Fairfax County is making progress toward its goal of creating at least 10,000 affordable homes by 2034.
At a Board of Supervisors Housing Committee meeting this week, Tom Fleetwood, director of the county’s Department of Housing and Community Development, said the county’s approaching 35% of that goal with about 10 years to go.
That number includes projects that are finished, under construction and what’s in the county’s “immediate pipeline,” Fleetwood said.
An affordable home, according to the county’s definition, means a resident would have enough money to cover housing and still have remaining funds for other needs, such as food, clothes or medical bills.
“We’re very excited about the progress we’re making, but we have certainly a tremendous amount of work in front of us as we move forward,” Fleetwood said.
So far, the county has produced 1,149 new units in different areas since 2020, Fleetwood said.
“Something that we’re all very proud of is, not only are we delivering new housing, but we’re delivering new housing in every part of Fairfax County,” Fleetwood said.
There are over 1,400 new units under construction, he said, and there about 1,000 units in the predevelopment pipeline. The county has over 600 units in its conceptual pipeline.
One of the latest examples of new affordable housing was unveiled near George Mason University’s campus last week.
One University, a nearly 11-acre property, was redeveloped and now features 240 affordable housing units for families and seniors. All those affordable units are available to those earning up to 60% of the area median income, which is about $77,400 for a four-person family based on fiscal 2021 data, the county said.
“Some of us were out at One University, and we were mentioning the complexity of these,” Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said. “And so they might be one line on here, one dot on a map, but the amount of work that goes into making each one of these happen is just incredible.”
Fairfax County has an affordable housing dashboard to keep track of its progress.
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