Fairfax County leaders gathered earlier this month to break ground on a new apartment complex that will provide nearly 300 units of affordable housing right next to the Fairfax County Government Center.
The 279-unit Residences at Government Center II will occupy land that previously had been a little-used, 340-space surface parking lot on 4.5 acres between Post Forest Drive and the county government’s headquarters.
Using land on the government center campus shows local leaders’ commitment to affordable-housing issues, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay said at the Dec. 10 ceremony.
Spectulating that the project “is a real first — in Virginia, certainly,” McKay noted that his office overlooks the construction site.
“I have a front-row view of what is happening, and have seen the work that already is taking place,” he said.
Approved in 2023, the project is a joint initiative of Lincoln Avenue Communities, Cornerstones and the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA).
The housing authority began soliciting developers for the site in 2021 after acquiring the land with parking lots G and H from the Board of Supervisors that March. The county previously worked with the private company Jefferson Apartment Group on the Residences at Government Center apartments, which finished construction in February 2017.
An agreement for Residences at Government Center II was finalized in 2022, and the Fairfax County Planning Commission approved a final development plan in early 2023.
“This is truly remarkable,” FCRHA chair Lenore Stanton said at the groundbreaking event, calling the project “another testament to our commitment to developing affordable housing in all corners of Fairfax County.”
In addition to the apartments, which will be a mix of one, two and three-bedroom units available to those earning between 30% and 70% of area median income, the site will house 15,500 square feet of community space, including a day-care facility on the ground floor.
Completion of the project, which is currently expected in mid-2027, will further the county’s goal of adding 10,000 new affordable-housing units by 2034, county leaders said.
