Wedgewood tenants lack heat and hot water
With outdoor temperatures in the 20s, hundreds of tenants at the Wedgewood in Annandale have been struggling to stay warm over the past two days without heat or hot water.
“The heater doesn’t work, and my water is cold,” said Sheba Hashimi, who bundled up her children, ages 13, 11, and 8, in lots of blankets and coats.
Aisha Wafi woke up in the middle of the night on Feb. 1 due to the bitter cold. “We cannot stay here,” she said, so the next morning, she took her children, ages 7, 4, and 9 months, to a religious building to warm up.
Without hot water and unable wash, they missed another school day, and Wafi, who works at home part time as a translator for the City of Alexandria, had to find another place to work. She complained to management three times so far but hadn’t gotten any information.
Both tenants said management promised to provide space heaters, but they hadn’t received them as of midday on Feb. 3.
The Wedgewood is an affordable housing project owned by the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority and managed by the Pratum Cos.
A burst pipe in the boiler system resulted in 123 units without heat or hot water, said Allyson Pearce, outreach and marketing manager for the FCRHA and the Fairfax County Department of Housing and Community Development.
“The water is partially restored to a lukewarm temperature. The heat is not yet repaired,” Pearce said on Feb. 3. “The team is assessing the issue and will have it repaired as soon as possible.”
A broken circulator pump affected an additional 125 units. That problem has been fixed, and all of those tenants have had their heat and hot water restored by noon on Feb. 3, Pearce said. No units were damaged by either issue.
After FCHRA was made aware of the heating issue on Feb. 2, she said. “We immediately deployed 248 space heaters to impacted residents – more than one, if requested. At this time, the team is working hard to assess the burst pipe and get the system back online.”
Pearce encourages residents who have questions about the repair process to contact the Pratum management office at 703-256-0400.
Robert Brown, who hasn’t had heat or hot water since noon on Feb. 2, said he no longer bothers to contact Pratum about maintenance issues because “we don’t get results.” He usually fixes problems, like plumbing leaks, himself, but when it comes to a building’s HVAC system, “we can’t do anything about it.”
“With the rent as much as it is,” he said – he pays $2,200 for a three-bedroom unit – “we should get a credit on rent.” He said he didn’t even receive a message from management about the problem and when it might be fixed.
Karim Kalgbo, a maintenance worker, said the burst pipe should be repaired by Friday.
Meanwhile, he said, Pratum asked him to toss in the dumpster any couches residents placed in the parking lot to reserve spaces they had spent hours digging out. He prefers to move those items to the curb.
Related story: Wedgewood tenants complain about mice, mold, and water outages
10:26 pm febrero 3 del 2026…edificio 7529 aun no hay agua caliente tampoko calefaccion ,el edificio esta imfectado de ratones y cucarachas
I would like to formally report that since February 1st until today, we have not had heat or hot water in our apartment. The management never informed residents about this issue.
Yesterday, I called to ask when this problem would be fixed, and I was not given any details. I was only told that a portable heater would be sent, which has not been delivered.
Because of this situation, I was unable to send my children to school since we do not have basic living conditions. Additionally, the treatment when contacting management has been very poor, especially for Spanish-speaking residents, as many times calls are not answered.
I also want to report that my kitchen sink is not working. This issue was reported approximately 3 months ago and has not been repaired or replaced.
My building is 7531. I am requesting an immediate solution to these problems, as we are still required to pay rent under unacceptable living conditions.
This is happening at a lot of complexes in the area and it’s falling on deaf ears. The news needs to get involved at this point. The City of Alexandria is doing nothing about Newport Village Apartments where there is no hot water most of the time. The water itself both hot and cold is often turned off 2-3 days a week this has gone on a long time. Maintenance refuses to fix it. They city says, “they’re working on it.” For a year or more? No. Please report on this also.
Sad this is happening. My wife and started out in Newport Village almost 50 years ago. Problems like this at Southern Towers up the street on Beauregard have existed for a long time, with Alexandria City not able to do much to alleviate them.
That’s a shame, like most of Annandale, Wedgewood WAS a nicely maintained community, with a super community…
Sigh….
Welcome to public housing (or whatever euphemism you want to use).
Just think, the past owners were set to sell Wedgewood to a company that wanted to renovate and turn the complex into individually owned condominiums and then the FxCo BoS chaired by Sharon Bulova stepped in and bought the complex for $108 million “. . . to provide affordable housing for our teachers, police officers and first responders.” How many of those do you think ever lived there? I’m betting zero.