Affordable Homes & Communities, better known as AHC, broke ground this week on a new project with Goodwill of Greater Washington, the first of its kind in the U.S.
Goodwill, which has a mission to transform lives through education and employment, always knew that housing was foundational for families to thrive. But it hadn’t been integrated into their work until Michael Foster, head of MTFA Architecture, the firm eventually charged with redesigning the 1950s store in Arlington, Virginia, asked Catherine Meloy, Goodwill of Greater Washington’s president & CEO: Why not build affordable housing on top of it?
“It was that one sentence that started this whole journey,” Meloy said during the groundbreaking. The result, slated for completion in 2028, will be a development that includes a modern flagship Goodwill store, a donation center, a childcare center, and affordable apartment homes for 128 families in Arlington, a community challenged by high rents and a housing shortfall. The apartments will be affordable to families earning 30% to 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI).
Goodwill interviewed a number of housing partners before matching with AHC, a NeighborWorks® network organization based in Arlington that will provide the ground lease payment to support the $16.5 million retail development. AHC is funding the $81 million apartment complex, which will include family-sized apartments and seven permanent supportive housing apartments,
through a variety of local, state and federal funds in addition to a commercial mortgage and Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) equity.
“AHC has both knowledge and a strong track record in this industry, and we’re proud to see them working on a first-of-its-kind project that will impact so many,” said Katie Watts, senior vice president of Field Operations for NeighborWorks® America. “Innovative partnerships lead to innovative housing. Across the NeighborWorks network, we have organizations like AHC that are working thoughtfully and intentionally on housing solutions that can be scaled and replicated.”
The groundbreaking event, held the last Saturday in May, brought out leaders from AHC, Goodwill, the county, and proud funders, including the Ryan Family, who contributed a million dollars toward the project.
Mike Ryan said his late father, whose birthday was the same day as the groundbreaking, had once written about the meaning of home for an American Legion essay contest. In that essay, his father called home the stage where the drama of life unfolds. He won the contest and a college scholarship. “It changed not only his life, but mine,” Ryan said.
Mary Claire Davis, vice president of Real Estate Development for AHC, said putting the project together was quite a journey. “This work is challenging,” she said. “But the things worth doing and worth making take the most energy, creativity, commitment and time. Pressure makes diamonds, they say.”
And AHC was ready for that pressure.
The central Arlington location is perfect for affordable housing, she said. “Here we can build opportunities for new homes and AHC resident services for 128 families. And we can create a better operation for what everyone and their brother and their mother and their cousin tells me is the best Goodwill. This is an undeniable victory.”
Meloy said Goodwill partnered with AHC because the nonprofit had a strong track record of building homes across 56 communities. “They kind of know what they’re doing,” she said with a grin.
“What’s happening here at 10 S. Glebe is exactly the kind of work we want to support,” said Senthil Sankaran, managing principal Amazon Housing Fund. “Housing that’s connected to jobs, to childcare, to transit. Every family deserves a stable place to call home. What we’re building here today will serve families at every stage of life.”
“This is what it’s all about,” said JD Spain, Arlington County Board Member. “Housing is a right, not a commodity. … As we celebrate this opportunity we celebrate stability. We celebrate dignity for working people. We celebrate homes for generations to come. These homes that are going to be built are for teachers, for healthcare workers, services employees, veterans, seniors, hardworking families that make Arlington strong every day.”
The speech-making ended with a prayer, blessing the land and the development to come. Then the group made its way over to the building itself, where dignitaries, including the manager for the now-closed Goodwill store and Ryan’s pint-sized grandson, plunged shovels into dirt before the real demolition — the first step to rebuilding — began.
