Planning Commission approves affordable housing for Bailey’s Crossroads

The Columbia Crossroads affordable housing project got a green light from the Fairfax County Planning Commission on Nov. 4 after the developer agreed to add more parking spaces.

The next step is a Board of Supervisors hearing on Dec. 8.

The project, located on Columbia Pike in Bailey’s Crossroads between Radley Acura and the Alta Nova apartments, will have 160 units. All the units will be affordable to households at 60 percent of the area median income or less.

The project is being developed by the NHP Foundation on a three-acre site owned by the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority. The seven-story building will replace the Crossroads Interim Park.

Related story: Affordable housing project will have limited parking

The original proposal called for just 169 parking spaces, a rate of 1.08 spaces per unit. Members of the Mason District Land Use Committee and nearby residents were concerned that wasn’t enough for residents and visitors. There is virtually no street parking nearby.

The building will have three levels of structured parking, including one below grade. The developer agreed to add a partial underground level with 13 parking spaces for a total of 182.

Related story: Affordable housing project to include space for nonprofits

The developer’s land use attorney, Evan Pritchard of Wire Gill, said 169 spaces should have been enough because the residents of affordable housing communities tend to have fewer vehicles.

Columbia Crossroads will have a 6,000-square-foot community center on the ground floor with space for two local nonprofits, Neighborhood Health and Second Story. The public area of the building will have a separate entrance.

The project also includes a half-acre of park space, 114 new trees, a six-foot-wide sidewalk and cycle track along Columbia Pike, and two courtyards for residents.  

Future plans call for an extension of Seminary Road to Columbia Pike.