A pioneering housing development has opened its doors in Silver Spring, Maryland. Developed by NeighborWorks network member Affordable Homes & Communities (AHC), in partnership with Habitat for Humanity Metro Maryland and Montgomery County, Allium Place is a one of Montgomery County’s largest new construction affordable housing developments. The $96 million development comprises 195 homes on six acres of land formerly owned by the county.
The development, yet another example of how NeighborWorks and the network create homes and build America, offers a rare combination of affordable rental housing and homeownership in one
community. Allium Place includes 168 affordable rental apartments and 27 Habitat for Humanity homeownership opportunities – 24 condominiums and three single-family houses. It serves families earning between 30% and 70% of the area median
income (AMI), with more than half of the rental units affordable at 30% to 50% AMI ($44,000 to $82,000 for a family of four). In addition to affordable rental costs, the homeownership model offered by Habitat for Humanity includes zero-interest mortgages, and buyers pay no more than 30% of their income on housing costs.
Named for Maryland’s allium flower, Allium Place offers a wealth of amenities. These include a community center; fitness center; on-site resident services focused on education, financial wellness and health; a half-acre public park and playground; and free broadband internet. An onsite childcare center is planned for the near future.
Major support from Montgomery County helped make this innovative project possible, according to Mary Claire Davis, AHC’s vice president of real estate development. “One of the county executive’s major initiatives is to create more affordable housing,” she explains. As part of this commitment, the county transferred land that once housed administrative offices to the development team for just $2. The county’s Housing Initiative Fund also provided a substantial loan. In addition, the project received a tax abatement through the county’s Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program, which supports the construction and preservation of affordable multifamily rental housing.
Faced with rising construction pricing during the COVID pandemic, the development team pieced together a complex layered financing structure to bring the project to fruition. “We worked with the state, the county, the Federal Home Loan Bank, Low-Income Housing Tax Credit investors and commercial lenders to pull the project together,” recalls Davis.
The development stands out for a number of reasons. In fact, some aspects of the project are so unusual, the staff at AHC refers to it as a “unicorn.” Jennifer Smith, senior director, communications, at AHC elaborates: “We’ve got land from the government; we've got additional funding from the government. We've got homeownership and rentals in one community in a partnership with Habitat for Humanity. I'm not sure there's anything like it right now in the nation, certainly not in this region. It's really special.”
Davis adds, “The ability to serve a real range of affordability also makes it different. We have 30%, 40%, 50%, 60% AMI to have deeply affordable homeownership, and that's in combination with affordable condominiums, which is, I think, unique.”
With its significant affordability and amenities, this community is already making a difference in the lives of people who live
there. Shae F. and her two teens had been staying with friends when they found Allium Place. At first, Shae thought the opportunity was too good to be true. Now, her family is settled into a three-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment with new appliances and a washer/dryer. “It is such an amazing place,” says Shae. “Brand-new everything makes you feel more like royalty. My mental well-being is better as well, just knowing I have a stable place to stay.”
Montgomery County has excellent schools and good jobs, Davis explains, but the cost of living keeps those opportunities out of reach for many. By expanding opportunities for people who earn low incomes to live in the county, Allium Place is making it possible for more families to access those benefits. “You can really affect people’s quality of life if they don’t have to travel far for jobs and schools,” she says. “The location is well served by transit, and there’s plentiful shopping within walking distance.”
Davis also notes the unusually large size of some of the rental units, due to the large area of land on which the development sits. “We were able to create four-bedroom homes on the rental side,” she says. “There are not a ton of communities that are able to do that these days.”
While inventive partnership and financing, the mix of ownership and rentals, and large, family-sized apartments aren’t common now, Davis believes this model can be expanded in Montgomery County and replicated in other areas. “The hope is in three years we’ll have a herd of unicorns,” she says. “That would be great.”
