FAIRFAX, Va. — Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH) has opened Ilda’s Overlook Senior Residences, an affordable seniors housing community in Fairfax, approximately 15 miles west of Washington, D.C.
The community provides 80 affordable units to seniors age 62 and above with incomes at or below 60 percent of the area median income (AMI).
Ilda’s Overlook was built in partnership with Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA) and Erickson Senior Living.
The property’s name, Ilda’s Overlook, is a nod to Black history in Fairfax County. It references a community founded by Moses Parker and Horace Gibson, two blacksmiths who were formerly enslaved but purchased their freedom and a plot of land after the Civil War. They created a bustling, integrated neighborhood and named it after Gibson’s daughter Matilda’s affectionate nickname, Ilda.
Ilda’s Overlook, a $31.5 million development, utilized both 9 percent and 4 percent Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTCs) awarded by Virginia Housing. Truist purchased the LIHTC equity, providing more than $16 million in project funding, and provided the construction loan. Virginia’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) supported the project with a $1.4 million loan from the Virginia Housing Trust Fund, as well as $1.9 million from the Housing Innovations in Energy Efficiency (HIEE) program. Additionally, the Federal Home Loan Bank provided a $750,000 loan, and PNC Bank is the project’s permanent financing lender.
Grimm + Parker Architecture designed the new building and Harkins Builders was the general contractor.