City of Fairfax's first for-sale affordable dwelling unit (ADU) residents move-in at Sutton Heights

EYA and the City of Fairfax are thrilled to announce that residents have moved into the city’s first ADUs at EYA’s Sutton Heights community. This is a very important milestone towards increasing affordable housing in the City of Fairfax.

To create the new ADU program, EYA worked closely with City staff to amend the zoning ordinance to include provisions which promote the creation of mixed-income housing in new residential developments by designating a portion of the units as affordable. In June 2020, the amendment was approved by a unanimous vote and EYA’s Sutton Heights community is the first new residential community to include for-sale ADU homes.

“Everyone in the region is designing new ways in which to provide more housing, and more importantly, more affordable housing,” said Rob Stalzer, City Manager for the City of Fairfax. “EYA, as the developer, brought significant expertise and creativity in delivering a project that supports the area’s growing housing needs.”

EYA has worked with municipalities across the DMV to develop vibrant new mixed-income neighborhoods and has been awarded the national Urban Land Institute (ULI) Jack Kemp Award for Excellence in Affordable and Workforce Housing for both Capital Quarter in Washington, DC and The Lindley in Chevy Chase, MD.

"EYA is committed to creating mixed-income housing," said EYA’s Chief Acquisition Officer, Aakash Thakkar. “We appreciated the opportunity to work collaboratively with the City of Fairfax to develop this ADU program, and we are proud to be the first developer in the City of Fairfax to implement it to create economic diversity and housing for a range of incomes.”

Sutton Heights is located at 3500 Pickett Road and features 50 new townhomes, of which five are designated as ADU and were available for sale in the mid $200s. Finalists were selected in June after over 200 people applied to the City’s ADU program lottery. The first ADU resident moved in earlier this month and all five ADU homes are expected to be occupied by the end of September. Qualifications for the ADU program include being a first-time homebuyer and have an income of 70% or less of the area median income (AMI).

Sutton Heights features three- and four-story townhomes with private garage parking, optional rooftop terraces and a contemporary design. Located near the Vienna Metrorail station and bordered by the Army Navy Country Club and Daniels Run Park Trail, the community includes a brand-new promenade with seating areas and open park space. More than 70% of all residents have moved into the community and construction is anticipated to be complete in early Fall 2023.  

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