A groundbreaking ceremony was held Dec. 10 on The Waypoint at Fairlington, an affordable housing development that will provide 81 apartments for low- to moderate-income families and individuals in Alexandria.

The project is a partnership between nonprofit developer Wesley Housing, Fairlington Presbyterian Church and the City of Alexandria. The project received a $7.6 million loan and a commitment of nine project-based unit vouchers from the City of Alexandria, funding from the Virginia Housing Trust Fund and 9% Low-income Housing Tax Credits from Virginia Housing.

The multi-family development will provide affordable housing to households earning between 30% and 60% of the area median income. The building will offer a mix of efficiencies, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom apartments, including nine fully accessible ADA compliant units.

Wesley Housing acquired the site, an underutilized parking lot, from the Fairlington Presbyterian Church.

“Our church’s mission is to be a transforming force for good in the world in the name of Jesus Christ,” Fairlington Presbyterian Pastor Juli Wilson-Black said at the groundbreaking. “We are especially glad in this moment to be able to turn spaces for cars into spaces for people, as the pandemic has made even more evident the chronic housing insecurity that so many of our neighbors live with.”