Crazy I know...when the county (as well as the region and nation) has a huge backlog of unsold homes they decide they're going to build more!

The Residences At The Government Center, the former subsidized housing that is no longer subsidized for future tenants (but the builder *IS* being subsidized) is still on track. Why does the county feel the need to be an apartment landlord and build 270 apartments when it has already announced a ~$600 million budget shortfall??? Crazy!

From The Herrity Report:

http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/springfield/pdf_files/herrity_report/dec_2008.pdf

The Residences at the Government Center

At the December 8, 2008 Board meeting, the Board of Supervisors approved the comprehensive agreement for the development, construction and operation of "The Residences at the Government Center" with JPI Development Services, L.P. This project will supposedly provide affordable, workforce housing for our county’s workforce. The project consists of approximately 270 apartment units —39 studio apartments, 123 one-bedroom apartments, 93 two-bedroom apartments and 15 three-bedroom apartments.

I voted against this project primarily because it went against the commitments made to the public and surrounding communities and only 35% of the units the County is subsidizing are actually more affordable than the surrounding area. This means the County is actually subsidizing a developer to compete with the private sector for 65% of the units. The private sector units are actually more affordable. The next step for this project is the land use process for the Planning Commission and than the Board of Supervisors.
Broken Promises to the County

As I have stated in the past, promises were made to public and the surrounding community that this project would be for County government employees only and that this Board has consistently billed this project as housing for firefighters, policemen and teachers. I can think of no better solution for our County employees who work in our Government Center complex or offices throughout the County than to have affordable housing right next door to where they work. This makes sense. Our county employees are our most important and valuable asset and providing them with dedicated affordable housing will assist us in retaining our employees and go a long way in recruiting them once the employment market returns to normal.

Lessons from the Past

Our housing authority staff says that these units will mostly be occupied by County government employees because JPI has promised to heavily market to County government employees. I was reminded by one of our citizens that a promise to market to County government employees should give us little confidence that these units will be mostly occupied by our employees. In the early 1980s, the Redevelopment and Housing Authority promised that the newly-proposed 100 plus units of Newington Forest would be always predominantly occupied by County government staff. Within a few short years the private management firm running the project had to be sued and/or served with all sorts of violation notices by the Newington Forest Civic Association for any number of covenants, housing administration and financially-related infractions. History shows that very few County employees are in affordable housing units that are not dedicated to County employees.

Subsidizing Competition with the Private Sector

My office did a quick survey of rental units available at or below the “affordable” rates the Residences would be charging. In very short order we found more units at better rates than 65% of the units that will be offered at the Residences. Thus, the marketplace is already providing “affordable” homes for those families who would occupy over 65% of the units at the Residences at the Government Center. I do not believe that we can, as a County, be credible in facilitating and subsidizing construction of apartments whose “affordable” rents are above what the market is offering at various income levels. We are now subsidizing a developer to compete with the private sector. This is bad government. We need to make sure we do not repeat the mistakes we have made in the past as exemplified by the Newington Forest story I mentioned earlier. Secondly, if we going to provide affordable housing for our workforce, then we need to make sure that the housing is going directly to those who need it the most and that we are not competing with the private sector.

This was Connelly's final nod to local developers before he moves on to satisfying a wider audience of lobbyists and special interests. Every Fairfax County citizen needs to vote to make sure the demokrats are not allowed to keep this kind of thing going. It is what is responsible for our County's runaway growth and lacking supporting infrastructure. Who pays the property taxes on those units? The County pays itself? The real estate tax revenue doesn't even feed back to the County!

I dont like the sound of this either. How long until it has Section 8's?
Too handy for abuse.Thanks for posting.

I guess the alternative would be to turn some of those foreclosed McMansions in Oakton and Vienna into public housing.

The county is in a difficult situation. Beyond the fact that there could be some legal liability if they dropped the project that could end up costing the county more than the project is worth, how do you take the foreclosed properties that are in the pipeline now and turn them into public housing? Do you want your condo building or town home complex to be full of Section 8 units? Because that is what the county would have to do.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2009 09:26AM by WashingTone Locian.

WashingTone Locian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I guess the alternative would be to turn some of
> those foreclosed McMansions in Oakton and Vienna
> into public housing.
>
>

Oh Connolly already thought of that and was planning to move forward until Herrity made public his plan. Bulova is Connolly's clone, so expect some quiet purchases with funding hidden neatly in some obscure line item in the budget.

Can't have all those illegals living in tents when the Metro contract is so close.

Junes Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WashingTone Locian Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > I guess the alternative would be to turn some
> of
> > those foreclosed McMansions in Oakton and
> Vienna
> > into public housing.
> >
> >
>
> Oh Connolly already thought of that and was
> planning to move forward until Herrity made public
> his plan. Bulova is Connolly's clone, so expect
> some quiet purchases with funding hidden neatly in
> some obscure line item in the budget.
>
> Can't have all those illegals living in tents when
> the Metro contract is so close.


Seems to me the county is damned if they do, damned if they don't. Personally, I would rather they put low-income families in a neighborhood that won't adversely impact my property values. I guess you guys would rather have Section 8 housing in your neighborhood or, even better, abandoned homes that become a suburban blight.

WashingTone Locian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Seems to me the county is damned if they do,
> damned if they don't. Personally, I would rather
> they put low-income families in a neighborhood
> that won't adversely impact my property values. I
> guess you guys would rather have Section 8 housing
> in your neighborhood or, even better, abandoned
> homes that become a suburban blight.

So you advocate segregating immigrants into camps, or defined areas?

pgens Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WashingTone Locian Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Seems to me the county is damned if they do,
> > damned if they don't. Personally, I would
> rather
> > they put low-income families in a neighborhood
> > that won't adversely impact my property values.
> I
> > guess you guys would rather have Section 8
> housing
> > in your neighborhood or, even better, abandoned
> > homes that become a suburban blight.
>
> So you advocate segregating immigrants into camps,
> or defined areas?
>

Who said anything about immigrants or camps?

YOU did. You said you wanted the County to "put" them into their own neighborhood, rather than have Section 8 housing spread throughout Fairfax County. That's a flowery way of supporting segregation by action of government officials. You can call it a camp or village or "Section 8 Neighborhood" or whatever politically correct term you want... it is still placement of minorities into a defined area using government controls, otherwise known as segregation.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/22/2009 01:05PM by pgens.

pgens Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> YOU did. You said you wanted the County to "put"
> them into their own neighborhood, rather than have
> Section 8 housing spread throughout Fairfax
> County. That's a flowery way of supporting
> segregation by action of government officials.
> You can call it a camp or village or "Section 8
> Neighborhood" or whatever politically correct term
> you want... it is still placement of minorities
> into a defined area using government controls,
> otherwise known as segregation.


No I didn't. There is nothing in my statement or yours about "immigrants" or "camps."

And as for Section 8 Housing, if the government - and taxpayers - have to help subsidize your living situation, damn right they have the right to "put" you somewhere.

Segregation would be if I said black people can't live in my neighborhood because they are black, regardless of their ability to pay for a home. That's not what I am saying at all.

Also, there are plenty of low-income white people who qualify for Section 8, including teachers and firefighters. You are the one being racist.

We all know how expensive it is to live in Fairfax County. You can't even rent a house for less than $2000. So why do 35% of kids qualify for free and reduced lunches in Fairfax County?

The income level for a family of 4 for FRM is something like $45k. How can this many people live in this expensive area and have such a low income?

It makes no sense to me.

Those stupid fucking morons. Yeah, we dont have enough of a traffic problem as it is.. lets cram in even more people in every last piece of space that hasnt allready been turned into a fucking apartment complex

question Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> We all know how expensive it is to live in Fairfax
> County. You can't even rent a house for less than
> $2000. So why do 35% of kids qualify for free and
> reduced lunches in Fairfax County?
>
> The income level for a family of 4 for FRM is
> something like $45k. How can this many people
> live in this expensive area and have such a low
> income?
>
> It makes no sense to me.


Transportation could be an issue. If you don't own a car, or only one car for a family, it may be tough to move to a cheaper county like PW or Stafford, which have fewer public transportation options.

Found some info on this http://washington.bizjournals.com/washington/stories/2008/12/08/story10.html?b=1228712400%5E1743274:

The builder is Dallas-based JPI Development Services. The county gave them the land (or I should say "leased") for 99 years for $1.00. In exchange, they will build the 4 story complex costing approximately $47 million. There will be:

*39 studio apartments
*123 one-bedroom apartments
*93 two-bedroom apartments
*15 three-bedroom apartments

All reserved for people (singles, families, couples) making at or below the county's median income ($30,000 for one person to $98,000 for a family of four).

Construction is to start in the summer of 2010. First person moves in 2011. Construction completed 2012.

"Tenants will be re-certified every year, and if they make too much money to qualify, they will be asked to move, Payne said."

I like the "asked" part. The county has been notoriously bad about making people leave once they make more than the maximum.

Here's my completely unsubstantiated fact-free prediction:

The land will be clear cut (one of the last remaining green spaces in fairfax/fair oaks) then construction will start. Then JPI will decide due to the "economic crisis", they will have to pull out (or at least get paid a lot of money to continue). The County will be left to foot the cost of finishing the construction and/or demolishing the structures that were built.

Think that can't happen? That's what these people thought too: http://www.abc-7.com/articles/readnews.asp?articleid=9200&z=2

That was in 2006. Still nothing has happened on that.

WashingTone Locian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
>
> Seems to me the county is damned if they do,
> damned if they don't. Personally, I would rather
> they put low-income families in a neighborhood
> that won't adversely impact my property values. I
> guess you guys would rather have Section 8 housing
> in your neighborhood or, even better, abandoned
> homes that become a suburban blight.

I think you may not understand what Section 8 is. Section 8 is not a group of homes in a neighborhood, set aside for low income residents. Section 8 is a private agreement with individual homeowners to partner with the county to lease a property, with the tenant paying a portion of the rent, and the county paying the rest.

Unless the neighborhood has declined in value and properties are owned primarily by slum lords, the effect of Section 8 housing on a "normal" community is minimal. As an example. At one time (several years ago), one of the Board Supervisor's staff members was a Section 8 tenant for a 2 years - no one knew except the county agency that issued the certificate. i.e. they come from all walks of life.

What this Board wants to do is BUY housing in specific areas of the county and turn them into low income housing. This property is OWNED by the county - purchase, maintenance and adminsitration costs are paid by the tax payers.

Whenever the county buys a group of units for low income housing, it does nothing to enhance the value of the neighborhood. Not only does it devalue neighborhood property values, it also adversely affects surrounding properties. More importantly, it reduces the amount of available funding for homeowner/county partnership Section 8 affordable housing certificates.

This is irresponsible spending by the Board - even in good economic times - and a waste of tax payers'money. Yet Connolly (and his clone Bulova) seem to have a dream of being the largest landlord in the region. In so doing, they do exactly the opposite of what they "profess" and are REDUCING funding to make more affordable housing available.


Section 8 is the route the Board SHOULD take:

The properties are throughout the county, vs in pockets of the county.

The properties are owned by individual homeowners who are are responsible for the maintenance and financing (not the tax payers).

The properties are owned by individual homeowners who contribute to the tax base - real estate property taxes and rental income taxes.

The cost to subsidize a Section 8 tenant (via homeowner/county partnership) is a fraction of the cost of buying and maintaining the property.

-----

Junes Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> Unless the neighborhood has declined in value and
> properties are owned primarily by slum lords, the
> effect of Section 8 housing on a "normal"
> community is minimal.


I know what Section 8 is. And if you think realtors don't know where Section 8 units are and in which neighborhoods, you are kidding yourself.

WashingTone Locian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Junes Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> I know what Section 8 is. And if you think
> realtors don't know where Section 8 units are and
> in which neighborhoods, you are kidding yourself.


So what? There are Section 8 renters in my community and it doesn't adversely affect property values or the neighborhood. Two are Government employees (said so during casual converstation). They are wonderful neighbors, with well-behaved kids --- and take better care of the property than some homeowners.

You have a bad taste in your mouth re: Section 8. That's too bad because it's a good thing in this area where rentals are out of reach for many great potential neighbors.

Now that is some crazy shit! Where do I sign up?

Workers housing! Wow true communism has finally arrived! I have to go to factor now and build tank.

Let's see...once again most you jack asses cant see the forest through the trees. We have all seen major reductions in our housing values..and it has nothing to do with section 8...just the mere greed of bankers...keep looking down the economic pyramid for all your problems...and pretty soon you'll run out of rope.

Oh yes...workers housing...you know who workers are dont you? They are the only ones producing anything of value...god forbid the slaves want good housing!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/23/2009 09:15PM by Vince(1).

Vince(1) Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

>
> Oh yes...workers housing...you know who workers
> are dont you? They are the only ones producing
> anything of value...god forbid the slaves want
> good housing!


Since they are paid, they are technically not slaves. They are either "indentured servants" or "cogs to be crushed in the wheels of Capitalism."

WashingTone Locian Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "cogs to be crushed in the wheels of Capitalism."

LOL! i hadnt heard that one before.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."