Progress at The Rylan in Tysons, More Affordable Proposed for Area

Progress is ongoing at The Rylan, the 390-unit development in Tysons features resident amenities including a clubroom with gaming rooms, working areas, a doorman, an infinity edge pool, yoga lawns, outdoor activity space, and a fitness center.

This comes as Fairfax County is moving to amend its affordable housing policy to ensure a one-for-one replacement of affordable housing units in areas under redevelopment, showing a major step to tie developers to affordable housing preservation.

The proposal would change the county’s comprehensive plan to require developers to replace affordable housing on sites where it’s being eliminated in order to get their project approved.

The proposed policy leads with the first goal of ensuring “no net loss of affordable housing units within redevelopment to the extent practicable.”

The proposal looks to add not just affordable units, but also market-rate affordable housing units; or units that are considered affordable, but without a regulatory or oversight agency. 

For any proposed Comprehensive Plan amendment or zoning application review that proposes redevelopment of existing multifamily residential units, conduct an affordability analysis through the Department of Housing and Community Development to 1) identify existing affordable housing onsite and 2) understand the potential impacts of the proposed redevelopment on the existing affordable housing, such as a reduction in the number of affordable units or modification to the income tiers served.

This is a large departure from the current program, requiring the replacement of not just affordable units, but also market rents. This could be offset by allowing greater density in exchange for additional affordable housing. The proposal added that levels of density granted could involve other factors, like transit access or financial feasibility around the affordable units, as well as the impacts to the environment, schools, parks and other public facilities.

“Absent any long-term affordability commitments, market-affordable developments can be lost to redevelopment or repositioning of the asset, leading to the displacement of existing residents and to community fragmentation,” the policy proposal said. “The County has committed to a goal of no net loss of these market affordable units, and should preserve the affordability of market-affordable multifamily rental housing units to the extent practicable.”

“Additional residential densities or intensities above the Plan recommendation may be considered in development proposals that commit to long-term preservation (30 or more years), as an incentive to preserve or replace existing affordable multifamily rental housing units,” the proposal said.

“The potential benefit of the preservation relative to the number and type of units preserved, the income levels served, and/or the strategic importance of the units relative to other factors, such as transit accessibility or financial feasibility of the preservation should be considered as part of any proposed development seeking additional density or intensity,” the proposal said.

Supervisor Dan Storck went on to say that around 80% of the units that would be preserved would be along the Richmond Highway in his Mount Vernon District.

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