Gilliam Place

Recognized for its innovation and effective design, Gilliam Place is a mixed-use six-story development located in the heart of Arlington’s Columbia Pike corridor. Created in collaboration with Arlington Presbyterian Church on the site where the church originally stood, Gilliam Place is an extraordinary model for potential partnerships between congregations and the communities they serve.

Built in 2019, Gilliam Place includes studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, all of which are accessible. Fifteen are Type-A accessible including roll-in showers. The building is water and energy efficient, rated EarthCraft Multifamily Platinum. Gilliam Place includes several community room and multipurpose spaces for resident services programs, underground parking and controlled-access bicycle storage, and an enclosed outdoor terrace with a playground.

All the apartments are affordable to households earning 60% of the area median income or below. The project includes nearly 9,000 square feet of space for the Church’s new worship space and La Cocina VA, a bilingual culinary training center and onsite café. A case study on the project was completed by George Mason University students earning Master’s degrees in Real Estate Development.

Congregation and Community Partnership

The congregation of Arlington Presbyterian Church made Gilliam Place possible. In 2012, APC approached APAH to create a space that would both provide affordable housing and serve as a place of crossroads and connection for the community. The congregation selected the name Gilliam Place for the new affordable housing development to honor Ronda Gilliam (1906-1970), a visionary church elder who was active in the community.

Financing

The Virginia Housing Development Authority (VHDA) awarded APAH $31 million in tax credits and is providing both long-term and construction financing.

Arlington County provided another $18.1 million in loan funds from the Affordable Housing Investment Fund (AHIF) to APAH to cover the purchase of the land from the Church and construction of the 173 committed affordable housing units and $745,000 from the Transit Oriented Affordable Housing (TOAH) fund.

Enterprise Community Partners also provided funding to as part of its faith-based initiative, which has partnered with faith communities to create 515 affordable homes and support 1,200 more in the development pipeline.

Capital One provided loans and is an equity investor in the project’s Low Income Housing Tax Credits to fund construction. The lender also provided a grant of $250,000 to help fund resident service programs for the next 10 years, and additional funds to help La Cocina build its training facilities.

For houses of worship considering redevelopment, here are seven stages of development presented by APAH in 2018.