F.C. Housing Corporation To Launch Member Drive

The Falls Church Housing Corporation sponsored a special meeting of leading City residents at the Italian Cafe Sunday night to announce a membership drive that will kick off in the fall.

Executive Director Carol Jackson announced the new initiative, noting that grass roots community support for the construction of affordable housing will be needed to compel City officials to give it the backing it requires.

She noted that in one year, during 2003, the cost of an average single family home in Falls Church jumped from $399,000 to $527.000. Realtors are predicting that an acute housing shortage throughout Northern Virginia region means that double-digit increases in home values is expected each year for as much as a decade to come.

"We are no longer talking about affordable housing," she said. "We're talking about housing that gainfully-employed and productive families can afford. That is vanishing in Falls Church."

Michael Diener, owner of a City business and a member of the Housing Corporation board, told the group that none of his employees can afford to live in Falls Church and that is hurting his ability to attract and retain a quality workforce.

The issue also exists for the school system, Jackson said. "Attracting and retaining the best educators is the key to maintaining a quality school system, and that ability is severely hindered by the current situation. With roads as choked as they are in Northern Virginia, the issue of commuting can become paramount in the mind of a young professional making a decision on where to work."

Jackson said the Housing Corporation has resources and is eager to partner with the City of Falls Church on the development of a couple sites that have already been identified, including a location adjacent the West End Park on W. Broad St. and on Park Place behind the State Theatre.

"We're way beyond the point where a handful of affordable units as a proffer for a large-scale development can even begin to address the problem we face," she said. "We require a major effort at developing an affordable housing stock to match the growth of luxury condo and McMansion developments."