Fairfax County is loaning $12 million to the consortium redeveloping the former Franconia Governmental Center site into affordable housing.
At its meeting Tuesday (Aug. 25), the Board of Supervisors voted 9-1 to approve the loan with Springfield District Supervisor Pat Herrity opposed.
Earlier this year, the board rezoned the 3.3-acre property at 6121 Franconia Road to pave way for the 120-unit apartment complex. The total financing for the project is estimated around $49.8 million.
Franconia District Supervisor Rodney Lusk said the number of units “will be significant” in advancing the county’s goal, set in 2022, of adding 10,000 new affordable units by 2034.
“I am excited to move this item,” he said. “It’s been a long and intensive process.”
The complex will include 46 one-bedroom units, 58 two-bedroom units and 16 three-bedroom apartments. The apartments will be available to those earning an average of 60% of the area median income (AMI), although units will range from 80% AMI down to 30%. As of June 2026, Fairfax County’s AMI for a household of four people was $166,100.
The development will be led by Franconia Development Partners, a joint venture of SCG Development, NFP Affordable Housing Corp. and Good Shepherd Housing. The Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority, which still owns the underlying land, will be a financial partner in the project.
According to a county staff report for the Board of Supervisors, the developers currently anticipate closing on all financing for the project in the fourth quarter of 2027, suggesting construction might not get underway until late next year or 2028.
Herrity, the board’s lone Republican, opposed the loan partly based on his concerns about the cost per unit for construction, the “narrow band” of people who qualify for the housing, and eviction rates among the developers at other affordable housing projects.
“I think we’re running out of people who can fit in the narrow bandwidth that can afford this housing,” he said. “I want to help people find housing … I just think this is the wrong way to do it.”
The existing facility, which was constructed in 1992, has been replaced by a new $80 million governmental center that opened in April at 7130 Silver Lake Blvd.
The new 90,000-square-foot facility houses six different programs or offices under its roof: a Franconia Police District station, active adult facility, child care, the supervisor’s office, an expanded Kingstowne Regional Library and the Franconia Museum.
