The future of an acclaimed program that gives local students real-world construction management skills may hinge on finding enough open space to build more houses.
At a June 24 meeting, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chairman Jeff McKay urged his colleagues to scout for potential tracts of land to continue the collaboration between Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS), the Foundation for Applied Technical Education (FATE) and industry partners.
“Think about sites in your own districts where this could be replicated,” McKay said. “A challenge of this program for a long time [has been] finding a site to accomplish this program in more places in the county.”
Recently, carpentry students from Edison Academy completed the FATE program’s 13th home. Located in the Spring Village Estates of Springfield, the 5-bedroom, 4-bath, nearly 5,000-square-foot single-family house at 7430 Foundation Way hit the market in June with a list price of $1.35 million by Greg Stiger of Integrity Real Estate.
“It will probably sell for more,” said Supervisor Rodney Lusk, who represents the Franconia District where the community is located.
The Spring Village Estates initiative kicked off in 2006. Given the number of parcels still vacant, Lusk estimated construction of new homes can continue there “for six or seven years at the most.”
“After they’ve completed here, they’ll need a new site,” Lusk said.
McKay noted that the Springfield-area site, located near the Franconia-Springfield Parkway, was originally slated for use as an elementary school. Changing the land use to permit the new housing “was not without a lot of controversy,” but it has paid enormous dividends, he said.
“Hearing some of the students talk about how this translates into real, employable skills that you can’t learn in the classroom is impressive,” McKay said.
At the June 24 meeting, McKay praised those who had bought student-built homes in the neighborhood.
“Living in a community that’s an active construction site for 15 years … is not the easiest thing in the world,” he said.
FATE was founded in 1971 as the Fairfax County Vocational Education Foundation, taking its new name in 1991. Before starting work at Spring Village Estates, students in the program built 16 single-family homes in McLean.
Those homes, located in the Condon Manor community, ranged in size from 2,800 square feet to 6,300 square feet. Housing constructed in the 1970s came with price tags starting at $180,000; one of the homes built in 2005 was listed at more than $2.1 million.
Based at Edison Academy in Rose Hill, the program allows up to 20 students at any one time.
Enrolled students work directly on concrete installation, framing, ceramic tile, kitchen and bathroom installation, hardwood floors, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, landscape and other areas of new home construction, FCPS officials say.
The course also offers instruction in the theoretical and physical aspects of the construction industry.
