Project adds 279 units of affordable multifamily and senior housing to the $174 million North Hill Redevelopment

Pennrose, Community Housing Partners, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA), and project partners celebrated the grand opening of Residences at North Hill, the affordable multifamily rental component of the large-scale revitalization transforming 34 underutilized acres off Richmond Highway. The brand new community adds 279 high-quality, affordable apartments for families and seniors to the robust site, which also includes a 12+ acre public park and 175 for-sale townhomes.

Speakers at the grand opening ceremony included: Patrick Stewart, Regional Vice President, Pennrose, LLC; Jeffrey C. McKay, Chairman, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors; Dan Storck, Mount Vernon District Supervisor, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors; Gerry Hyland, Former Mont Vernon District Supervisor, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors; Elisabeth Lardner, Commissioner – Mount Vernon District, Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority; David Glassman, Assistant Director of Rental Housing Development, Virginia Housing; Carly Blake, Rental Program Manager, Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development;  Claudette Fernandez, General Deputy Assistant Secretary, Community Planning and Development, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; Martin Rizer, Vice President, K. Hovnanian Homes; and Ivy Dench Carter, Senior Vice President, Pennrose, LLC.

To ensure affordable housing for a wide range of incomes, all 279 units at Residences at North Hill will be affordable at 30% to 60% of the area median income (AMI), roughly $29,900 to $59,820 for a one-person household. The community includes a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments across five, four-story garden-style buildings.

The brand-new apartments feature open floor plans with spacious closets; modern kitchen with dishwasher and electric range; in-unit washer and dryer hookup; individually controlled heating and cooling; ceramic-tiled baths; carpeted bedrooms; and more. Residents will have access to a host of on-site community amenities, including a community room, fitness center, recreational plaza, playground, landscaped grounds, on-site management services, and the public park.

In addition to on-site amenities, residents will enjoy easy access to shopping, dining, and entertainment. The community is also within a mile of services and amenities, including banks, pharmacies, grocery stores, and health services, and is a short drive from downtown Alexandria and public transportation into Washington, D.C.

“After many years of hard work and collaboration with the County and FCRHA, we are proud to be here today alongside project partners celebrating the grand opening of an important contribution to the long-term vision for the Richmond Highway Corridor,” said Patrick Stewart, regional vice president at Pennrose. “The Residences at North Hill will serve as a catalyst for continued revitalization, while also providing families and seniors with much-needed affordable housing and access to a host of services and amenities.”

“For more than 30 years, we have been working to develop an extraordinary plan for this property that would help us meet a critical community need and serve as a keystone project in the continuing redevelopment of the Richmond Highway Corridor, and today we have achieved just that,” said Mount Vernon District Supervisor Dan Storck. “Residences at North Hill reaffirms our vision of One Fairfax through inclusive development that includes housing opportunities for residents all along the income spectrum so that all who want to live in Mount Vernon can do so.”

FCRHA purchased the site, formerly a mobile home park, in the 1980s. The development is part of Fairfax County’s EMBARK Richmond Highway, an initiative to provide multimodal transportation solutions and create opportunities for economic development in the Richmond Highway Corridor. The initiative identifies nine areas of concentration surrounding a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) station, and the public plaza at North Hill will serve as an important anchor for a future BRT station.

The Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority has made significant contributions to the North Hill development. In addition to contributing 12 acres for use as a park and another 8 acres for the site of the buildings, the FCRHA’s contributions include awarding 68 federal project-based vouchers and $4.4 million for the affordable housing development—or about $16,000 per apartment.

Financing for the development includes Housing Tax Credits allocated by Virginia Housing; tax-exempt and taxable construction and permanent financing by Virginia Housing; CDBG funding and project-based vouchers from the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority; HOME and state and local housing trust funds from the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development; and construction financing and equity investments from Bank of America and Truist Bank. The project also includes approximately $4.4 million in local financing through the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority.

Pennrose is committed to developing high-quality, transformative affordable housing throughout Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic region. Pennrose is currently developing the second phase of the Uplands redevelopment, which will deliver 104 apartments and townhomes as part of the master planned community in Baltimore’s Edmondson Village.