Real Estate Development
Rosslyn in Virginia. Photography: Duane Lempke.
With three decades of experience, an award-winning team of experts, and a history of successful projects, APAH is the DC metro area’s most trusted developer of high-quality and sustainable affordable housing. Demonstrating our commitment to economic justice, APAH is willing and able to take on complex projects that strengthen our communities and value all people.
Here’s how we do it.
Innovative Financing
APAH pioneered the hybrid use of low-income tax credits in Virginia, an innovative way of combining both 4% and 9% credits in the same development. Because of the success of APAH’s innovation, Virginia Housing revised its tax credit allocation plan to provide incentives to developers for using this financing model, resulting in hundreds of new affordable units across the Commonwealth. APAH has been successful in every tax credit application, despite a competitive market.
While projects using the 4%/9% hybrid model are separate structures according to the IRS, residents enjoy a smooth and seamless experience renting anywhere in the buildings. Since 2016, APAH has created five hybrid developments: Queens Court, Columbia Hills, Gilliam Place, Terwilliger Place, and Loudoun View. A sixth project is slated to begin construction in September 2021. Five more hybrid projects are currently in the planning stage.
Our team is also known for its tenacity, as we will continue to pursue creative financing options even when projects come to us that have not been successful in the past.
Solid Partnerships
Our real estate team is skilled at collaborating and communicating with a wide variety of partners and stakeholders, including for-profit developers, local government staff and elected officials, congregations, and nonprofits. APAH can guide newcomers to the field through the process of creating an affordable property, as well as confidently help long-time developers satisfy their affordable housing requirements, all while listening to the needs of neighbors and local leaders.
A small but robust organization, APAH projects don’t get bogged down in bureaucracy. Partners work with our subject matter experts and have access to our core leadership team as needed.
Community Focus
With deep roots in every community we serve, APAH prioritizes cultivating relationships before we ever break ground. We take the time to listen carefully to what community officials and members want and need, and how our plans can incorporate public parks, schools, municipal services, and transportation to provide attractive, affordable, and convenient places to call home.
APAH’s ultimate goal is to be a good neighbor. That’s why we communicate with neighborhood associations, business owners, community organizations, and government officials before, during, and after our developments are built. Our work doesn’t end when a building opens, but continues to sustain the community.
We are committed to making and keeping rent affordable for our residents. Beginning in 2021, we are also working to achieve digital equity by providing free internet access to residents living in all APAH properties. APAH uses any cost savings from our developments to lower rents to make our units as accessible as possible.
Growth Mindset
During APAH’s first 20 years, we typically bought and redeveloped one property each year. As the region’s affordable housing crisis has accelerated, so has APAH’s increased production and geographic expansion. We anticipate significantly more growth throughout the 2020’s with 2 projects opening in 2022 alone.
Although we started out focusing solely on Arlington, APAH is currently developing affordable housing projects in Fairfax and Loudoun counties in Virginia, Montgomery County in Maryland, and the District of Columbia.
Our Team
APAH’s real estate team includes experts in finance, construction, green building, and civil engineering. They are:
