Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich this week announced a land transfer agreement with Halpine View Apartments in the Twinbrook section of Rockville that will expand affordable housing when redevelopment occurs. The agreement builds on an Affordable Housing “No Net Loss” requirement, advocated by the County Executive and adopted by the County Council in the 2019 Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan. Together, these actions set precedents for preserving and enhancing the availability of affordable housing in the County.
“As the County grows, development pressures threaten our existing naturally occurring affordable housing stock and we need to protect tenants from displacement,” said County Executive Elrich. “The Halpine View property owners showed a willingness to work with us to preserve access to affordable housing and expand it at deeply affordable levels. Even after development, there will still be 564 affordable units, existing tenants will have the right of return and there will be additional deeply affordable units plus new market-rate units. This is a win-win for all of us.”
The No Net Loss provisions in the Veirs Mill Corridor Master Plan apply to any redevelopment of the Halpine View Apartments property that has 564 market-affordable units, including many family-sized apartments. In exchange for increased density on the property, the plan requires that each unit affected by a redevelopment plan be replaced with an income-restricted unit of comparable size. All then-current residents affected by redevelopment must be offered the opportunity to remain.
The increased density assigned to a 1.99-acre County-owned parcel adjacent to Halpine View provided an opportunity to achieve additional and affordable housing in exchange for transferring ownership of the land to Halpine View. As a result, 60 percent of the additional Moderately Priced Dwelling Units (MPDUs) will offer rents affordable for those with household incomes under $35,000 (30 percent of median income); $45,000 (40 percent of median income); and $57,000 (50 percent of median income). The remaining additional MPDUs will be affordable at incomes under $65,000.
