ALEXANDRIA, VA. — Fairstead has broken ground on an affordable housing adaptive reuse project in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Alexandria. On the site of Samuel Madden Homes, originally built to house African American defense workers during World War II, the company will build 207 residences, ranging from one- to four-bedroom units, reserved for families earning 30 to 80 percent of area median income as well as a new community food bank. Completion is slated for fall 2027.
Financial partners include permanent and construction lenders Boston Financial, Freddie Mac and Virginia Housing. Sterling Bank and the City of Alexandria provided bridge financing and a loan, respectively. The financing structure leverages a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Section 18 transaction combined with 4 and 9 percent Low‑Income Housing Tax Credits and 45L Energy Efficiency Tax Credits.
The Alexandria Redevelopment and Housing Authority (ARHA) and The Communities Group also are project partners. The property’s existing 66 units will be redeveloped into a six-story community that will feature approximately 7,500 square feet of open space and about 500 square feet of ground-floor community space to be used as a food hub run by a local nonprofit called ALIVE.
The hub will provide the Alexandria community with access to fresh food and to support programs such as financial and legal services and healthy cooking demonstrations. Additional building-wide amenities and new features include a podcast recording studio, a game room with free high-speed internet access and an interior courtyard.