29 November 2007

Conversions


Fairlington Condos

Rumors Swirl at Buckingham

From the Arlington Star, November 1979:

BUCKINGHAM- Rumors are swirling about impending redevelopment of this sprawling garden apartment community by the Kinghoffer Corporation, of Columbus, Ohio. Residents fear imminent eviction from the garden apartments, which are located on choice pieces of land close to Washington and the burgeoning Metro subway system.

For the first time since the late 1930s, a tenants' association has been formed in Colonial Village, the complex nearest to the Orange Line stop at Ballston. Other parts of Buckingham are located more than a mile from the train station. A slick mimeographed newsletter has been through three editions, and passed out to the 2,000 apartment units in the sprawling complex.

Some of the associations are seeking historic designation to prevent the new owners from redeveloping the properties.

Colonial Village is the nation's first FHA-financed garden apartment complex. Representatives from that tenant's rights group have met with Rep. Joseph L. Fisher (D-VA), seeking historic status.

Tenant reaction at the other complexes is more muted, perhaps because transportation to the Metro is more problematic. Of the five recently sold apartment complexes, Buckingham is the both the largest and most ethnically diverse. Language and cultural differences make it difficult for the residents to communicate.

Buckingham Village resident Sam Ling says “You couldn't mobilize people here because the population is so transient and international. Besides, it can't get too much worse. The maintenance has really gone downhill since the Freed Family lost interest in the place years ago. If it were converted to condominiums we'd have to move, but I don't know where we'd go."

Several of the 800 Vietnamese residents of Buckingham said they were concerned about the possible outcome of the sale.

"They're just waiting," said Ling. "Most of their reaction is fairly stoic. It probably has something to do with Vietnamese fatalism. Even when they are very concerned, the Vietnamese are not going to shout “We're just going to riot!” They are not used to civic action. Look what they have just been through.”

The assistant manager of Pershing Market, a small food store frequented by. tenants from Buckingham, Big Pink and Hyde Park said that the storm had mostly passed. "Everybody was talking about it when the Freed family sold to Kinghoffer, but Buckingham has been up for sale for some time. The people weren't too surprised.

“It's just like changing presidents: “Buckeye” Kinghoffer or some other guy doesn't affect have much personal impact. Many of my customers are on   fixed incomes; Social Security, welfare and food stamps. The idea that these people could buy the places they are living in is crazy."

Informed sources at the County Planning Commission say there are no legal roadblocks to condominium conversion, a trend that is happening all over the country. Kinghoffer would not have to get the county's approval for conversion and would only need to give tenants 90 days written notice of a planned conversion, with a 60-day option to buy.

Recently, the 3,400 rental units in Fairlington Villages were converted. The complex was modeled on Buckingham, and named for its location on the edge of Arlington and Fairfax Counties. Nearly forty percent of renters purchased the units in which they lived.

One indication of the developer's intent is the status of leases. If one-year leases are not issued or renewed only on a month-to-month basis, it could mean that Kinghoffer is bringing all the tenants in a section into contractual alignment so that he can give notice to everybody at the same time.

Virginia State law requires that a converted project meet present-day zoning requirements, including adequate parking. Buckingham, while low-density, was designed to a pre-World War II standard in which even a single car per household was a luxury. Developers have the option of requesting exceptions from the County for allowable density under existing zoning laws.

Sources close to the Zoning Commission said that the older garden apartment complexes are under-developed, and that plans to push through streets through the former closed developments will “open up” the County for north-south transit by commuters.

“Fairlington became extremely attractive because of the development of the development of the Shirley Highway (I-395), which opened a high-speed route to the Pentagon and the District,” said Country Traffic Office planner Carl Wilhelm. "We can do the same thing for Buckingham by pushing George Mason Drive through Buckingham and establishing a new corridor.”

Kinghoffer was silent on his intent. Company spokesmen acknowledge that a possible option is to rehabilitate and convert large projects like Buckingham, Claremont and Colonial Village to condominiums.

County Planning Board members reportedly favor preserving Arlington's garden apartment projects, although not necessarily as low-cost housing.
No data is available on what happened to the former residents of the moderate-income Fairlington complex.

Spokesman Ken Enwright indicated no survey had been conducted to determine where the low-income people would go if the projects were converted. “We've been grappling with that question for years, and so far we have just let the market decide. Based on the success of Fairlington and an extremely strong market for townhouse (condominium) units throughout the metropolitan area, that is most likely what Kinghoffer would be thinking about."

"Inflation has made construction costs outpace the rental market," Enwright noted. "You can't afford to build a high-rise rental project and make it financially. A high-rise condominium is a possibility, but look around. The places that have been built lately have taken three or four years to fill up. The point that the developers are looking at is existing properties they can readily turn-over at minimal cost

Local activists are in the dark. Some are not convinced that the recently purchased Buckingham projects would be converted to condominiums

"This is just a guess,” said Susan Nugyen Tho, who speaks for the 800 Vietnamese who live in Buckingham. “But I think Hyde Park and Big Pink are lucrative as rental properties. At Colonial Village, I haven't beard any real discussion of conversion. From what I have heard, not many people think it's likely Buckingham would go condominium because of the way it's designed and the number of small units."

"Of course, you could change everything around, and existing floor plans can be changed to accommodate larger families. But that costs money,” said Tho. "In Fairlington they did a variety of things, such as leaving the exterior of the building intact, and gutting the interior. Of course, they had the Interstate right on the front lawn to attract the commuters, and the people in Buckingham really aren't going anywhere.”

Copyright 2007 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com

Close Window