FAIRFAX, VA — Fairfax County elected officials joined affordable housing advocates on Thursday to celebrate the grand opening of Ilda’s Overlook, a new senior living facility located off Braddock Road in the Braddock District.
The project was a joint effort by the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing, Erickson Senior Living, Virginia Housing and the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority
“Seniors are the backbone of our society, who have devoted their lives to building the nation that we call home,” said APAH Board Chair Rich Jordan. “They deserve to live out their sunset years in dignity, comfort and security.”
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Ilda’s Overlook includes 80 high-quality, affordable apartments for adults 62 and older. One- and two-bedroom apartments are available for households with incomes at or below $89,943, which is 60 percent of the area median income. As of Thursday, 50 percent of the units have already been spoken for.
“Today, they have a place to call home in an affordable environment,” Jordan said. “Because of Ilda’s Overlook, seniors that have spent years serving our communities can afford to stay in this community and continue to be productive citizens of Fairfax County.”
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In March 2022, the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted to double it previous goal of building 5,000 affordable housing units by 2034 to 10,000 units.
Although that number was ambitious, it still fell short of the 15,000 units the county’s Affordable Housing Resources Panel predicted would be needed to meet the county’s affordable housing needs.
APAH President & CEO Carmen Romero told those who’d gathered at Ilda’s Overlook for the ribbon-cutting ceremony`that 375,000 additional housing units were needed to meet the housing demand in the Washington, D.C. region.
“We’ve got a homelessness problem that is increased double digits year over year,” she said. “And the largest cohort in that are seniors.”
Not only was Board Chair Jeff McKay (D-At-Large) proud that the board of supervisors had made it a goal to build more affordable housing, but that it was dedicated to putting more affordable housing in every corner of the county.
“For too long in Fairfax, it has been politically acceptable to build affordable housing in pockets of the county, but keep it off limits to certain ZIP codes,” he said. “What this Board of Supervisors is doing is making sure it’s another day in Fairfax County where affordable housing is needed in every corner of the county and it should not be judged based on what ZIP code you’re in.”
Located on the former site of the Northern Virginia Training Center, Ilda’s Overlook is a stone’s throw from the George Mason University campus and the City of Fairfax.
“We also have there the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute just a few miles from here,” Supervisor James Walkinshaw (D-Braddock) said. “We have our Wellness Center for older adults, where older adults have free access to health care screenings, yoga classes, dance classes, art therapy, all kinds of incredible opportunities there.”
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