A new 195-unit housing complex in Silver Spring aims to make it easier for low-income Montgomery County residents to rent and own homes, county officials and housing advocates said Wednesday at a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the development.
“There’s a family that earns $28,000 that will be owning a condo in the building here, and that’s because of [county] support for home ownership,” Habitat for Humanity Maryland President and CEO Jeff Dee said Thursday morning at the ceremony for the new complex, Allium Place, on 4024 Gannon Road.
Allium Place was created through a partnership with the county government, Habitat for Humanity Maryland and Affordable Homes and Communities (AHC), a nonprofit housing developer in the county. The complex is owned and will be operated by AHC.
It features 168 apartments, 24 condos and three single-family homes with both rental and ownership options. The complex is pet-friendly and 85 of the homes have at least three bedrooms. It also features a fitness center, a half-acre park and playground, community center, on-site childcare and free internet through the county’s MoCoNet program.
Families and individuals earning 30% to 70% of the county’s Area Median Income (AMI) qualify to apply for housing in the complex. People with incomes within those percentages of AMI are considered to be earning “low” to “extremely low” income, according to the county’s Department of Housing and Community Affairs (DHCA). An individual making less than $57,400 per year, or a family of four with a collective income of less than $81,950 per year, would be considered “extremely low income” by DHCA standards.
Chastidy Cates, a county resident who has purchased one of the condos, said Thursday during the press conference that after suffering a stroke in 2020, she never thought she’d be in a position to afford her own home again.
“I never saw myself becoming a homeowner,” Cates said. “Five years after my brain injury, I’m still in shock, but now I feel like I have awakened from the nightmare, and I am about to be living in a dream full of hope and opportunity.”
The total cost of the project was more than $97 million, with AHC fronting more than $86 million and Habitat for Humanity Maryland providing more than $11 million. AHC receives grants from the county.
“Allium Place represents what’s possible when we prioritize affordable housing as a community value,” AHC President and CEO Paul Bernard said during Thursday’s ceremony.
County Councilmember Natali Fani-González (D-Dist. 6), who represents the district where Allium Place is located, said Thursday the project was “super special” to her because she was a county Planning Board member when the board was considering approval of the project in 2018 and 2019.
“We have a duty to evolve society in a responsible way and to create more housing, especially deeply affordable housing, as we’re doing here,” Fani-González said.
County Executive Marc Elrich also praised the development Thursday, saying he supports the construction of additional, similar projects in the county.
“We all know darn well there’s a need for it. So I’m really excited we are able to do this,” Elrich said. “You will see more projects coming.”
But Elrich also took the opportunity to criticize members of the County Council for pursuing other housing development initiatives, seemingly alluding to More Housing N.O.W. (New Options for Workers) legislative package proposed by Fani-González and councilmember Andrew Friedson (D-Dist. 1). The package aims to allow more residential building types – including duplexes, triplexes, townhomes and apartments – along the county’s transit corridors, with a requirement that 15% of a project’s proposed housing serve the local workforce.
Two portions of this package have already advanced to become law. The goal of the legislative package is to increase access to more affordable workforce housing. One bill, approved by the council in March, changes zoning rules to expedite the process for converting office and commercial buildings to residences.
Another piece of legislation, passed in March, allows tax breaks for some developers that create workforce housing units. County Executive Marc Elrich, who has argued against the legislative package, later vetoed the tax break legislation. The council voted to overturn Elrich’s veto in April.
A second proposed zoning text amendment advanced in a 2-1 vote Monday through the council’s Planning, Housing and Parks Committee and will be subjected to a council vote. If passed by the full council, the rule change would increase the amount of housing allowed in certain zones along the county’s transit corridors.
“Power has decided that low-rise affordable units should be replaced by high-rises. I don’t think it was a good decision, but it’s the decisions that we make,” Elrich said. “Other [affordable housing options] disappear simply because of rent increases.”
The More Housing N.O.W. package does not advocate for the removal of existing housing but incentivizes developers to convert office and commercial buildings to residential complexes.
Council President Kate Stewart (D-Dist. 4) said Thursday that, like Elrich, she hopes the construction of Allium Place is just the first of similar communities to be supported by the county.
“It may be a unicorn today, but most certainly, it’s not going to stay one, and we want to see many of these communities across Montgomery County,” Stewart said.
