The speaker was referring to the redevelopment of Buckingham Villages 1 and 3. –ST.]
MH: I don’t know all the ins-and-outs of that deal at all. I certainly supported holding onto as many affordable units as we could figure out to do, and I do support finding ways to do affordable home ownership. How that’s all going to fit together there, I don’t know as much about it as I, perhaps, ought to….It’s an expensive precedent, we cannot afford, I don’t think, to do that in every place that an owner is willing to not go to the maximum density.

CM: How do you feel about affordable housing as it is spread throughout Arlington right now?
MH: I think we’re going to have to get smarter about spreading it out. Finding the right strategies to do that is going to be the sort of forward thinking that we need to do, whether it is allowing things, commercial areas on these other roads to get a little higher so that we can have some housing. Another idea that I’m interested in…they call them accessory dwelling units, really basement apartments or garages in single family neighborhoods that become a small apartment…. We’re not going to solve it only on the corridors.

CM: With all of this increased density throughout the county, what will the impact on the infrastructure be, and who’s going to monitor that? You’re talking about putting more people into garages and basement apartments, it’s a hidden kind of thing.
MH: …We’re under a court order to upgrade our sewer treatment plant and deal with that…and it’s a capacity issue as well as an upgrading of the technology that manages the sewer. We have major storm water maintenance issues in this community, and the county board has begun to address that, but it’s going to continue to be an issue.…We need to get a really strong matrix in place that says as we do this development, these are the ancillary things that we need to pay attention to.

HT: You live in Lyon Village, and I believe you were on the first group of people to fight against “The View at Clarendon” the mixed-use redevelopment of the First Baptist Church.
MH: I would characterize it slightly differently. The Baptist church was kind of moving along, it was supposed to get to the county board, and the county board decided that they would have the manager convene a working group of neighbors, housing advocates and church people to work through the issue. I was one of the two neighborhood representatives to that round table….We tried to come to a consensus position….Lots of people have different perceptions of what happened. In the end where I came down was that I believe that 10 storeys was too tall for that location. I was very grateful that the manager preserved the three-storey portion of the building that’s the day care center….But the 10 storey portion is across from a number of single-family homes. And the zoning change that was necessary to allow that 10 storey building changed a 30-year agreement…that the neighborhood had come to rely on.…In the end, no compromise was reached, and so the board voted for it, and then the neighbors sued. I have not had a role to play since the roundtable really ended.

HT: So you weren’t part of the suit?
MH: No. No.

HT: My big question with affordable housing, with density is that nobody wants encroachment in their neighborhoods, but don’t we all have to suck it up a little?
MH: In any community process, Steve, I think that’s true, you cannot satisfy everybody….One of the ways that I’d like to see us proceed moving forward is to help neighborhoods envision what might come….In the system we have now, you might hear about [developers’ ideas] long after the developers have gone to talk to the county, and there might be one or two things on the table. What I think would be much more useful is a process that’s kind of like what they did on Columbia Pike, where the neighbors sat down and said, “Gosh, if this is going to redevelop, and if it revitalizes, we might get some more services, and we might get some housing, or some business incubators,”….So let us think about what the economics would be of encouraging a developer to build the kind of thing we’d like, and then what more are we willing to give to help afford those things that we might like. And do it long before the developer comes in so that the community is kind of coalesced around the notion of these shapes and these kinds of services would be important to us.

HT: What sort of pressure would you put on communities to say, “You’ve got to do your part too?”
MH: I think that it does have to be said. And I think we also have to listen carefully to what neighbors say. You know, change is hard, and people say “no” in the beginning….But somebody else owns this [property] and we can’t say “no.”….The more information I gave people [at school board functions] and the more they had the opportunity to understand sort of the landscape, the more willing they were to participate. It’s when they feel like you’re holding information back or the deal’s already done that you get the cynicism, people really dig their heels in.

CM: A mini-golf course has been proposed for the space at the corner of N. Glebe Road and N. Randolph Street. This is a time when county staff has come to the community and said “A mini-golf course is what is needed.” The county board often just rubber stamps what is given to them from staff. Could you comment on that?
MH: I think what I was known for, Bernie, on the school side was asking a lot of questions. And saying to the staff “How did you reach this conclusion?” “What goals are you trying to accomplish?” “How does this fit into what else is going on?” And I plan to do that if I’m elected to the county board.

CM: The county staff is suggesting a General Land Use Plan change for the Bob Peck site to allow a taller building and more density. The staff has been pushing this all along. Once you start changing the GLUP, it opens the door to too much revision.
MH: One of the things that I’ve learned, Bernie, living where I’ve lived for so long is that the real history is in the neighborhood people….The county will say, “We’re going to do this,” when in fact there’s a lawsuit that says “No, you really can’t do that.” I’ve learned to ask the people in the neighborhood…

The battles that we’ll have to face in the future is that some change is going to have to come….Bob Peck is a great example….There’s a death [in the Peck family] and all of a sudden people are saying, “Well how does this now fit in the fabric that’s built up around it?”…I am not of the mind that things have to be as high as we possibly can think about it, nor as dense as we possibly can. I want to make sure that we’re thoughtful and careful about where our transitions are. I think what we’re seeing now is a willingness by many on the county board to undue those arrangements for a variety of reasons, some of which I don’t understand….I think that site [the Bob Peck site at the corner of N. Glebe Road and Wilson Boulevard] is going to be a huge challenge….

I think affordable housing makes it harder to have a rational conversation because it brings a whole set of people in who, they really don’t care what happens, if in fact we get some more affordable housing because they feel it is such an important crisis, and we should be willing to do just about anything to solve it….I can promise you that I will ask the question everytime: “Who’s at the table? Is everybody who ought to be there involved and participating? Are we sending the notices even if people aren’t showing up?” I learned that on the school side.

CM: If the Glebe Market goes away in a year or so, and day laborers congregate there, where are they going to go? (If the space currently planned for the mini-golf course becomes a park only with trees and benches, how do we stop people from going there?) There’s a need to look at what’s going on with that piece of property now within close proximity to the actions a few block away. Where are you on day laborer sites?
MH: I was really supportive of the opening of SEEC [the day laborer site in South Arlington]….I thought it met a whole lot of needs, and it dealt with what was getting to be a pretty unruly situation….I guess I didn’t know that people were gathering up here….Well maybe we do need to look for another location….

There is [a domino effect]. The people who live in the neighborhoods are often more aware of these kinds of issues that anyone of us can be on the county board.

Labels: BV1, BV3, debate, politics, schools

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 8:54 PM 0 comments

Similar to the item that was reported, this simply means that the $8.5 million loan the county made in November, 2004, to AHC is even more subordinate to other loans from other lenders. The county’s subordination has moved from $50 million to $53 million.

David Cristeal, in the county's housing division, in a subsequent interview wanted to make sure people understood that the loaned amount is not increasing either in this case or in the case of Buckingham Village. Also, this subordination lasts only during the construction of the community center.

The only threat to the county’s coffers is if AHC Inc. or Buckingham M.I. Limited Partnership should default on the loans. Monies paid would be paid in order of subordination—the more subordinate the county’s loan is, the less likely it would be paid. The county is satisfied that the projects will pay off.

Labels: ahif, BV1, gates of ballston

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 8:26 AM 0 comments

+++++++++++
After you slog through the technical jargon and geek-speak, you learn that the county will be voting on whether to allow a loan they approved in June to be made more subordinate than it already is.

The county in June made the loan of $7 million to Buckingham M.I. Limited Partnership to facilitate construction of Buckingham Village 1’s affordable housing component.

Village 1 sits on N. Pershing Drive, west of N. George Mason Drive and runs north on George Mason to N. Henderson Road. The demolition of buildings will begin soon, as many are already encircled with fencing.

The $7 million loaned from the county’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund was scheduled to be subordinate to the about $18 million in financing that was made by contractors, banks or other investment partners. This means, basically, that should the project default, Arlington would not start collecting until after the other $18 million was paid. The county manager is recommending that the county change that threshold to about $42 million to satisfy lenders. The county manager is OK with this and is recommending approval. More on this next week.

+++++++++++
Site Plan Review Committee:
The SPRC is meeting Monday, and you should care, according to Buckingham gadfly Bernie Berne, because they are looking at changing the county’s General Land Use Plan in order to allow for redevelopment of the block on the northwest corner of N. Wilson Boulevard and N. Glebe Road, where the Bob Peck Chevrolet building and the Staples office supply store are.

In an email, Mr. Berne, wrote: “The developer is asking for both a change in the General Land Use Plan (GLUP) and in a rezoning that would permit the greatly increased height and density that it is proposing. Such a change in the GLUP would set a precedent for the neighborhood. There have been no changes in the GLUP for any site within the Ballston Sector Plan since the County Board approved the Sector Plan in 1980.

“The County Board usually only changes the GLUP in an area that has a Sector Plan during a comprehensive review of the Sector Plan. However, the Board has made exceptions to this policy when a developer offers something that the Board wants, especially when the County Manager and staff supports the GLUP change. In this instance, the developer is proposing to provide affordable housing on the site as an incentive for the Board to change the GLUP.

“The developer is most likely aware that the County Board approved a site plan that greatly increased densities for the site that Buckingham Village I occupies in exchange for an affordable housing component in a new project on that site. The developer of the Peck-Staples site clearly hopes that the Board will do the same thing for the Peck-Staples project.

“A change in the GLUP for the Peck-Staples site would set a precedent that will greatly increase traffic in the Buckingham neighborhood. Further, the highest height and density of the project will be at the corner of Wilson and Glebe, which is the corner of the site that is closest to the Buckingham neighborhood. Thus, the Buckingham neighborhood would experience a significant impact from this project.”

++++++++++
MEET-n-GREET:
Meet-n-Greet—SUNDAY, 2:00 p.m. Arlington Oaks Community Center—with Mike McMenamin, a Republican running for county board.

Food and beverages provided.

Labels: BV1, mcmenamin, meet-n-greet, meeting, sprc

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 10:58 PM 0 comments

I am going to enter my dissent on the demolition and gentrification of Buckingham: I think it was a disgrace, a cop out, and a sorry statement—I don’t see how keeping perhaps 100 of the original 460 apartments as “affordable” is a good deal for anybody.

As to the question of purchasing condos, I fail to understand how a one bedroom, renovated apartment costing $300,000 minimum is a good deal for anybody. Condo prices are dropping like a stone; interest rates now exceed 6.7%. Getting someone making a $40,000 income into making monthly principal, interest, condo fee and tax payments of $2,300 for a one-bedroom condo is not "affordable housing" in my opinion.

The best outcome for Buckingham would have been the County Board to have designated it as an historic property, then condemned and taken the entire three villages and then sell them to a nonprofit housing group to continue to operate as basic rental housing for the many people who make less than $30,000 a year—including the elderly, and disabled. It also would have historically preserved a unique apartment complex, now largely destroyed.

One of the 20 fresh ideas for affordable housing in Arlington was the creation of a new Arlington housing authority which would both own says the 460 units now destroyed at Buckingham and have the financial resources to directly finance the purchase of such apartments. This authority would directly own and preserve these apartments as RENTAL housing!

Arlington existing non-profit housing groups, particularly AHC is a partner with Paradigm Development Company the Buckingham owner and developer, have become housing developers rather than housing preservers. I do not trust AHC to preserve and maintain Arlington's historic garden apartments.
The Arlington Green Party has decided to endorse the creation of an Arlington Housing Authority through a voter referendum on the November ballot. We hope that those of you interested in affordable housing in Arlington will support the creation of the housing authority.

If Arlington had a housing authority at the time of Paradigm proposed to demolish historic Buckingham Villages 1 through 3, the housing authority could have both financed and owned the units which would have been kept for the roughly 1,600 tenants evicted.

We of course would have needed a County Board with both a backbone and a genuine commitment to affordable housing that the current one has never demonstrated.

--John Reeder

++++++++++
Loitering and Public Drinking to Be Topic of Meeting Next Week

Long-time Buckingham resident James Vandeputte has spoken to--it seems like--just about anyone who would listen regarding the courtyard behind his apartment at Arlington Oaks and the loitering he sees around the CVS at the corner of N. Pershing Drive and N. Glebe Road.

The courtyard at night turns into a bit of a “beer party.” There’s public drinking, urination, defecation and littering, he said. He said he sees similar activity around the CVS and Glebe Market.

He has spoken to management at Arlington Oaks. He’s spoken to local and regional managers at the CVS, and the sales office of Buckingham Commons (the new townhouse development going in to Buckingham Village 2 at the corner of N. Henderson Road and N. George Mason Drive). He’s spoken with Arlington County Police Officer Lutz.

“This neighborhood is changing into a slum, ghetto, Skid Row,” he said in a recent interview. Mr. Vandeputte has lived on the 4300 block of N. Pershing Dr for about 12 years. He has lived in the neighborhood since 1974, he said.

This courtyard becomes a "beer party" Mr. Vandeputte said.

[One note: I cannot be there--I'll be out of town--but I will have coverage the following week, after I get back. --Steve]

June 18: Burglary, 300 block of N. George Mason Dr. Between 1:30 and 10a.m., someone entered an apartment through an unlocked door and took a wallet and clothing.

Labels: affordable housing, Buckingham, BV1, BV3

// posted by Steve Thurston @ 12:14 PM 1 comments

The county board committed itself to preserving about 300 units of affordable housing in the Buckingham Neighborhood, at their Saturday board meeting. For now, read the press release, and I’ll have more on this on Monday, late.

Sorry, I could neither go to the board meeting, nor could I watch the video live on-line. My only hope is that the county will put the segments of the video on-line quickly. That’s been a very handy gadget for people like me.