KGD Architecture’s Arlington Mill Residences Captures Award – November 21, 2014
KGD Architecture’s Arlington Mill Residences Captures Award – Multi-Housing News Online – November 21, 2014
Arlington, Va.—Arlington Mill Residences, an affordable housing community in Arlington, Va. has been named “Best Housing Development in Virginia.” The recognition represents the most prestigious award presented at the recent Virginia Governor’s Housing Conference Awards Luncheon.
Designed by Rosslyn, Va.-based KGD Architecture, an architectural, interiors and planning firm, the property is a trailblazing project in several ways. It is the first ground lease of public land by Arlington County for private development. It is the first example of Arlington County’s “Public Land for Public Good” policy.
It is the first redevelopment of an avenue site along Columbia Pike since its adoption of Form-Based Code. And it is the first residential project in Arlington to be “District Energy Ready.” Built atop the Arlington Mill Community Center parking garage, the four-story, 5A building has met Earthcraft Virginia Building Certification.
Its first floor includes a distinctive, supportive housing wing operated in partnership between the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) and Arlington County’s Department of Human Services.
That wing features 13 studio residences for residents who have been deemed “hard to house,” and who come from the surrounding community.
Awarded the project by competitive Request for Proposal in September 2010, KGD Architecture worked with APAH and Arlington County to secure a site plan amendment in less than five months. Doing so in that time frame made possible application for federal tax credits through Virginia Housing Development Association in 2011.
“Arlington Mill Residences, built in partnership with Arlington County, is the first new affordable development along Columbia Pike since the revitalization effort began as envisioned by the Columbia Pike Neighborhood Plan,” says Nina Janopaul, APAH president and CEO.
APAH, the owner and developer of the property, has been named Developer of the Year for 2014 by the Housing Association of Nonprofit Developers (HAND). It also captured the Prize for Innovation and Impact from Arlington Community Foundation in 2011, and the HAND Innovation Award in 2009.
