Fairfax County could replace parking lots with affordable housing

Fairfax County may be swapping out some of its extra parking space at the Fairfax County Government Center for affordable housing. You’ll soon have a chance to tell the board what you think.

Braddock District Supervisor James Walkinshaw brought up the idea at a county board meeting back in October. He offered a motion that the county board authorize a hearing on allowing the county to transfer ownership of parking lots G and H at the Fairfax County Government Center to the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA). Then they’d work with the county and developers to replace the parking lots with affordable housing. The Government Center is in the Braddock District’s western edge. The move would open up about three and a half acres for development along Government Center Parkway for committed workforce affordable housing.

The board voted 8-1 to allow for hearings in January on the matter. If the board approves the transfer then the actual planning and development process can occur with FCRHA partnering with an architect/developer/and other organizations to provide the housing.

Walkinshaw pointed out to the board that there were employees working at the Government Center today who had trouble finding affordable housing in Fairfax while the parking at the Government Center was never at capacity. That made the area a good spot to use the land for other county priorities like affordable housing.

About one third of Fairfax County residents spend more than 30% of their gross income on housing. Combined with the county’s car dependence that transportation cost adds to their expenses meaning households spend close to half of their income on shelter and transportation alone. To add to the burden, housing prices are rising faster than incomes in the county.

Nearby the Residences at Government Center were brought up as a successful affordable housing project already in the neighborhood providing a good template for what could be built on Parking Lots G and H.

Those homes are available to families that make up to 60% of the Area Median Income meaning a family making around $60,000 a year can rent a two-bedroom apartment for $1537 a month. Apartments across the street start at $1787 for a similar apartment. A bigger family could rent a 3 Bedroom for around $1700 compared to the units that are almost $700 more expensive across the street.

Identifying opportunities for affordable housing

I asked Supervisor Walkinshaw how he made his decision on this location. He said that the parking was overbuilt at the Government Center and never full. Even this past election season when the Government Center became famous for the epic wait times people endured to vote early, the parking, however, never really became an issue.

Parking is so under-used the county uses the outer lots as general storage for regular county vehicles that see occasional use.

That plethora of parking was likely because when the county board still met at the former Massey building at the current Judicial Center complex, the parking situation was notorious which prompted this 1992 Washington Post article celebrating the space inside and outside the then-new Fairfax County Government Center. The reporter then wrote:

A huge parking area sprawls in front of the building, and there is more parking underground. No more waiting for a space or hunting around for that favorite broken parking meter at the Massey Building, where several of the remaining county agencies are preparing to leave.

Now, 28 years later, Walkinshaw feels confident these parking lots would be better off used to show the Board’s commitment to affordable housing. There’s no better way to do that than the front door of the County’s Headquarters.

In his pitch to the rest of the board Walkinshaw also emphasized that the housing would be close to a forthcoming park and ride lot for express buses along I-66 and that he wanted to see ground floor retail and other things to help improve the walkability to the area.

Replacing the impervious surface of the parking lot with housing can help the county meet its environmental goals as well. Parking lots can exacerbate issues from stormwater runoff and the new housing can mitigate those issues proactively.

During the October board meeting there were other concerns. Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity voted against the motion citing a principled opposition to affordable housing not dedicated to senior citizens.

Mason District Supervisor Penny Gross expressed reservation over the location because the county uses the parking lots for it’s Celebrate Fairfax (basically the county fair) event every year and the noise or other interruptions from that event may make things difficult for residents living nearby or force the event to move somewhere else. But she was willing to hear things out and voted yes for the proposal.

FCRHA is busy in the meantime. Just in Braddock District the One University Project aims to help provide affordable housing for both students at George Mason University and the community at large, redeveloping and adding homes to an existing affordable housing site in the county. Nearby the now-shuttered Northern Virginia Training Center has been subdivided so that FCRHA can eventually build affordable housing for senior citizens.

If that transfer goes through then FCRHA will need to go through the typical zoning and building process that’s typical for any housing project in the county. Until then you can either attend the hearing on January 26, 2021 or tell your local supervisor your thoughts about swapping out empty parking lots for affordable housing.