Newsroom
For Immediate Release
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Contact: Ken Aughenbaugh 703-228-3821 (voice) 703-228-4743(TTY)
Arlington County, Buckingham Villages Owner Agree to Craft Redevelopment Plan
Goals are to preserve affordable housing and historic character of garden apartments
ARLINGTON, VA – In a breakthrough Tuesday aimed at preserving at least 300 affordable apartments in Buckingham Villages, the Arlington County Board approved an agreement with the property’s owner to work together to produce a redevelopment plan by March 1, 2007.
“An ad-hoc working group of housing advocates, tenants, the owner and the County worked intensively to achieve this agreement,” said Arlington County Board Chairman Christopher Zimmerman. “Our goal here is to preserve a vibrant and diverse community. If we are successful, we will have secured at least 300 affordable housing units for the long term. We will also have preserved historic buildings. Those are goals well worth striving for.”
Under a Memorandum of Understanding, the County and the owner, 4319 North Pershing Drive Apartment Investors LLC, agreed to work with the community to address the following objectives:
- Preservation of the community by giving people currently living in Buckingham Villages the ability to continue living there, or in the immediate neighborhood;
- Preservation of as much affordable housing as possible with a goal of achieving no less than 300 committed affordable units;
- Historic preservation of Village 3 and redeveloping Villages 1 and 2 in a historically sensitive manner.
The memorandum gives the community, the County and the owner an opportunity between now and March 2007 to develop plans that fulfill these objectives. The agreement also allows the developer to proceed with by-right townhouse development of Village 2, which is currently vacant.
County will invest in affordable housing
The redevelopment plan that the County and the owner have agreed to work on is based on the willingness of the County to provide funding to make the economics of affordable housing work. Arlington will use the range of funding tools that it has used successfully throughout the County over many years. The County previously has saved affordable housing in Ballston Park and the Gates of Buckingham -- both complexes in this same neighborhood.
The objective for Village 3 is historic designation and preservation of all 140 units in Village 3 as affordable units. Village 1 would include a combination of affordable apartments, market rate townhouses or other economically viable forms of redevelopment.
Background
A partnership including the Paradigm Companies and UBS purchased the Buckingham Villages complex in the early 1990s. Early in 2006, the owners proposed redeveloping the entire site. The original plan would have removed all the existing buildings and much of the historic landscaping and trees. The proposal included a potential of 212 affordable rental units, but no guarantee of preserving the existing community or of any historic preservation.
Arlington County was considering historic designation of the entire site, which the owners opposed. Had historic designation occurred, however, there would have been no assurances of future affordable housing.
The County and the community engaged Paradigm, seeking an alternative plan that would provide more affordable housing and preserve some of the historic character of the complex. County Board Chairman Christopher Zimmerman and Board Member Walter Tejada convened the ad-hoc working group on June 2, 2006. The group met six times from June 14 to July 10, 2006.
If a plan is not achieved by March 2007, the County retains the ability to consider historic designation for Villages 1 and 3.
Arlington, Va., is a world-class residential, business and tourist location that was originally part of the "10 miles square" parcel of land surveyed in 1791 to be the Nation's Capital. It is the geographically smallest self-governing county in the United States, occupying slightly less than 26 square miles. Arlington maintains a rich variety of stable neighborhoods, quality schools and enlightened land use, and received the Environmental Protection Agency's highest award for "Smart Growth" in 2002. Home to some of the most influential organizations in the world - including the Pentagon - Arlington stands out as one of America's preeminent places to live, visit and do business.
