Amazon Provides $3.75M For Affordable Housing In Falls Church

FALLS CHURCH, VA — The City of Falls Church announced it is receiving $3.75 million in grants for affordable housing initiatives from Amazon.

The grants are part of a five-year, $15 million annual commitment to affordable housing in the region by Amazon for locating the second headquarters in Arlington. The city was selected for the grants by Virginia Housing, which manages Amazon's grants through the REACH Virginia program. The city will use $3.4 million for a new affordable housing homeownership program and $350,000 to extend availability of nine committed affordable apartments at the Read Building at 402 West Broad Street.

"This grant award is a major step forward for the City in creating new affordable homeownership and preserving existing affordable housing,” said Council Member Letty Hardi, the council liaison to the city's Housing Commission. "Homeownership has been increasingly out of reach for many, and this is an innovative first step to reverse the trend."

The city's new homeownership program will be managed by the NHP Foundation with support from the city's Housing and Human Services Department. The foundation will purchase and resell homes, allowing an estimated 18 first-time home buyers to purchase rehabilitated homes ranging from $425,000 to $525,000. Homes could include single family homes, townhouses, and condominiums, but most are expected to be condominiums. Once the program is created, it will take about a year for the foundation to purchase, rehabilitate, and resell the homes. NHP Foundation already manages the Winter Hill Apartments in Falls Church.

"We are pleased to be working with NHPF in this new program," said Dana Lewis, deputy director of HHS for the City of Falls Church. "We've already received several calls from interested homebuyers, so we're excited to get the program established."

The remainder of the grant funding will extend the subsidy on the workforce units at the Read Building. The city is proposing an estimated $350,000 payment to the owner to retain affordability of nine apartments for an additional 10 years through Dec. 31, 2032. Nine apartments in the Read Building are reserved for qualified renters, including Falls Church City Public School teachers and staff, as well as City of Falls Church government employees. Funds would make up for the difference between market rate and the workforce rental rate.