The board of directors of the Falls Church Housing Corporation (FCHC) voted overwhelmingly Tuesday night to welcome a new majority voting member, the New York-based NHP Foundation (NHPF) with extensive national expertise and resources to “to help expand FCHC’s goal of including in the City of Falls Church within a greater regional mission and vision,” according to an FCHC statement.

The move represents a marked departure of the role and efforts of the FCHC from its earlier, frustrating and unsuccessful efforts to bring added affordable housing to the City of Falls Church. Following the collapse of its latest effort to construct a new senior housing center on S. Washington St., culminating over a decade of unsuccessful efforts to achieve their goals in the City of F.C., the FCHC board was eager to restructure its efforts to concentrate on areas outside the City that would be more appreciative of its efforts. Board President Dr. Steve Rogers, former vice mayor of Falls Church, hailed Tuesday’s vote and the new partnership with NHPF. The vote, he said, “empowers our local housing group to solidify an on-going working relationship with NHPF, and is now the most satisfying experience I have enjoyed as president of the FCHC since 2006.”

Headquartered in New York with an office in Washington, D.C., NHPF was launched as a non-profit in 1989 with $6 million in contributions from 24 major corporations to developed multifamily rental affordable housing. It currently owns 19 properties in nine states comprised of 4,300 units serving 20,000 residents.