Another Addition to Affordable Arlington

Helping to cement its place as the most affordable-friendly county in the region, the Arlington County Board yesterday approved up to $35 million in financing to facilitate the purchase of Buckingham Village 3, a 140-unit, 16-building historic development on the 300 block of North George Mason Drive. In the same session, the Board also approved a 75-year lease of the property to the Telesis Corporation and National Housing Trust-Enterprise Corporation (NHTEC), which will “begin to renovate the property within 12 to 24 months, then operate and manage the dwellings.” The price of the lease was not disclosed by County representatives.

The County is billing their purchase from 4319 North Pershing Drive Apartment Investors LLC, as “one of the…most ambitious efforts to date to preserve affordable housing on a single site.” 

Following the completion of renovation procedures on the 5.4-acre site, Telesis is forecasting a mixture of rental and ownership opportunities available at Buckingham Village and is pledging to contribute to a new community center. As stated in the terms of the county’s lease, all of the residential units on site will be earmarked as affordable housing for at least 75 years.

In addition NHTEC, the Telesis team, which was selected after a 2007 RFP, includes architects Wiencek and Associates, CTA Inc. Consulting Engineers, general contractor Harkins Builders, property managers Neighborhood Partners and general counsel Bean, Kinney and Korman.

While Village 3 may have been the sole subject of the County’s landmark action, it is not the only development in store for Buckingham Village as a whole. In June 2007, the Board approved a $7 million loan from the County’s Affordable Housing Investment Fund for construction of 100 new affordable units in Village 1, while Paradigm Development leveled Village 2 to make way for 69 "luxury" townhouses - since rebranded as the Buckingham Commons. The latter move sparked protests from local advocacy groups, including the Arlington Green Party and the Matthew 25 Network, and subsequent legislation – including historic protections for Village 3 and the Telesis deal – are likely to be viewed by some as peacemaking tactic.