Marbella Apartments
Developer: Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH)
Location: N. Queen Street at the intersection with Route 50 (Arlington Boulevard), Rosslyn
Total Committed Affordable Units: 72 current; 561 total after redevelopment
Affordability: The building will be 100% affordable to families at 30%, 50%, and 60% AMI.
About: Located on 3.5 acres in the Ft. Meyers Heights Rosslyn area in North Arlington, Marbella Apartments is home to 134 affordable units across 13 garden-style apartments.
After consideration through its NOFA (Notice of Funding Availability) process, the Arlington County Housing Division announced the selection of the Marbella Apartments to receive more than $20 million in AHIF loan funding, subject to the County Board’s approval. If approved, the plan will renovate six of the existing Marbella buildings and add two new buildings, bringing a net increase of 489 committed affordable units (CAFS) to north Arlington. APAH will begin the SPRC review process with an online comment period that runs through October 13, 2021. The County will also hold virtual public meetings on the site plan review process on October 25 and November 29, 2021. Visit the site plan web page to learn more.
The Marbella is an ideal location for affordable housing because it ensures that residents have convenient access to the Rosslyn and Courthouse Metro stations, bus transit, restaurants, parks, and employment.
Earlier in 2021, the County received three applications for the Housing Division’s FY22 County Loan Funds Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) from the Affordable Housing Investment Fund. Two of the applications were submitted by APAH for Marbella Sites A and B. While Marbella Site A was ultimately selected for funding, both sites ranked high according to the County’s funding criteria. Marbella Site A meets many of the Affordable Housing Master Plan’s goals, including the addition of family-sized units, housing in the northern part of Arlington, and units at the deepest levels of affordability (30% AMI).
APAH is proposing that one of the two new buildings be an intergenerational community with affordable, independent senior housing as well as units for families—one of the very few of these types of buildings in the County. In addition to adding the two new buildings to the site, APAH will renovate the remaining six Marbella buildings with new energy-efficient appliances and mechanical systems, free resident Wi-Fi, and other improvements. Once the redevelopment of Site A is complete, APAH will submit the redevelopment of Site B—a building dedicated to a mix of senior housing and units for families—to a future round of NOFA funding.
AHS applauds APAH’s strong commitment to enabling new affordable housing in Arlington by leveraging the potential of its own land and by securing innovative changes to land use and zoning. APAH has accelerated its affordable housing development in the last 10 years, creating 1,300 new units in that time period and bringing its total CAF inventory in Arlington to over 2,000 units.
